A dead calm day on Lake Wanaka today made for easy spotting of cruising lake edge brown trout but super tough presenting flies to them with out sending them bolting for the safety of deeper water ! We spotted good numbers of fish foraging along the stoney bottom sections of lake edge in search of bullies , the trick was to cast well ahead of the trout with long fine leaders so as to not disturb the surface too close to the fish and allow your bully pattern to sink and rest on the bottom. As the fish nears your fly a couple of short- sharp retrieves to imitate the natural movement of a bully will usually be enough to get the attention of most fish, being mindful to not over do it with stripping the fly too quickly and making the fish suspicious and have them turn, chase and then refuse at the last minute ... which was the case several times today !
I always try and move along the lake edge very slowly scanning the water well ahead and also behind me continuously as fish drift in from the deeper water and into the shallows regularly, keeping alert all the time to movement and shadows. Quite often too I will just plain stop and stand completely still and just wait for the fish to come to me, its pointless chasing fish up and down the edges all you will do is make them more nervous and jittery , find a high point whether it be a large rock , high bank or rocky outcrop and simply wait until a fish moves into view and take your shot.
