Deep-water fishing tactics work in summer's heat

Last week, this column covered the ethics involved with weighted flies and split shot on the leader, which causes controversy in the fly-fishing world. Bait- and spin-casters with artificial lures as well as bait anglers could care less about weight or deep-diving lures in their sport. It's business as usual, and many of them wonder why fly rodders fight over the use of weight. This week, this column covers the how-to of fishing deep.

Bottom-dredging for brookies and landlocks in Maine ponds and lakes smacks of ancient tradition, and in the heat of summer, getting a fly, lure or bait to bottom can mean the difference between success and complete failure. Even black bass and stripers may require a weighted presentation.

Furthermore, earlier in the season, the enduring Maine image of pond fishing includes a fly rodder canoeing along a conifer-lined shoreline, casting to rising brookies that dimple a smooth, velvety surface. However, in this state on most days, the wind blows so folks cast flies, lures or bait from pitching boats or canoes, often to bottom-hugging fish.

With the right lures or weight, the hardware crowd and bait anglers have no problem reaching 20- and 30-foot depths. With a fly rod, it's much tougher, but with proper gear and tactics, fly fishers who can get to bottom and do it with precision catch trout all season. Fly rodders without skills to present their offering deep endure lots of fishless days.

My education in bottom-dredging with flies came in the most complete manner during my early 20s on Frost Pond west of Baxter Park. I spent that summer, fishing with an Ivy League biology professor who had learned the skills from an old-time guide in the Magalloway region, and the professor proved an excellent teacher.

After anchoring at the beginning of the day, the guide pretended the canoe was the center of a clock and the first cast went to 1 o'clock, the next one to 2 o'clock and so forth, working all around the craft. He fly-cast as far as possible and precisely timed the descent of the fly line with a watch's second hand. After each cast in the first series around "the clock," the line sank 10 seconds.

In the next series, the guide let the line descend 15 seconds, the next 20 seconds and so forth. In those days with inferior sinking lines, it took my line 60 seconds to drop 20 feet. These days with lines that have a No. 6 sink rate, we can get down 30 feet in 60 seconds, particularly with weighted flies.

As soon as the line had sunk the prescribed number of seconds, the guide started retrieving the fly. With streamers and bucktails that imitate baitfish, the retrieve was extremely fast, and the stripping hand might be a blur, retrieving line. With nymphs, the guide rolled the line over his fingers, inching them along because this fly design imitates slower moving larvae. If neither tactic worked, he changed the speed and rhythm.

If a trout hit -- say after a 45-second sink time -- then that depth might be where trout are holding. Astute fly fishers then concentrate on retrieving the fly after waiting 45 seconds for the line to sink.

More often than not, though, trout hold near bottom. When that is the case, fly rodders will lose flies or hook weeds, showing them that the fly has descended to where trout are concentrating. In shortÉpound that depth.

Here's a quick tip: If fly rodders wait up to 60 seconds and more for the fly to sink to bottom after the cast, then it makes sense to cast as far as possible to cover more water. It's easier to cast long distances with a bigger rod, so often, I cast an 8-weight with those modified shooting-head lines like the Orvis Depth Charge. In the hands of a good caster, such an outfit can throw an honest 100-foot cast.

And yet another tip: When casting, I like more fly line (and maybe backing) coiled on the floor or in a stripping basket than I can throw. After each cast, I feed out loose line -- say 20 feet -- so the fly sinks in an L-shape with the tip of my rod being the top of the L.

The bottom of the L is parallel to the pond bottom. By doing this, I can be assured that on the retrieve, the line remains parallel to the bottom longer instead of coming back to me in a diagonal line. That tactic insures the line stays at the right depth longer.

If a boat or canoe swings in the wind, it slows the line's descent considerably. If you don't believe that, cast from a dock into clear water. As the line drops toward bottom, swing the tip a foot one way or the other and see the line stop sinking and sometimes rise. Because of that, it makes sense to anchor a water craft from both ends to stop the craft's swinging.

In August, when the surface hits 70-plus-degrees Fahrenheit, catch-and-release anglers who bottom-dredge in lakes and ponds will kill salmonids that have dropped to 20 and 30 feet for the cold temperatures. Anglers can stress fish, bringing them to the top, so folks should lay off trout and salmon fishing until surface water cools into the 60s.

In rivers and streams, I use a floating line and weighted flies or split shot on the leader because the weight drops the fly to bottom, and the floating line gives me a better idea of where my line and fly are drifting and also offers me the option of mending line. In this fishing, I worry little about water being too warm because as a general rule, salmonids don't feed if water temperatures rise much over 70 degrees.

When fish hold on bottom, they sometimes do not look up. You gotta get down to 'em if you want a bend in the rod. Many Mainers have bottom-dredging skills to a science, too, because in such a windy state, zephyrs force us to pound the depths for action.

Ken Allen, of Belgrade Lakes, is a writer, editor and photographer.E-mail: kallyn800@aol.com.

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