Any standard dries. I've not been there for years, but last time they ate everything I threw.
Alpine lake flie suggestions?
So im fishing the 7 lakes basin on the peninsula soon and was wondering what kind of flies I should be using.
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If I were limited to a single fly for the alpine lakes it would be a size 12 soft hackle with a dark olive spun body with wire rib. In addition to a floating line I would also be equipped with a extra spool or reel with a sinking line. That fly has saved many trips and has become go to fly if I must catch a fish.
Curt
Curt
Something that floats. As a backup, something that sinks. It usually really is that easy. Usually.
I'll echo that. I've hiked most wilderness trails in Washington (and wrote 17 guidebooks about them) and fished many of the alpine lakes in the Cascades and Olympics. In every season, in almost every lake, fish would rise for dries. Basic attractors are great -- my favorite and most productive fly is a small (#16 or #18) royal wulff. Small Flying Ants and basic Elk Hair Caddis work, too (again, #16 is great -- but #14 or #18 works at times). But be prepared to offer something big and meaty, too. Hoppers and big foam stones can be effective -- Donna nailed a 20-inch rainbow out of a lake in the Pasayten a couple weeks ago using a big-assed foam-bodied Golden Stone.Any standard dries. I've not been there for years, but last time they ate everything I threw.
Be patient. Toss the fly out and let it sit -- maybe a twitch or two now and again. But let the fish come to the fly -- Donna is a master at this (I get antsy and tend to want to strip in and recast too often whereas Donna will let the fly ride until a fish surfaces. As a result she tends to catch twice as many Alpine lake fish as me!)
Good suggestions. Only other thing I'd add is beetles.
SF
SF
I hiked the 7 lakes basin last summer. I did not fish, but there were a couple of guys fly fishing near our camp at Lunch Lake. They had not caught anything when I talked to them. There were a lot of fishing jumping in the lake but they were all dinks. Morganroth requires a cross country hike, but it is in plain site of the trail. I suspect it gets much less fishing pressure and may have better fishing.
That's a cool area. You'll have fun.
Ditto that - or a similar one that has always produced for me is a grey soft hackle with a grey partridge tail. or no tail, standard grey soft hackle.If I were limited to a single fly for the alpine lakes it would be a size 12 soft hackle with a dark olive spun body with wire rib. In addition to a floating line I would also be equipped with a extra spool or reel with a sinking line. That fly has saved many trips and has become go to fly if I must catch a fish.
Curt
In my earliest days of alpine lake fishing - even before I had a fly rod - I would troll a spruce fly behind a small raft. Not sure why that fly would always produced ... suggestive of a small fish? or maybe it didn't matter, anything would have worked, but that's what I was told to use so I used it.
For dries one of my favorites always was a standard adams. when I was new to FF I reasoned that it could imitate a mosquito ... and there were lots of mosquitos ... and trout snarfed my fly ... ergo ...I'll echo that. I've hiked most wilderness trails in Washington (and wrote 17 guidebooks about them) and fished many of the alpine lakes in the Cascades and Olympics. In every season, in almost every lake, fish would rise for dries. Basic attractors are great -- my favorite and most productive fly is a small (#16 or #18) royal wulff. Small Flying Ants and basic Elk Hair Caddis work, too (again, #16 is great -- but #14 or #18 works at times). But be prepared to offer something big and meaty, too. Hoppers and big foam stones can be effective -- Donna nailed a 20-inch rainbow out of a lake in the Pasayten a couple weeks ago using a big-assed foam-bodied Golden Stone.
Be patient. Toss the fly out and let it sit -- maybe a twitch or two now and again. But let the fish come to the fly -- Donna is a master at this (I get antsy and tend to want to strip in and recast too often whereas Donna will let the fly ride until a fish surfaces. As a result she tends to catch twice as many Alpine lake fish as me!)
reality is it is a great attractor dry ... mayflies, chronomid, maybe mosquito. I keep it smallish.
that is a gorgeous fish ... it's been a while since I caught a brookie. I forgot how beautiful they are.View attachment 121495 View attachment 121494 Enjoy your hike up there and if you get a chance head down to Hoh lake for a few hours. I had a blast catching small brooks on an assortment of dry flies. Watch for bears as this guy walked right out in front of me as I was walking along the High Divide. Have fun!
what happened with the bear? how did you manage to have a camera out right at that moment?
As I was walking back from doing a little fishing in the lake he or she just popped his head out stopped and looked right at me. I just froze as he was maybe 15 ft from me. I thought oh well, I might as well take a couple photos before he eats me. He then casually walked across the path to a patch of snow, took a drink, rolled in the snow and off he went not looking back at all. I couldn't believe it!
![Black American black bear Dog breed Carnivore Terrestrial animal]()
It's a different state, but ants and beetles just killed it here on a high alpine mission when the fish were snubbing their noses to the "standard" dry fly patterns.... it's always nice to have some backup options.
I was reading all the responses above and agreeing with every response. Then I thought of 2 lakes I hiked into this year.
At one lake I couldn't buy a strike to save my life while my partner was nailing them on a gold spoon. Since he fishes this lake every year and it was my first time there, I asked him what color the meat was. "Bright Pink" he said. I tied on a small Nyerges Nymph and proceeded to catch fish fairly consistently.
The other lake I fished with my brother. We tried every fly we had and only managed 2 strikes. I've fished this lake before and always did well with very small nymphs fished very slowly. Fishing larger flies and soft hackles never has produced well. After a couple hours of no fish, I shrugged my shoulders and tied on an Olive Willie Bugger. That worked. I caught several trout within the next 45 mins. I lost that fly and tried an Olive 6-pac of the same size. No fish. Went back to the Willie Bugger and started catching fish again.
So, while the majority of the time, the fly doesn't seem to matter as long as you are able to put it where they're looking. There are those times when the fish can appear to be very selective in what they'll eat. For this reason I always carry a fairly wide variety of wet and dry flies. They fit in 2 Altoid Tins that I glued some 2mm foam in. So, I'm not carrying a ton of flies and the tins are light weight. I just try to make sure I have a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.
At one lake I couldn't buy a strike to save my life while my partner was nailing them on a gold spoon. Since he fishes this lake every year and it was my first time there, I asked him what color the meat was. "Bright Pink" he said. I tied on a small Nyerges Nymph and proceeded to catch fish fairly consistently.
The other lake I fished with my brother. We tried every fly we had and only managed 2 strikes. I've fished this lake before and always did well with very small nymphs fished very slowly. Fishing larger flies and soft hackles never has produced well. After a couple hours of no fish, I shrugged my shoulders and tied on an Olive Willie Bugger. That worked. I caught several trout within the next 45 mins. I lost that fly and tried an Olive 6-pac of the same size. No fish. Went back to the Willie Bugger and started catching fish again.
So, while the majority of the time, the fly doesn't seem to matter as long as you are able to put it where they're looking. There are those times when the fish can appear to be very selective in what they'll eat. For this reason I always carry a fairly wide variety of wet and dry flies. They fit in 2 Altoid Tins that I glued some 2mm foam in. So, I'm not carrying a ton of flies and the tins are light weight. I just try to make sure I have a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.
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