After a 3.5-hour ferry ride on the Lady of the Lake II and a semi-elevated hike, I began fishing at 6:00 PM July 4th. I began with some searching nymph patterns and didn’t get a strike. The surface temperature was between 61 and 64 degrees. (I was camped at Domke Lake Campground (north shoreline), one outhouse, established fire rings. Stuart Campground was ten minutes down trail. Across the water (boat access only) was Hatchery Campground.)

On July 5th and 6th I decided to venture in my float tube and found success 90 percent of the time when fishing about 20 feet down on the bottom. Because of the water temperature, the fish were mostly where the water was cooler. According to Sid, he prefers to fly fish for pleasure and use a downrigger when fishing for food. And that says a lot for a man who lives on the lake (at least seasonally) and makes his living from it (by renting boats, both motorized and rowing).

The lake requires a floating platform for fly fishing since the shoals are so narrow and the drop offs so steep. The lake is difficult to fly fish (depending on the time of year) because the fish are down much of the day due to high water temperatures in the summer.

The lake contains daphnia, chironomids (sparse), mayflies, damsel and dragon nymphs, and olive scuds (Hyalella). During the day, fish would be found in the reeds and shallows foraging for these food items; however, because of the clarity and temperature of the water, I found these fish to be no more than ten inches. (I did see a few birds of prey nab a fish or two out of the surface waters.)

I was able to catch fish up to 16 inches between 8:30 and 9:45PM at night. Yes, casting a fly with bats in the air requires concentration, but the fish seemed less discriminating at night when they were relying more on vibrations and sound in the water than on eye sight, and I got more action.

From the southern shoreline there are a few shoals you can wade in and cast out over the drop off. I found that dragging a damsel pattern over the drop off was successfully and managed to catch several 13-15-inch trout with this technique. Although one rainbow I caught was full of snails, it did not refuse the damsel pattern. And my largest fish, a 16-inch cutthroat, had about five damsels (one still alive).

For the record, I am a witness to trout taking adult dragonflies and damselflies on the surface. I saw 13-inch trout leap a foot out of the water for these morsels. Most of the action was during the mating rituals performed by these insects, which temporarily suspended them in the water. In a moment of passion, it seemed, they were careless, and the trout were very attentive chaperons!

In summary, fly fishing this lake is a challenge if you want to catch the larger fish. They will be in cool and protected waters during the day. The smaller fish will not be in protected waters and be feeding most of the day along the shoreline, therefore.

A last word of caution: I found many of the larger rainbows (12 inches and above) in full spawning colors. I am ashamed to say I killed one of these females. If you catch a rainbow that is more red than silver (generalization, I know), please release it if you can. Thanks.

---