All

After a bit of advice on what tactics to employ during flat calm & bright spells on small stillwaters please actually some of the responses to the cdc buzzer thread are helping already, but I'd planned to ask this anyway, so have gone ahead....

Plenty of rising fish yesterday in the spells of flat calm, loads of midges about so my assumption was that they were taking hatching midges – I was getting decent response to #12/14 shipmans buzzers during the odd period when there was a bit of ripple, but when it calmed off, they ignored it – I assume that might have been associated with tippet visibility – was using 5lb Powerflex, & applying sinkant, but maybe not rigorously enough? Overall leader length was circa 18ft.

Buzzers sub-surface were only getting the very occasional tweak, which led me to believe that I should be trying a bit harder on the top/ in the film – thinking afterwards maybe shuttlecocks with a properly sunk tippet?

I’d appreciate any other ideas or suggestions you might have – out of interest, how much of the tippet should I aim to sink, I’ve had problems in the past sinking the majority of it & it dragging the fly under….

Many Thanks

Mart

Under these conditions I would set up an intermediate or neutral with a flouro leader and something like a cdc shuttlecock emerger. Yes the fly will be pulled under but I find it doesn't spook the fish so much so I put up with it. A couple of false casts to dry the fly and out again. I am sure that there will be other ideas..........................birdsnest

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I use a 5 weight with 0.1 tippet greased up to within 50cm of the fly.

Try small hares ear nymphs, 18's. Size 18 Spiders, Black, olive (match the hatch colour), 20's HE suspender buzzers. 20's CDC shipmans.

This basically covers the ascending midge on to emergence and the dry on the surface.

Try each type in turn until you find you get a responce. If you start to catch on the nymph and then the takes dry up, its possible the nymph has become so wet that it is dropping below the feeding level of the fish. Squeeze it in a cloth or kitchen towel to get rid of some of the moisture. If that don't work try the spiders, then the suspender buzzer, then the Shipmans. If one of these works Ok for a while then takes dry up but fish are still moving, go back to the nymph and work thro the routing again.

Its a case of establishing the feeding level and at times, a few milimeters can make all of the difference.

John H

I think it is very probable that your problem may not have anything to do with the fly or presentation.An important thing to bear in mind here is that in flat calm conditions,the process of the angler repeatedly casting and the flyline landing on the water can quickly set up a fish free exclusion zone around us.You could try the patient approach by not casting at all untill a fish shows within casting range, this could take 15-20 mins or more for the fish to move back in to the disturbed area. Or, you could keep on the move concentrating your efforts on undisturbed water........not always possible on a small stillwater though I guess.

Im in the Birdsnest camp here as I switch to a slow glass line and find it very effective.

Always on a floating line these days and agree with what jimmy says here....normaly i just throw out a close cast and watch for fish rising, then just one lift and back out...too many casts and fish are gone as jimmy says.Once a fish or 2 caught close in then i lengthen the line and do the same further out and would retrieve some line to a single lift and out again trying to keep disturbance to a minimum......but 9 times out of 10 on a fishery someone comes along beside you and whips the water to a foam with lures and a sinker

I find that when its calm and fish are feeding on small buzzers, setting up with 2 nymphs under an indicator can be deadly. I tend to fish my point fly at 4 feet deep and 2 feet to the dropper. Lets not forget that just because fish are taking off the surface / just under, they will be cruising a few feet down picking off rising buzzers aswell as hatching ones. Fishing your flies this way also removes the constant casting on calm water problem as your flies are held at the taking depth. I know using indicators is not everyones cup of tea but in this circumstance I find it a very good tactic to deploy.

Cheers

Mat

i totaly agrre with this as its just what i do in the same situation,and on the odd occastion this does not work ill stick a foam daddy or simular on and leave it to drift,works well to.

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All

Thanks for your responses so far. Very interesting & thought provoking.

Did try the buzzer under indicator - had worked the previous evening at dusk in a flat calm, but didn't yesterday afternoon, however it was set nearer 4ft deep than 2ft...always seems a bit close to the indicator that, but will try next time around...

Cheers

Mart

If stillwaters are tricky in a flat calm head for a river where still days are the best.