Newbie hitting Deep Creek with a fly rod

[Savage109]

I became addicted to fly fishing this year after starting to understand how complex fly fishing for trout can be. Now that the trout population are dwindling in my favorite spots, I am planning to hit deep creek in search of bass or bluegill to continue developing my casting.

I've had some luck with bass stripping wooly buggers in trout streams, but I seem unable to catch fish in lakes.

Any suggestions regarding fly selections and techniques or direction to threads where this has been discussed in the past would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[henrydavid]

Try some top water poppers or dry flies

 

[ryansheehan]

Do you have a boat? It's pretty tough to fish it from shore. If you do there is good smallmouth fishing up in the dam area. There is good rock structure, deep water and lots of docks in that northwestern section of the lake. You might even run into a few trout all though they are normally 20-30 feet down. The southern end of the lake is a warmer fishery, largemouth, weed beds and much more shallow water. There are some trout streams very close to deep creek that might have a couple trout in them

 

[Dave_W]

Savage109 wrote:
I became addicted to fly fishing this year after starting to understand how complex fly fishing for trout can be. Now that the trout population are dwindling in my favorite spots, I am planning to hit deep creek in search of bass or bluegill to continue developing my casting.

I've had some luck with bass stripping wooly buggers in trout streams, but I seem unable to catch fish in lakes.

Any suggestions regarding fly selections and techniques or direction to threads where this has been discussed in the past would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Welcome, Savage, to our online community - we're glad to have yuh.

If you haven't already done so, take some time to scroll through the forum and read up on lakes. We don't have many lake fishing reports, but there are some (I can't remember seeing one on Deep Creek) .

Good advice in the previous posts. If you're somewhat new to fishing lakes, be aware that mid-summer is a tough time to fish lakes, especially with fly fishing (FF) gear. The fish are just down too deep. With that said, focus on early mornings and evenings and fish close to shoreline cover and you should be able to connect. Once the sun gets up, bass and bigger sunfish usually retreat to the depths thsi time of year.
To be honest, I don't fish lakes much this time of year and prefer to hit them in springtime when bigger fish are closer to shore.

 

[Savage109]

Thanks guys for the replies.

Henrydavid: I think I'll take your advice. With poppers, should I strip line all the way back or just the length of the leader? Does fly line scare lake fish?

Ryansheehan: I definitely like to explore the nearby trout streams. Hence my username. Haha. I enjoyed reading about your recent trip to the tailwaters of savage. I do have a boat and and fairly proficient at picking up some bass with spinning gear on deep creek. Only problem is, after this spring I am sort of addicted to fly fishing and don't want to touch my spinning rod.

Dave_w: thanks for the warm welcome. I am excited to be connected to such a wealth of knowledge. I will definitely peruse the lake reports to get an idea of some successful tactics.

 

[ryansheehan]

Nice, wasn't sure how much you had fished the lake. I would take crayfish or bugger patterns and go dock hopping if I were you.

 

[tomgamber]

TRY SOME HEAVILY WEIGHTED STUFF LIKE CLOUSERS OR BIGGER BUGGERS WITH LARGE BEADS. THEY TEND TO DART AND DIVE ON STRIPS. FISH AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS AND DEPTHS. EVEN TROLL WITH THEM IF YOU CAN. SOMETIMES ITS JUST LIKE SPINNING WITH A DIFFERENT DELIVERY SYSTEM.

 

[salmo]

Just wondering. What type of line are you using?

You might want to go to a sinking line to get down deeper.

 

[bigslackwater]

I tore up with a "popper dropper" rig a few days ago on a lake. If you are familiar with a dry /dropper setup, it's the same thing. Try using a popper. Ties 2 to 3 feet of tippet off the bend of the hook and tie on any nymph (that won't sink the popper). A green weenie is a good choice. Cast along docks, around rocks, banks, and weeds etc... strip it like you would a popper. You'll usually get the smaller panfish on the dropper and the larger bass will hit the popper. Best of both worlds. I had LMB taking as size 16 soft hackle on the drop too. You never know, but I think this setup increases your odds of hooking up with something.