So you have entered the world of stillwater fly fishing for trout. You’ve seen the big fish on youtube and think to yourself, “I want a brown trout that big” or “I’ve never even seen a 10lb rainbow and I want to catch one.” I don’t blame you. I felt the same way. At least here in Oregon the best place to catch the biggest trout available is in lakes. But fishing for trout in lakes is very different than rivers. The line density plays a major factor in your fishing. Instead of needing one line like on a river you need three, then five, then 10, and then you’re crazy like me and you’re carrying 15+ fly lines with you when you head to the lake. I will tell you that 15 lines is too many lines, but they do all serve a purpose and they have all caught me fish one time or another. Before we get to too deep into the fly lines I use know that I also use a cassette reel. Orvis had one for a while until they discontinued it and that is the one I have. There are others out there like the Hardy Averon or the Airlite Switch if you want to get your own, which I recommend when you are carrying so many lines with you. (FYI the Airlite Switch is the best value reel on the market)
Airflo Sixth Sense II Intermediate – Fast Intermediate
This is my top producing fly line in stillwaters, full stop. I catch a lot of fish on this line close to if not more that 50% of all the fish I catch in a year is on this line. The taper is excellent. I normally fish three flies at a time (legal here in Oregon) and this line will turn over all three flies plus the long 15’+ leader with no issue. The line also has colored hang markers as well. That leads me to the next interesting feature of this line, it’s opaque and not a camo or clear intermediate line. Most intermediate fly lines in North America are semi translucent in one way or another. This feels like it would be more stealthy and therefor lead to more fish being caught. I have noticed the complete opposite with fishing this line. If you were to walk away with one new line for stillwater fishing, make it this one
Scientific Angler Emerger Tip
This line has been a slow burn for me. I initially thought that this line was kind of a gimmick. Fly fish Food raved about it and the UK anglers spoke about the washing line method with this line like it was the only way to fish. I shrugged it off for the most part. Then one day fishing a lake in Central Oregon in 2022 I used this line to fish a team of three nymphs; a beaded chironomid, an unweighted chironomid, and a callibaetis nymph, and struck gold! I caught a huge number of fish and the takes were incredibly thrilling. Since then I push people to this line as a necessary line. It fishes the washing line method perfectly from the shore or from a watercraft. It has virtually zero stretch like most of these lines. Most importantly it sinks and casts perfectly.
Scientific Angler Amplitude Smooth Anadro Stillwater Indicator
Most fly anglers have a floating line so you might be thinking why do I need another. I recommend this line because of the head taper and design of this line. You should keep your floating line you already have for dries or a short dry dropper setup. This floating line is designed to fish shallow washing line rigs or full indicator rigs. It punches well above its weight class. I was able to cas a 20′ indicator rig no problem with this line and a double booby rig on a 12′ level leader on the line as well. It have a dual color tip for easy viewing and a taper that will make your fishing partner jealous of your roll cast.
Airflo Sixth Sense II Sweep – Type 5
Sweep lines are so cool. The lines sink in a parabolic arch allowing you to cover multiple depths with a single cast. I can also let you fish drop offs a lot easier. The type 5 is my favorite searching line. It allows me to pull flies back a decent rate and probe the water column for fish. If I get a fish right away with this line I know they are shallower in the column. If I get a fish halfway through I know they’re deep. And if I get a fish at the end when I’m fishing the hang I know the fish are wanting to chase. If I can replicate any of those patterns enough I’ll switch my line to match the retrieve the best I can. you can exaggerate the sink rate by fishing a buoyant fly on the point. I do that almost every time I fish this line.
Airflo Superflo Sink Tip – 12′ Slow
This is one of my favorite shallow water lines. I like a floater a lot but If I plan to fish naked nymphs from the shore or fish over weed beds from a watercraft this is the line I use. At Diamond Lake this is my go to line when fishing slowly in the Northwest corner of the lake. The takes you get on it are phenomenal. Extremely positive so fish an x heavier than you would think. I’ve had fish blow off 4x like it was 7x. The apps worm is a favorite on this line and same with callibaetis nymphs. The biggest trout of 2025 was on this line!
Rio Clean Sweep – 1.5/4/2ips
This line is a bonafide winner. I was introduced to this line at a competition at Paulina Lake. The winner of that comp used this line to fish the weed bed edge and just slam fish. This line excels at that. It can allow you to cast on to the weed bed then pull your flies off and down the edge right into the fish’s path of direction. It can absolutely slam fish. It also sinks at a slow enough rate that you could use this to fish from shore. Rio also is the only company I know putting actual hang markers on some of their stillwater lines. The line is physically thicker and allows you to have a more obvious point to hang your flies. Airflo uses just color and Scientific Anglers uses a textured section that is way too subtle in my opinion.
Airflo Sixth Sense II Sinking – Type 5
This line is my ripper. When fish want flies pulled back as fast as I can this is the line to fish. It instantly gets off the surface of the water and you can start pulling. When the wind is ripping this is the line to use. I also use this line often in the early spring or late fall when the fish start going deep. I wish I could tell you more about this line but it really is just a full sink line.
I carry more lines and if you want to hear about those comment down below or shoot me a message. The main reason I have so many lines is because of the style of stillwater fishing I typically do. When you loch style fish lines play a major role in your presentation. You have to have a line for every wind speed. If you plan to anchor up you can get away with fewer lines. Let me know if you have any questions and we’ll see in you in the next post
