Closed for the season

This is the last weekend to fish this high altitude lake. The Browns have been eager to fill there bellies with anglers catching fish on both streamers and dries. The bigger fish seem to be more willing to eat a streamer, but plenty of fish can still be caught on the surface. Black caddis, ants, beetles and small stimulators have been the ticket on top. Brown buggers, sculpzillas and baitfish type patterns have been producing on the tight lines.

Sometimes you gotta know when to hold'em, and when to fold'em, especially Mother Nature brings on the light show.  I finally had a chance to bring the (new to me) float tube out for a test spin, but being in the middle of a lake holding a graphite lighting rod seemed like a decision that would have gotten me nominated for a Darwin Award.  I waited the heavy part of the storm out and saw some amazing views of the downpour from the far campground.  Once it was over, back to work/play.  Andrew from the shop sent me out with an well selected arsenal of callibaetis patterns that were all gold, I barely had a chance to pick up the camera from then on.  I also noticed many little white butterflies throughout the whole area with some making their way to the waters surface peaking the interests of the fish.  Wrapping up the day as dusk approached I headed back up to Bend, however Mother Nature was not finished yet.  I was treated to a light show all the way home with the finale coming as I submitted Pilot Butte for the 360 degree view.  What a day!    

The best part about the Callibaetis hatch on East Lake is how predictable it can be this time of year along with the fact that an angler can fish every stage of a Mayfly hatch. In the morning the Spinner is present, by about 10 the nymphs on a sinking line are fishing will with a slow retrieve. The cripple and emerger will fish between 11am and 1pm and the adult in the afternoon.  

The dry fly fishing on East continues to consume most of the day. I had a great day fishing with Joe and his two boys we were casting mayfly dries to rising fish all afternoon.

It was bright and blowing 15-20 when we got on the water Friday afternoon. Not exactly ideal, but Don and Nancy are both good fishermen, so I knew they could handle a little adversity. Well, they did way better than that. Despite no bugs on the water, the fish were still looking up and quite a few decent 'bows fell for cripples and dries until the bite just shut off. We switched to intermediate lines and wind-drifted birds nests, landing several kokanee and a couple of browns. We had planned on stripping for browns in the early evening, but it was just too breezy and cool, so we called it a day.

Friday morning was warm, clear, bright, and glassy calm. I got to the launch a few minutes early and caught nothing fishing dries to sporadically rising fish on the flat, but I did see a float tuber land 3 kick trolling nymphs. Although it wasn't on our list for the day, slow stripping intermediate lines seemed like a good bet. Since we didn't anticipate much of a hatch and it was too early anyway, we fished indicators for awhile and landed several 'bows on red copper johns & soft hackle pheasant tails. When the nighthawks started working the shoreline, they were telling us that it was time for dry flies. Don's a good caster and Nancy was throwing it 60' by mid-morning, so it was 'bows and browns on cripples and dries for the next few hours. Interestingly, the fish liked sparser ties early but bushier patterns after awhile . . . just another reminder to listen to what the fish are saying and to keep up with the changes. Oh, congratulations Nancy for being Ms. first, most, and big fish on Saturday! Props to Don for resisting the temptation to fish her water despite her getting bit on nearly every cast. Tight lines - Jeff

East has been our best option of the area lakes. Lots of fish being caught, most on various stages of calibeatis. When the wind stays reasonable, it has been productive fishing on the surface. When the wind picks up, drifting calibeatis nymphs keeps the the catching consistent. A dry dropper combo is a great bet, with an extended body calibeatis or Hackle Stacker in combo with a epoxyback calibeatis nymph or bird's nest. When wind drifting, clear intermediate lines are the best option. The hatch starts up by around 11am or so, but you can draw strikes on the surface before most of the bugs are "out". The wind is the biggest factor in your surface success.

East Lake was a lot of fun this week. Three really good guys from Jeld-Wen fished Thursday afternoon and were in the kokanee and a few browns the whole time wind-drifting calebaetis and birds nest nymphs in the deep water near the hump. Big Dave, a saltwater fly-guy from Massachusetts, was on fire, and Curt from Redmond wasn't far behind. Fly fishing newbie Tyler from Bristol Rhode Island picked up casting very quickly, landed several nice fish, and has been severely bitten by the fly fishing bug.

