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Lone...

5K views 41 replies 14 participants last post by  crequa 
#1 ·
Maybe the above header says it all...

Beautiful clear, crisp spring day. I counted ten boats on the water, most dunking chironomids. I saw two fish landed from ten to three pm. I myself did not get even one bump (not that its unusual). Fish just suffering some serious lock jaw. Water temp at 50 degrees.
 
#4 ·
Three of us fished it Monday. Water temp 45 degrees and major lockjaw going on. We only got two fish among us in about five hours.

It's been several years since I have had to wear the skunk hat on that lake, but I had to drag it out on Monday.

The fish we got were strong, nice rainbows............looking forward to when things warm up and they get more active.
 
#6 ·
Anyone got info on what was working? I'm aiming to head up there on Friday, work stuff permitting, and will no doubt split my time between casting/dragging some buggers/leeches and bobber watching. Re the bobber stuff, blood worms, balanced leeches, chronies, snocones, Any suggestions? I'll prob fish 2 rods to try to figure it out (hopefully) but will no doubt miss most/all take downs as a result.

If I do make it, I'll be the guy in the blue W/master. Say hi and I promise I won't say f'off :)

Cheers,

Dave
 
#8 ·
Good man Tim, I was actually thinking about dropping you and some of the other Lone regulars PMs to see if I can get a little more info. I'd love to figure out a good way for regular catching with a sinking line. Thanks to Santa I've upgraded to type 2, 4 and 6 lines so can fish any of the massive depths at Lone...I've read your outstanding 'how to' for Pass, I just get bored tossing buggers about with no joy.

Thanks,

Dave
 
#10 · (Edited)
Ok the novocaine finally wore off and I can feel my face again. Those guys are right, it's challenging there now. Another 5 degrees and first chironomid activity and that'll all change. Could be anytime given the weather this year but no crystal ball for me. But yeah it's the lull before midge season.

I've had a really consistent winter at Lone, going roughly once a week, and haven't once changed methods or how I'm rigged. Use your 4 and any search pattern you like. My 5 and a beaded fly are a little on the heavy side but I'm just pulling some line in when I need to, plus bringing a weed up every other time isn't a bad thing out there. All I'm doing is working along the bottom at a troll and retrieve every 80 yds or so. The strip will draw some of your strikes, plus you won't drag a weed around endlessly, they can be tough to detect but you want to be close to them. I'm also constantly twitching the line for more motion when trolling, and it cuts down a little on the boredom, but the hits are pretty hard to it.

Area wise I'm not covering the whole lake, that's too much travelling. Find an area of moderate depth, 10-ish feet, there are several good options there. Plenty of fish hang right off the bottom in that zone and it's easy to be seen just by trolling the length of a cast. Usually I'll pick a few acres and stay there, working it thoroughly. I'm finding it pays to keep moving around vs. sitting still, as they seem to be a little spread out once you find them.

The real game changer is in searching for the bite time wise, not just looking for fish in general. The bite comes on every time out, just at different parts of the day and it changes a lot. The only real predictor is probably if you went the day before and no weather change. Going once a week I just have to wait and see each time. Worth knowing, if it's dead all morning that just tells me they'll come on hard when it finally starts.

Also pays to check the bank occasionally, just don't waste time there when they answer no. That can work shockingly well in rough water/lesser visibility. I asked Jeff about food recently after hitting the jackpot like that and sounds like minnows are a possibility there, that would have explained it.

For the most part it's a grind there with plenty of fishless hours wondering when they'll turn on. Sometimes a nice push at first light, sometimes a couple fish for 3 or 4 hours work followed by 2 hours of good rallying. However they behave, being diligent and staying in motion near the bottom will bring a good consistent catch on the day if you spend the time. The fish have been in great shape all winter.

Good luck out there! Hit back with a report if able.
 
#17 ·
Fished on Sunday. Surface temp 46 degrees. Stayed out in 15 feet of water caught 1/2 at 14 feet set and half at 12 feet set. Best time was at day break. Balanced leach on all despite effort with blood worms and chironomid. Saw a few Chironomid come off after the wind died down. The game at Lone hasn't changed for me yet. Same strategy all winter on the bottom. You know the fly Jeff.
 
#18 ·
fish half day again today. mids coming off all morning & sporadic. fish were taking them here & there. couldnt get them to take my mid. finally hooked a brown just before getting to the take out on a very flashy white with silver minnow pattern. not really a lake fly. funny thing is the fish was snagged on the side ? did he whack at the fly & then get snagged or miss it on the strip then snag ? surface temp at 45 today.
 
#20 ·
A late report I've tagged onto here. I did end up going on Friday, blowing hard SW for most of the day. 48-49F. Tried the N and S ends. Caught my first chironomid, a beautifully tied gray fly with a white bead head, looked like one from last yr, the point had corroded, a really nice tie tho'. Tried dragging stuff and fishing re Tim's suggestions, no joy. Tried bobbering it but the wind made it challenging. Fished the NE bay and finally picked up a 12 in fish on the green meanie slow strip in 10 ft of water (thanks Mssrs Dodds and Lockhart). Had an LDR in the same spot next pass the nothing. I'm looking forward to finding a day to fish when the wind is under 5 mph, shit I'd even take 10. I saw a couple of flies come off but nothing moving on top, not that I could have seen them given the chop

Dave
 
#24 ·
Not all lakes would support the browns though. I'm not a biologist, but I do know that the regional biologist in many of the zones have attempted all sorts of experiments with browns, tigers, cuts, etc... and sometimes a certain species just doesn't cut it in a water system for some reason and as biologist they don't always understand why.
 
#25 ·
Lone fished decent for us yesterday but certainly not hot. We got on a couple decent indicator bites but man Ira and I missed a lot of fish! Not sure what was going on there but it was take down central without a ton of hookups for a while.

Almost all of our action came on fairly large profile profile flies hung off the bottom in about 10 feet of water. A pattern tied by @troutpocket seemed to be the hottest. Ira knows more about it than I but I believe it's something of a Rickards inspiration, tied balanced. That one was hot yesterday.

All fish were fat, spunky, and made a good showing of themselves. Several were beautifully colored up.

@Jeff Dodd rowed out and joined us for a bit in his awesome little aluminum. Nice seeing you Jeff!

Crazy wind storm kicked up for about 45 minutes mid morning. It cleared everyone off the lake and after fighting through it we had the water to ourselves for the rest of the day it seemed. Turned out to be a decent day after that excitement.
 
#37 ·
I was able to fish with the King of Freshwater (Ira) and the King of Saltwater (Nick) on the same day! Funny how people show up on the same body of water on the same day and launch at the same time (unless you forgot your trolling motor battery) and then never fish side by side the rest of the day! I also was on Lone on Sunday until the wind and rain came abruptly and I decided to leave.
I landed two nice fish and missed 3 others while trolling an intermediate line. The productive fly was a bright green carey special with silver wrap. this stupid colored fly works very well on west side lakes but does nothing east of the mountains - go figure. I started with various bugger patterns and got no action. as soon as I put on the carey, I started getting hits. SLOW troll/drift in the middle of the lake.

still not sure if I should have headed east - but it was fun to meet up with the guys.

dp
 
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