Free: Contests & Raffles.
It’s probably not what you want to hear, but skip the DEET. If I you it on your line or lure I think you will catch far less if anything. A roostertail early or late in the day should work. Maybe try a smaller size next time. If fish are rising and you don’t flyfish try a fly with a casting bubble. And don’t forget to enjoy the scenery! Those alpine lakes are spectacular here in Washington.
FIW, DEET eats nylon, dissolves it or something, so it puts holes in nylon fabric windbreakers, sleep pads, etc. I have never tested it on mono fishing line but guess that it will eat that as well if you get some from fingers onto line or leader, weakening or breaking the line.Mega ditto re casting bubbles.I will provide the snide comment from men with far north experience: if you could count the mosquito bites the bugs were not bad.
Big fan of Kastmaster spoons, 1/4 ounce, fish with a jerking retrieve, almost as if you're jigging it back. Silver, Gold, Silver/Orange, Silver/Blue, and our favorite, Metallic Perch, which we call the CK or cutthroat killer. Second the advice on casting bubbles with flies, but they can be filled and trolled with a wooly bugger, muddler minnow or Pautzke eggs or even Powerbait. The trick with mountain trout is to have a lot of tools in the tool kit, you can just about always find something that works. My belief is that the meateaters (bigger fish) are always looking for that bigger, better, different score, thus finding larger fish with salamanders, etc. in them, and if you can run something like that by them you might fire them up even during the summer doldrums which seems to happen during a long period of hot, dry weather. I just about bathe in DEET in the early season and have never had trouble with it and clothing or line. I use something called Crystal Fireline, 6 pound, which I like for it's castability and durability-you'll appreciate that when a decent fish takes you into rocks or around or over downed trees. I usually have something like Ben's 100 which is almost 100% DEET to rub directly to my skin and a spray to reach shoulders, back, etc. I don't get bit much but living in clouds of bugs is pretty much what you have to endure in the early summer where I fish. You can catch fish until the snow flies although most of us are otherwise engaged during the fall.
Quote from: Dslayer on July 21, 2019, 04:05:42 AMBig fan of Kastmaster spoons, 1/4 ounce, fish with a jerking retrieve, almost as if you're jigging it back. Silver, Gold, Silver/Orange, Silver/Blue, and our favorite, Metallic Perch, which we call the CK or cutthroat killer. Second the advice on casting bubbles with flies, but they can be filled and trolled with a wooly bugger, muddler minnow or Pautzke eggs or even Powerbait. The trick with mountain trout is to have a lot of tools in the tool kit, you can just about always find something that works. My belief is that the meateaters (bigger fish) are always looking for that bigger, better, different score, thus finding larger fish with salamanders, etc. in them, and if you can run something like that by them you might fire them up even during the summer doldrums which seems to happen during a long period of hot, dry weather. I just about bathe in DEET in the early season and have never had trouble with it and clothing or line. I use something called Crystal Fireline, 6 pound, which I like for it's castability and durability-you'll appreciate that when a decent fish takes you into rocks or around or over downed trees. I usually have something like Ben's 100 which is almost 100% DEET to rub directly to my skin and a spray to reach shoulders, back, etc. I don't get bit much but living in clouds of bugs is pretty much what you have to endure in the early summer where I fish. You can catch fish until the snow flies although most of us are otherwise engaged during the fall. I use one Kastmaster with out a hook on it to find the depth of the lake by counting down after I cast it out. If you can get your spoon closer to the bottom of the lake more often the bigger fish are down there, it’s hard sometimes to get by all the smaller hungry ones.😉
Quote from: Okanagan on July 20, 2019, 07:25:22 AMFIW, DEET eats nylon, dissolves it or something, so it puts holes in nylon fabric windbreakers, sleep pads, etc. I have never tested it on mono fishing line but guess that it will eat that as well if you get some from fingers onto line or leader, weakening or breaking the line.Mega ditto re casting bubbles.I will provide the snide comment from men with far north experience: if you could count the mosquito bites the bugs were not bad. Haha ok thanks
Old thread I see
Nothing to add but another question: There's a lot of talk about spinning lures which makes sense. But what about flies? Any recommendations on good patterns for a newbie fly fisherman? Also, is fly fishing advantageous over spin fishing in alpine lakes? My fly gear is more portable, so I'd lean toward fly fishing.I'm hoping to take my daughter out for an alpine lake trip in the coming months.
Chesterdog is that a WA lake? Nice fish!
Quote from: npaull on November 11, 2019, 02:45:53 PMChesterdog is that a WA lake? Nice fish!It was caught on a small lake in a Hancock forest management property in Washington. Our research showed that this lake was stocked pre-1950 by someone who had to hike them up in a pack. This fish is a remnant survivor. Super cool!
