Food Sources For Lake Trout
By Cameron Larsen, Thu Dec 8th
We previously discussed favorite lairs of lake trout, thisarticle will focus on food sources of lakes. While many of thesame patterns that are used frequently in river fly fishing willalso apply in lake fishing. There are some different areas ofconcentration for lakes.
First of all let me state that this is intended as a generalsource of information. There is nothing like first handinformation for the lake you are intending to fish. Either byobservation, collection of samples, or talking with locals,direct information about your location is always the best.However there are some generalities and some fundamentalinformation that can be applied to lakes in general.
I keep several fly boxes dedicated to just lakes, they arefilled with midges, mosquitoes, scuds, damsel and dragons,leeches, buggers, crayfish, and terrestrials.
Midges are of primary importance to lake fishers. They are smallworm-like in shape, and are in abundance in the majority of lakehabitat. They are a reliable food source for lake trout, and canemerge every month of the year that the lake is ice free.Reliable patterns include, chironimid pupa, rs-2 emerger, wd-40,and for low visibility situations the disco midge can't be beat.And for dry fly fishing try the Griffith Gnat as well as smallparachute patterns, work very well.
Virtually every alpine lake fly fisher, knows the both the curseand blessing of the mosquito. They can both foil and save thefly fishing trip. Showing up unprepared in your fly box is badenough, but showing up without skin protection will quickly endyour trip. Mosquitoes are a hearty species indeed, hibernatingall winter to show up at the earliest possible time when warmingbegins. They drop their resilient eggs in shallows and arevaluable to fish both as larva and as adults. They can varygreatly in size so be prepared with everything form 12-16 indries, and use chirnomids for the larva.
Scuds are without a doubt my favorite food source for laketrout. They have high caloric content for trout, so they arereadily gulped. They are a great indicator of healthy troutpopulations. In fact, I know of no lake that doesn't have scudsthat does hold trout. I am sure they exist but they aren't therule. Scuds are simply freshwater shrimps, they are omnivoresfeeding on smaller creatures and vegetation alike. They can bemany different colors depending on their diet, but are mostcommonly gray, tan and olive.
Like midges they are constantlyavailable and are probably more desired than midges due to theirhigh caloric content.
Dragons and damsels are commonly found in weedy areas, althoughthey can be mud dwellers as well. Dragon and damsel nymphs havehuge appetites and their constant scavenging is what makes themso available to trout. Many fly fishers that focus on lakes arestudents of their local dragon and damsel population. Damselemergences are likely to happen several times a year most oftenin the summer. While dragon emergence happens relativelyconstantly throughout the summer months. Both are more valuableas nymphs than as adults. But that is not to say enticing astrike on a dry pattern is unlikely, they happen all the time.And as dry patterns they have the added bonus of easy visibility.
Leeches, crayfish, and forage fish are all food sources fortrout. They can exist in varying availability, depending on thelake and the season. But will not refuse these offerings,and they have the added bonus of attracting larger than averagetrout. They swim in different motions, and for most effectivefishing try to imitate their natural motions with your retrieve.Leeches are fairly consistent in their motion. Crayfish fly offthe bottom in a violent surge of activity.
Terrestrials are anything born on land, of most importance tolake anglers are ants, beetles and sometimes hoppers. Ant fallsin particular produce great fishing. But all terrestrial fishinggreatly improves with the aid of a high unpredictable wind.Concentrate on banks full of foliage where terrestrials might belying.
Mayflies are not to be ignored just because your lake fishing.Again get to know your waters, but callibeatis, Tricos, andHexagenia are all common in lakes, and their specific hatchescan result in some of the hottest fishing of the year.
Like river fly fishing lake fly fishing requires patience anddedication to excel at it. Different but equally as rewarding,lake fly fishing as gained in popularity, but can still offersolitude that can be hard it find at popular river destinations.
About the author:Cameron Larsen is a retired commericial fly tier and fly fishingguide. He now operates The Big Y Fly Company.http://www.bigyflyco.com/flyfishinghome.html He can be reachedat info@bigyflyco.com. This article will appear in the Big Y FlyFishing E-Zine atHttp://www.bigyflyco.com/Bigyflyfishingezine.html
