I planed trip to a Leech and Bench lakes and finally managed to make it.
Thursday drove to White pass and got to the lake at noon.
Water was a little choppy with only two others fishing in their tubes.I chatted with a father/son duo in their tubes, he said he hooked one and lost bunch of them.
I checked water temps and lake warmed up 53 F with a blue skies and two ospreys hover around lake it looked like slow day.
I noticed nice hatch of grayish chironomids mix with small midge hatches going on.
Since most of the lake is about 6-8' deep and the bad of it is cover with light green vegetation,I put on gray scud on the 6 foot leader and start casting to the shore up against a floating logs, start picking fish,very brilliant bookies with gorges marks.
They would fallow my slow moving scud and pounded and turned as soon as I noticed flash of their body swimming sideways with my fly I would set the hook and Fish On!
Water is so clear you spot fishing for those feisty fish.
After give some tips to the father/son combo, they to started picking up fish as well.
Now I want to try for the big bookies I know are there, I tied new England style black streamer with tinsel body and tail and started casting to same spots.
On the second cast , boom! got fish on this time great 14" Bookie.
Than right after I picked bigger to my surprise 17" rainbow, I did not know they stocked with triploids two years ago.
Fishing slowed down, after good cigar and sandwich I started fishing with dries, this time Light Cahill worked for me on some more Bookies.
Now I started to see more cruising big fish in the shallows, gulping here and there big adults.
I spotted this big fish doing same cursing pattern, so I tied size # 18 caddis ( Scotch tape over the partridge father with palmered style brown hackle) Darryl Martin fly.
I tossed fly right next to a floating log and twitched just a little, fish came by it and made big swirl right next to my caddis! Oh Man! my heart rate picked as fast as climbing on my bike up to Chinook Pass on my bike! I twitched fly again and bang! fish hit it so hard, I had a 5x tipped on short leader and my T& T 3 weight now it was time for my rod/reel and me what I can do with this fish,
Fish took my line near my backing luckily did not run for the cover under the floating log, I landed him and took a picture, beautiful 20" rainbow, what a way to finish a day on the first time visited lake!
My lunch contributed to my success, I relaxed and took a time and noticed black caddis here and there and on my floating tube, my imitation was lighter in color and I used my marker to give darker look and it worked.
I think this is a great time to be there, days are longer lot of fish and no crowds during the week! Also you don't have to be on the water at 6 AM take your time , fish are feeding all day long. And when sun is down Big Boys start to feed on some big adults.
Time to tie up more Darrel Martin scotch tape version.
Bring your mosquito's stuff, sun blacker and box of fly's and don't forget to mixed up a little.
Guys living the lake with a Big boat said: it was slow, they did not move the fish, and patterns work there is green damsel and chironomids.I try different fly: Scud, Streamer,Leech and Caddis with scotch tape on it and it produced Biggest fish of the day.
It still Bookies are the ones I would comeback for it, something about their coloration.
Lastly if you want to share fly fishing with your wife, kids and others this is great water to be on, good camp grounds and not to far from major cities.
I will have some pictures on the web side, will post it soon.
Thanks for your time.
Les Korcala
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