Each year I invest a great deal of my time above 10,000 ′ fishing for golden, brook, brown, and rainbow trout. At these elevations trout have an extremely minimal feeding season depending upon snowfall. Stating this, trout are starving and will consume most anything to include extra weight for their long winter when the lakes freeze and other animals start to hibernate.
What makes this environment so unique for me is the landscapes I experience while looking for trout that truly do not grow than 14 ″ typically. The glaciers, in addition to tectonic uplift and disintegration are what produced these stunning lakes we get to fish.
There is proof of glaication all over when you start to browse. The image above is a terrific example of chatter marks and striations. If you look carefully you can see where the glacier ice moved over the granite rock and polished it to a mirror-like surface called glacier polish. You can likewise see the chatter marks and the striations it scratched into the rock. This image is an example of glacier polish and it is discovered all over the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, and Goat Rocks.
The image above is an example of the phenomenon called Krumholtz impact. Due to gnarly weather condition such as wind, snow, and freezing temperature levels, trees such as this lodgepole pine twist, bend, and fold stunting the tree and warping it. It remains in this environment that trout have the ability to hunker-down for long, cold winter seasons and when the ice defrosts out the fish are starving.
Here are a couple of flies I utilize at elevations with fantastic success.
The Black Ant fly pattern is my go to pattern for high elevation lakes. This terrestrial is an extremely essential food source at elevation where wind blows ants off of the banks, trees, and lawns. The trout will await an ant along the banks or listed below overhanging trees awaiting them to fall in. Hosmer lake in Central Oregon and the Sierra Nevada are locations I will constantly have black ant patterns with me.
Kaufmann’s Stimulator is another dry fly pattern I utilize at elevations. An Elk Hair Caddis will work too, however the stimulator has a little bit more “bling” that captures the fishes attention. I will remove this fly on the lake surface area and have actually found when the fish start to tear the fly apart and it starts to sink a little, it fishes much better. Typically I’ll utilize colors in tan, brown, gold, and black.
I was fishing a lake around 11,000 ′ years ago having a hard time to get a bite when the fish were emerging all over. I utilized ants, Elk Hair Caddis, even Parachute Adams without any luck. Then I kept in mind a person whom I provides a wilderness authorization to who offered me a fly which he called the Timberline Emerger. I connected it on and immediate weight on the rod. Years later on I would find that guy was Randall Kaufmann.
The Kaufmann Timberline Emerger is the fly I would have if I might just select one pattern at elevation. It flights low in the water and mimics both caddis and mayflies. It’s a should have for lots of guides and I have actually utilized it once again and once again with success.
These are 3 flies I’m really keen on in addition to a choice of Adams andHoppers I utilize 5wts. and leaders typically 9 ′ in length. Do not hesitate to strip and jerk the fly, specifically if it is windy. It simply appears like a bug having a hard time to fly away to the fish.
If you discover yourself out there in the wilderness practiceLeave No Trace Easy idea, leave the location much better than you discovered it. Let’s look after our land for future generations.
Tight Lines,
Greg
