Here’s a surefire way to catch brook trout on a warm summer day

This story was originally published in July 2022.

There’s no question that fly fishing’s premier method for taking squaretails (brook trout) is with a floating fly line and the fly box classic, a dry fly. The enjoyment of seeing a trout take a fly with a slurp or splash on the surface is as good as it gets, and it doesn’t matter if it takes place on moving stream water or on the placid surface of a pond.

Unlike the majority of fly anglers, I prefer to paddle a canoe on still water rather than wade fast-moving streams in the hunt for trout. Ponds give me a sense of solitude and tranquility coupled with soundlessness except for the calling of birds, the swishing of a fly line and the dipping of my paddle. It just makes me as happy as a Maine clam.

Fly fishing with dry flies on ponds is us