What better way to spend that spare afternoon. A quick drive to the local stillwater to grab a couple of rainbows for the smoker. Tie on a black buzzer, cast and strip it back slowly. In a short while you are into a big rainbow and they can fight hard. And before the afternoon ends you have a brace of rainbows for the dinner table.

When fishing lakes you need a rod around 9'6" for a 7 weight line. A floating line is essential for when the fish are feeding on top. You should add an intermediate line when you can; to get the line down deeper.

The reel will need a decent drag system so you can concentrate on playing the fish. And you will want to load any extra lines onto spare spools that can be easily changed. A straight nylon leader may be all you need on the sinking lines but a tapered nylon leader is preferable. On the floating line any kind of floating leader will do. If you have only a floating line consider getting a sinking leader of some sort. Tippets of 3x or 4x are normal but on still days when they are taking from the top you might want to go down to 6x. Your fly selection will depend on the time of year but should contain buzzers, marabou patterns and wet flies (e.g. Kate McLarens) in sizes 10 down to 14 and a few dries in sizes 12 to 16.