David, keep in mind that Denny also covers tactics and gear for lakes tailored toward rod and reel.
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Kris, yep. But Iām sure Iāll be able to pull some stuff out that I can use with my Tenkara gear. Hopefully in 2022 we make it to the Beartooths, weather and Covid willing.
Thatās great David. Iām sure it will be helpful. Let me know when you come out here my way!
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I have been listening episode 64 of the Wet Fly Swing podcast featuring Denny. Amazing amount of information and has changed how I have viewed stillwater fishing. I donāt know where I have learned that I needed to fish lakes deep? I was under the impression that I needed to get deep to catch fish. Based on Dennyās information (and yours as well), I have realized that I have been targeting the wrong areas.
Very excited for this spring!!
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I suspected the bead head pupa was, primarily, used as an under the indicator kind of thing. Other than using a dry fly as an indicator, I donāt like fishing with indicators on running or Stillwaters, especially with fixed line rods. Fishing out of boats and tubes, I have read of anglers using Release Indicators with 30 foot and longer leaders in the BC Lakes, which is beyond Fixed Lineās capabilities In my view.
A floating line and a slow sinking leader are my most used indicators, other than the fly, itself. Thatās why my leader formula calls for 16 Lb. Test Nylon tippet material for the butt section - the size 4.5 Tenkara FC Line Sinks too fast. When midge pupa swim or are buoyed to the surface by their internal gasses, they often get tired and stop swimming to rest for a while. While resting, they slowly sink. Using a floating line and a slow sinking leader allows you to do several ascension presentations on a single cast, which is something that cannot be done with a bead head midge pupa pattern and a bobber.
I lack the patience to wait for a Blood Worm pattern to slowly sink all the way to the bottom and then to slowly inch strip it along, hoping a fish will take it before I lose it to a bottom snag. The larva spend most of their time in tunnels they dig in the soft bottom sediment, where they are protected and not visible to the fish but, I must admit that the larva patterns are very effective and do catch lots of fish, especially during the Spring Migration of the larva from deep tp shallow water and again on the Fall Migration from shallow water back to the deep water for the Winter Season, which presents casting and presentation problems that are much harder to duplicate for a shore bound angler.
Running water midges have Life Cycles that last from a matter of days to a few months, while Stillwater midges Life Cycles can last 2 to 3 years or more, hence the migrations to shallow and deep waters annually. Since the Stillwater midges live so long, they just keep on eating and growing, and thatās why they get so big, aside from genetic reasons. In the UK, the small running water midges are called Midges, while the bigger Stillwater midges Are called Chironomids or Buzzers, which eliminates a lot of confusion on whatās, what.
Most of the high lakes I fish are glacially formed depressions carved out of granite rock and stream erosion basins, so there is very little soft sediment for the Blood Worms to inhabit. The hard water contains so little calcium that scuds and sow bugs do not have enough calcium to make their exoskeleton shells, so crustaceans are rare. But thereās plenty of midges adapted to hard bottomed lakes and the terrestrial insects that the all most daily Up-Slope-Winds deliver into the lakes and streams to support healthy, if somewhat skinny, trout populations. So itās the midges and terrestrials that support most of the trout population where I fish. For sure there are some mayflies and Caddisflies as well, but for tonnage and numbers, midges and land based bugs are the biggest producers of trout food at altitude.
The typical high lake angling day will begin with a midge emergence around dawn, which looks like a light rain making rings on the water. Most anglers take this to be an indication of fish feeding at the surface and put on some kind of dry fly, which will seldom catch anything because the trout are taking midge pupa just under the waterās surface. The emergence will continue until the air and water temps rise and the thermal winds start to kick in, shutting off the midge activity. This slow down can be weathered by fishing subsurface attractor patterns that have a lot of body material and hackle movement built into them, coupled with your retrieve manipulations added until the terrestrial bugs start dropping in, in the afternoon. As the up-slope-winds subside and the temperatures fall in the evening, the evening midge emergence should start to close out your angling day with the final productivity of the day.
For sure there are other insect food forms high lake fish eat, things like damsel and dragonflies, mayflies and Caddis, water boatmen and back swimmers but, their significance pails compared to the midges and terrestrials with alpine lake fish. This is visual, Spot and Stalk Fishing at its best tight to the shore, easily within perfect Tenkara casting range. By keeping your rod out over the water and parallel to it to avoid the trees that are behind you, casting ahead to fish in the water where you have sighted fish targets that have not seen you yet, can increase your catch considerably on the high lakes.
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Good information there Karl. The other food item, which I usually start with, are leechesā¦specificallyā¦balanced under an indicator if there is a little chop. I agree, many of those tactics are better served with a rod and reel, which I use.
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Jason,
I met a fisherman that took the top two sections of an old bamboo fly rod and converted it into a short tenkara bamboo rod. He found a good deal at an antique shop where the three sectioned fly rod was a clunker but using only the top two sections he made an awesome rod for the close quarters fishing. He took off all the guides and tip top on the rod. He sanded off the old varnish and added a cork handle to the bottom section. Finally, he treated the rod with several coats of tungās oil. He made some type of loop at the end to accept a level line or braided leader. I tried it out and I thought the braided leader worked best. Just a thought in case you wanted to make a cool looking tenkara rod without spending a lot of money.
Thanks Mike!
That is a great idea. I want a shorter rod for small bushy streams and this would be a cool option.
Look up the Steeple Cast. It can help in situations like that.
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