Many entry level flyrodders, when making the transition from river angling to stillwaters, will attempt to adapt their fly selection to the new scenario. Whether through laziness, a resistance to change or lack of awareness, it’s a road you don’t want to go down. While this can be effective to a limited degree, a much more creative way to get your catch rate up is to give the fish something they want. While caddis and mayflies are present in limited numbers and stoneflies are nowhere to be seen on Alberta trout ponds, the fish tend to key on food sources that are most available. This requires a whole new suite of patterns in your fly box.
The pothole trout fly-rodder’s Big Five are damsel fly nymphs, chironomids, leeches, scuds and minnows. Rather than dancing a tiny, perfect mayfly pattern down a sparkling riffle to a waiting rainbow, 90 percent, if not more, of stillwater action will be subsurface. You won’t really know if actively feeding trout are present until the strike occurs. This requires a whole new skillset, focusing on the trout you can’t see. The effort, however, is well worth it when you consider that, on the whole, Alberta’s stillwater trout tend to be double the size or more of their flowing water cousins.
