After making the hike up quicker than I ever had; because one of the gentleman was completely gung ho about it and didn't stop as where I tend to stop and snap some pics usually, we arrived at The Loch at about 9:00. A little later than I usually like, but we were alright. I was surprised at their ability to get right up the mountain considering one gentleman was from Australia and the other from Pennsylvania, and they went on roughly a 10 mile hike the day before, in the park, with a fellow guide, Brian Harris.
There was no major visible action on the water surface upon arrival but I didn't really expect any. An occasional riser here and there but that was about it. We hiked around to the far west corner and set up shop on the far bank about a hundred yards from the inlet. There is a huge rock outcropping there that allows for the chance to see nearly the entire lake from atop. It also has great fishing right around it as there is a huge undercut below the rock.
I tied the guys on with some ants, showed em some pointers (see tip #3 below) and within minutes they were into their first fish; a typical Loch cutt, about 14"-16". Beautiful fish.
We continued to fish ants for another few hours. It seemed as if almost any ant would produce a strike as long as the pattern wasn't too big (size 16 or smaller for the most part). Also, they definitely preferred black and red more than brown or cinnamon.
After a while we switched it up to beetles as they had slowed down on the ants. Same story here and it definitely got em biting a little bit more around the lunch hour. We kept it small and simple. It seemed like the more complex the pattern or the bigger the pattern, the less bites we got. So like I said; keep it small and simple.
At one point one of the guys found a really nice point on the west side between our home base and the inlet. He nailed a trout and I ran over to net and release it for him. After I did that I started to walk back to the rock outcropping and halfway back he caught another one. This literally happened 4 times in the next 5 minutes. It got so predictable that a couple times I even said "alright, see you in a minute" and it worked.
The guys were curious as to how the wading would be and I told them more or less if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So they never did put on the waders that we hiked all the way up the hill with. Neither did I and I even got the very rare chance to throw some casts myself as they actually encouraged me too and when I did get into one, I probably could have used those waders as I had to walk into waist deep water to retrieve a real nice cutt that had hung me up some downed timber in the water. Got me breathing pretty quick, that's for sure.
The trout I caught was actually the biggest one all day. Just kidding! I did however feel happy with the chance to catch one and throw some casts with my backcountry rod and new reel that I have only used once, on a river. So it really has been properly christened now. More on that later.
After getting into a few more and seeing the action start to subside, the weather started to turn. The wind turned from the south to the north but on the lake surface, because of the huge mountain peaks, it started circling and actually started blowing towards the west. This created a current that extended beyond each point. It was really cool to see how the wind created a superhighway of lake nymphs and midges along each current. Along those currents in the water, trout were picking off bugs left and right. Most of it was unreachable, even in waders. So we mostly observed.
After the wind slowed down just a bit and the skies became darker... it happened. Loch Vale Trout Mania 2012!!! The craziest hatch I have ever seen on that lake. It literally looked like it was raining. There was more slurpees on that lake than in a 7-11. They were gulping the bugs off the top but you could see them up close actually chasing the bugs upwards. I figured it was a midge emerger and thus tied a few on with no luck. I started cycling flies like crazy and probably tied on close to a dozen during the whole time. We did trick a few with a zebra midge emerger pattern that I tie but even that only worked with a simulated emerger action that had to be presented just right.
None the less, I inquired later with the guys in the shop to find out that it was most likely a size 28 micro dun pattern. Their solution was to "during a blanket hatch like that when the trout are so focused on one thing only, something you can't even see hatching, throw a streamer or the biggest, ugliest, hopper possible." I had already thought along those lines I suppose as we didn't try the streamer but we did try a few big hoppers with no luck. I did at one point, having felt stumped, think about throwing a smaller minnow pattern in the hopes of a trout thinking my fly was taking his bug, but never did. I don't think it would have changed anything. They wanted one thing and one thing only.
After about an hour or so of mania, the hatch seized. The guys started throwing smaller attractor patterns and wound up catching a few more. The ticket at the end of the day was a Royal Wulff; size 18 or smaller seemed to be the key. They also missed a few on the smaller H&L Variants and a smaller White Wulff.
The sun started to slowly make it's way behind the peaks just adjacent to us and we packed up to make the trip out. All in all a great day and a great trip.
Tip of the day: Always go with your gut feeling. Maybe I should have thrown that minnow.
Tip of the day #2: When hunting trout, like you do in these situations, act like a predator. Think like a predator. Get down, on your hands and knees, stay still and if you do move, move slow. Talk quietly (signal if you can), walk softly. Stay out of sight. All of these things will help you catch more trout. Remember that everything these trout see move on the banks is a tip off. And believe me, it doesn't look silly doing all this stuff. It looks like you know what you are doing. Especially when people see how many catch you are fishing. And don't wear red hats! No red clothing period.
Tip of the day #3: Pepper Jack Cheese at 10,000 feet tastes awesome after sitting in a cool rocky mountain lake for 4 hours. (Thanks for the Tip Brian Harris).
The new reel: A Lamson Konic 1.5 (Line 3#-4#) with an Echo line.
Tried it out at the Vrain for about one hour earlier this week and could really tell that the Echo line was crazy lightweight. Not really my creek rod so I was really excited to use it in the backcountry. Verdict...I love it. Strips line off great, line casts great and even though we know it doesn't matter, it looks great too. But unfortunately, like I mentioned before, the one trout I caught up there took me right into this timber between me and him and I gotta say...that drag system on that new reel has yet to be tested. I think you got a pretty good idea of where I will be this weekend. Hope to see you up there.
Tight Lines
Update 9-5-12
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