It’s an intersting year, or at least an interesting last couple of weeks at East Lake.
One note it the lake has recently turned over and there is a fair bit of debris/algae/detritus floating and that mixed with a S**T Load of Pine Pollen in some areas the surface of the lake is just yellow.
Fishing is pretty good, but I’d say at the moment not as good as normal for this time of year and for myself I am having to do really different things to get fish.
For example, I love to fish chironomids in 12 to 18 feet of water. It is a staple of my daily routine. I usually fish a Red Ice Cream Cone on the bottom and a black or olive chironomid 18 to 24 inches above the bottom fly. This year (so far) it is like crickets. Nothing. Zip.
What is working is running on the bank lines. Plenty of fish there. Some days they are eating Callibaetis, other times terrestrials. I am finding Black Beetles to be my best dry this year.
Yesterday they were eating Callibaetis parachutes, 2 days ago they likes a Brooks Sprout, 2 days before that a BB Callibaetis and one day last week all they wanted was a Harrops CDC Callibaetis Cripple. So everyday is different. It’s a game and it’s fun but it’s not easy.
Sometimes they key on spinners too, and that’s the other thing to watch. The spinner fall dance will be heavy and we assume spinners are what the fish are keyed on but if you look carefully the emergence of new Duns is happening at the same time but being over shadowed by the spinners.
Wind Drifting has been good. Some nice trout and a ton of small Kokanee. I am running a Callibaetis nymph on a Type 3 full sink on 5x Fluoro and running a tiny red worm (#22) as a dropper on 6x fluoro 20 inches behind the 1st fly. It’s very productive and great for kids and newer anglers who you just want to have a lot of success.
Definitely catching more on the type 3 than on an Intermediate but that can change from day to day.
Will be watching water temperatures. 65 now. 69 is our stopping point to keep the trout safe. A little cool down will be welcomed, including a big thunderstorm with some hail. That would be great!