BWCA Brook Trout on the Fly

[namaycush]

Any suggestions on fly patterns for BWCA brook trout?

Heading up on Sat. Also bringing spinning gear. Any advice is welcomed!

[thistlekicker]

I just got back last night from a trip into Cherokee for lakers. I packed the fly gear, and so paid close attention to what was coming off. Keep in mind this is a big lake and I was dealing with Salvelinus namaycush not S.fontinalis...

Anyhow...

The major hatches were:

midges, large "lake flies" up to I'd say size 10 and then also down to the tiniest you can see

march browns, size 10-12 (yes they were that big)

There were hatches of these large midges and mayflies popping all day on the lee sides of points. However, I didn't see a single rise (and I was watching), so I didn't get out the dries. And I decided to cast and troll hardware instead of bringing out the streamers. Spoons worked ok, mostly around midday when the sun was high.

It might be a whole different ballgame on a smaller lake with different conditions and dealing with brookies. But if you want dry fly action I'd bring some big march browns. Otherwise it's tough to go wrong with wooly buggers. let us know how you do

[DEADhead]

thistlekicker, I noticed a few of those huge march browns on the Dark this week. The only thing that bit and landed this week were creek chubs, sand flies, and mosquitos. Bring the bug dope and a head net, the bugs are bad already

I had one brookie strike but I lost him soon after hookup. Only got to fish for a couple of hours anyhow. They were hitting an orange scud. Not much interest in caddis or stimulators, even though caddis were present (tan with orange head). I saw a lot more fish this trip than the last, but spent less time on the river fishing.

My reccomendations:

march brown: sizes 10-12

adams: sizes 10-14

caddis EHC: tan, dark sizes 16-20

caddis pupae (sparkle): green, yellow sizes 14-18

scuds: orange, tan sizes 16-20

wooly buggers/streamers/clousers: chartreuse or white if the water is stained, olive, black, brown, sizes 6-10

I highly reccomend either a two or three fly dropper rig. You'd be able to search the water more effectively more a hot pattern.

good luck!

[namaycush]

thistlekicker, lakers on a fly rod sounds really cool. Have you caught some that way before?

I'll be fishing bearskin the first day up and mainly jigging. What kind of depth were you trolling spoons at? Did you try any raps or such?

Deadhead, thanks for the recommendations. Using droppers is great advice. I'm a fan.

How about hardware for brookies? Raps, spoons, and spinners? Any types of structure or depths to look at this time of year?

Thanks for the replies! They are appreciated.

[thistlekicker]

nope never hooked a laker on a fly. really want to try it sometime though.

i think it would have to be right after ice out, when they're really shallow. even this past week we were catching them in 20 FOW. seems like it's been an early spring maybe.

in any case we caught all of our fish on 2/3 oz Little Cleos, mostly along shoreline drop-offs, but I know some other folks on the lake were doing well with Raps, even out in the middle over deep holes. I guess they can be just about anywhere this time of year.

[Duffman]

I was up in the BW this past weekend and you could have caught lakers on flies. I saw a guy doing just that. They were surfacing all around us in 40'-60' of water. I caught most of my lakers within 5' of the surface on a small plastic minnow. 5' UL rod with 4 lb. test, it was a blast, 24 16"-18" lakers in two evenings of fishing.

My brookie was caught with a Rap.