My first trip to Armstrong. Arrived at 5:30AM, inflated pontoon boat, set up my poles, loaded the boat and was on the water by 6:00AM. Water temp. at 10' was 64 degrees. Steady, light rain falling for first hour and a half. About 6:30, C&R first fish on a black/sparkle Beadhead Wooly Bugger, on the west side of the lake. About a 12" beautifully colored and hard fighting Rainbow. Figured to be a great day!...Wrong,..., for me! Lots of fish rising on a very flat lake. Cast several dries, but they weren't interested in my offerings. Trolled 6-8 favorite flies, none drew a hit. About 9:00AM another boat hit the water, then two float tubes... a bit later, another boat and then a pontoon boat. That was all the company I had. Boat fishermen were trolling with bait (worms?). They were having some success. I watched the tubers catch a couple trout, they were using Carey Specials, casting in toward the shore, over cover (lots of snags and logs in the lake). About 11:00, I quit trolling and cast a Damsel Fly nymph along the shoreline... had two subtle hits, but nothing to show for that either. Out of desperation, trolled a couple Flatfish patterns, then a couple Rapalas... nothing. About 1:00, the skies opened up and it began to rain, seriously. I got to the launch about 2:00, just as the fellow in the other pontoon boat arrived. He was a longtime Armstrong fisher... said that he generally had great luck in the lake on chironomids, but the fish weren't interested today. He did catch several fish on a big, black Dragonfly nymph, trolled very fast. Why of course!! A big, heavy, bottom dwelling, slow moving nymph, trolled on the top at mach speed... why didn't I think of that!!?? With the warm temperatures in the lake and at the surface, I had figured that "slower" would be the ticket. Come to think of it, I did think to myself that the bait trollers were moving really fast... I'll file that one away!
I rated the trip a 3, not because I caught fish, but because others obviously were. There are some great fish in the lake, judging by the fish I saw rising and swirling on top. A wonderful lake with lots of natural cover. It'll be on my short list of lakes to return to another day! Learned a lot this time out! Tight lines all!

guitarfisher

6/30/2012 9:48:00 PM

Nice report - thanks! I haven't fished Armstrong, but have been lately thinking about trying the fly rods there. How was the water quality/clarity? I've heard it can get quite soupy.

Stansjoy

7/1/2012 8:15:00 AM

Thanks, guitarfisher. Water was definitely stained brown, but not unusual with all those snags. WALakes map shows maximum depth at only 25', so water clarity could be a real problem. Not real bad yesterday. Lots of top water stuff (leaves, flowers, etc.) from the surrounding vegetation... but all that vegetation is what makes for great fly-fishing! By all means, give it a go sometime! Just think, "super-fast Dragonfly nymphs!!!"

Bobber_Dogging_Gal

3/25/2015 11:45:00 AM

Although from 2012, still a good story to read. I am new to this site and would like to meet members from this area to fish with. I'm from Arlington and fish Armstrong and the Stilly regularly.

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