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Towering mountains add drama to the relaxing sport of flyfishing. |
I shudder to think of all the big trout I've spooked out of the shallows of alpine lakes by just charging up to the bank or into the water, eager to fish and elated at having the heavy pack off my back and the long walk over. I can close my eyes and picture their long, dark shapes darting for deep water, never to be seen again.
I've gotten better about that in recent years, but I still do it, especially on lakes that I think I know well. Now, when I top the last ridge or round the last bend in the trail, I tell myself,"Okay, just relax and watch."
Wading in and starting to fish too soon is the most common mistake fishermen make on high country lakes, or any other trout water for that matter. There are, naturally, times when you'll want to slog out up to your armpits and work the deep water, but that usually is the last thing you should try, not the first.
Let's say you've just arrived at an alpine or high country lake. It doesn't matter if you've fished it many times before or if this is the first time-step one is to deposit the pack well back from the bank and, from a good distance, survey the water.
It's difficult to describe the typical high country lake because they are all unique. But for the purposes of illustration, let's say this one is fairly small (no more than a few acres), has a rocky bottom, a relatively shallow shelf running at least part of the way around the lake, and a deeper hole more or less in the middle. It may also have a stream inlet and an outlet where the stream gathers itself together and continues downhill. There may or may not be large, exposed rocks, weed beds, deadfall trees, and other structures.
The surface of the lake may be peppered with rises-always a welcome and beautiful sight-but let's say you can't tell just by looking at it where the fish are or even if any are there at all.
The first thing to do is scout the shallow water near the bank. I like to patrol the shoreline for a while, staying, as far back as possible while still being able to see into the water trying to spot cruising fish.
The shallow water of a high lake (what's known as the littoral zone) is where most of the aquatic insects live and where most of the windblown terrestrial bugs are deposited. Therefore, it is logically the most likely place for fish to be feeding. You'll sometimes see single fish (the biggest ones are often solitary), but many high lake fish tend to cruise around in loose schools, making them easier to spot. Cutthroats, rainbows, and grayling are the most likely to school, brookies almost never.
How much of an area a pod of cruising fish will cover depends on any number of variables, not the least of which I like to think of as their current mood, but if insects are concentrated in a certain area (a hatch of caddis flies, a weed bed full of freshwater shrimp, or a fall of flying ants, for instance), the most active fish will probably stay in a single bay or inlet.
Sometimes they'll work erratically, milling around on a shelf for a while and then disappearing into deep water, only to turn up again in a few minutes, sometimes in the same place, sometimes in another. On rare occasions, I've seen loose schools of fish cruise all the way around a lake, taking as long as an hour and a half to make the circuit of a ten-acre body of water. I haven't seen this often enough to make a real judgment, but my guess is that it happens when very little food is in or on the water.
This tactic of spotting fish in the shallows presupposes two things: clear, still water and a good pair of polarized sunglasses to cut the glare. The way some polarized glasses are marketed these days makes them look like gadgets, but they're not-they're among the most valuable pieces of gear a lake fisherman can own. If the light is wrong or the wind has put a chop on the water, you can still spot fish, but it's a lot more difficult.
Rises, boils, and wakes on the surface will betray the presence of fish, but unless there are a lot of insects on top, cruising fish tend to rise only sporadically to the odd bug. You may also find that it's the smaller fish who rise freely to the surface while cruising in search of food, while the larger ones stay deep, looking for easier prey. Rises are always an encouraging sign, but don't get carried away and go right to the dry fly. That's an excellent way to catch a lot of small fish and no big ones.
Also keep in mind that trout are well camouflaged when seen from above, and just because you don't spot them, even under ideal conditions, doesn't mean that they aren't there. One of those big trout that I remember spooking came from a shallow bay that I'd studied carefully for a good twenty minutes and then waded into after having decided there were no fish close to shore. The fish was about an eighteen-inch brookie, and he'd been there the whole time. He was holding in about a foot and a half of water, and I almost stepped on him. I also never saw him again. Apparently, he'd just been sitting there, and that was the main problem. When you spot a, trout, you see a little movement rather than a whole fish. Once you've seen the first one, others will often materialize in the same area.
The point here is, always work the shallow water first, no matter how sterile it looks or how tempting the dark water over the dropoff looks. If conditions permit, that is, if you're not up against a stand of trees or a rock cliff, start casting from a position well back from the bank and work your way out. If you were right and no fish were there, you'll only waste ten or fifteen minutes. If you were wrong, you may be greeted by the wonderful sight of a trout materializing out of the shadows on the bottom, heading for your fly. That only needs to happen a time or two before the lesson is learned.
Of course, the first cast may spook fish that you didn't see, and you'll be greeted with the not-so-wonderful sight of trout fleeing in terror. That's when the wise fisherman laughs at himself and learns the lesson anyway.
© Article copyright Pruett Publishing.
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