Friday was another solid day, with Grandpa Norm, Uncle Jim, and 11 year Rowan enjoying their 1st trip to East while touring the West from Wisconisn. We got a few on dries -- you've got to check out the extended body baetis at the shop -- and a couple nymphing, but again, it was wind-drifting that really paid off. I was especially happy for Rowan, a neat kid who's seriously into fishing but hadn't fly fished at all before. By the end of the day, he was strip-striking and playing his fish like a pro, although a good sized brown did take him to school on the art of fighting big fish on light tackle. Oh well, like most of us, the big one that got away will keep him coming back . . . .

Saturday was rainy, windy, and cloudy with occasional thunder claps and I was concerned that Bob Price from Broken Top might not have the kind of day he was hoping for. Well, I needn't have worried: Bob was a great guy in the boat, and it turned out to be one of my most fun days of the season. He's an excellent caster, and a sporadic mayfly hatch provided good dry fly fishing on a light Sage TXL 4 weight throughout the day. Bob didn't miss many fish and landed lots of trout, including some browns, 'bows, and one atlantic salmon that were a little bigger than the East Lake average. It was a good sign for the future of the fishery that almost half of Bob's fish were fat, healthy looking browns. Thanks Bob for your company, lunch at the lodge, and a great day on the water. Tight lines - Jeff

I fished East today with Dan, Lloyd, and Dano. The dry fly fishing was good, but the laughs and stories were what made the day. The fish were on the Birds Nest as a dropper and the Extended Body Calibaetis as the adult.

Tight Lines, Scott

What a beautiful day on East Lake! Sunny, fairly calm, and warm. Brothers-in-law Jim and Frank were mercifully spared the Sisters Quilting Show and sent fishing by their wives. Jim is an experienced but out-of-practice fly fisherman who got his stroke back in no time. Frank hadn't fly fished at all before but picked it up pretty quickly and landed his share of 'bows, browns, kokanee, and atlantics. There was a minor hatch and a little dry fly action, but we went with indicators and nymphs early in search of bigger fish. We found some on every stop and just moved down the bank a little as they got jaded and turned off. Red Copper Johns with soft-hackle droppers were the best combination for the gold-hued East rainbows and a couple of browns. Typically, the bite slowed around 2:00 when the light penetration just got to be too much, so we wind-drifted baetis nymphs and landed a mix of kokanee & browns on every pass. A pair of eagles worked the lake for awhile but gave up before an osprey caught the largest rainbow I've seen at East in awhile. I guess that's the way it should be since she was fishing for a living, eh? All-in-all, it was a good day on the water with two really great guys. Tight lines - Jeff

Thursday July 7, 2011-

Getting on the water around 9am is a nice scenario in Central Oregon. The dry fly fishing on East Lake is hot all summer long, it's just a given. That being said, the trials with which the rainbows, browns, and occasional atlantic salmon are caught can be quite precocious. Early morning hours may hold a key hidden beneath the surface of the gurgling sulpher springs that frequent the fish and their feeding tendencies.

Motoring out to the far end of the lake and posting a jerry-rigged rock beneath the sled made for immediate satisfaction as the cool morning air gave way to emerging gnats. We tried our hands at a size 16 griffith's gnat with effeciency early and often. The fly was so popular in fact, that we stayed with it for most of the morning. The dun calabaetis in size 18-20 produced more ferocious strikes with gaining frequency as the morning passed into early afternoon.

After losing my fly vest to the winds that be while barreling up highway 97 to East, my nerves were calmed once the fly line hit the water and fish were striking. The numbers were large this morning and all of the fishing was done on dries. Get out there, it's hot and they're willing!

There wasn't much of a hatch or dry fly action 10 days ago despite two of us fishing hard for 3 hours. There were a few trout working a ladybug hatch, something we hadn't seen before and couldn't match. The good news was that we caught fish everywhere on indicators. Lots of rainbows and one 19" brown loved Jumbo JuJus, red chironomids, and soft hackle calebaetis. It was the same story last Friday with very nice Father-Son clients on a college graduation trip. We were in the rainbows and atlantic salmon all morning, and when the wind came up, we had a pretty good kokanee bite wind-drifting baetis nymphs behind buggers. Hopefully, trapping 70,000 chub last year will mean more of a baetis hatch and some good dry fly action coming up. Tight lines - Jeff