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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Dorsal view of a Kogotus (Perlodidae) Stonefly Nymph from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington
This one pretty clearly keys to Kogotus, but it also looks fairly different from specimens I caught in the same creek about a month later in the year. With only one species of the genus known in Washington, I'm not sure about the answer to this ID.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Baron
Baron's profile picture
Pennsylvania

Posts: 16
Baron on Jun 30, 2019June 30th, 2019, 8:25 am EDT
Has anyone been to Bear Lake in Id/Ut? Its one of those emerald lakes where the visibility is seemingly endless. I'll be there visiting with family next week and will have a 6wt rod/reel/line combo. I've read that the primary fish (Cutthroat and lakers) are deep this time of year and I don't have the gear for that. Would there still be smaller browns and rainbows around the grassy or rocky banks or must I move to streams to have a hope of catching anything. I am a small stream fisherman from eastern PA and have very little idea how to approach a wide open lake with hardly any cover. I'm willing to change target species and also location but I'd prefer to be in or near the lake. Any advice is appreciated as I don't wan't to get skunked in front of my grandchildren.
Baron
Strmanglr
Strmanglr's profile picture
Posts: 156
Strmanglr on Jul 1, 2019July 1st, 2019, 3:51 am EDT
Never fished out west but if I had the opportunity, I'd be heading for the streams. You'd have to pay me to fish a lake if I could get to the rivers.
Baron
Baron's profile picture
Pennsylvania

Posts: 16
Baron on Jul 1, 2019July 1st, 2019, 4:11 am EDT
My sort of thinking as well but there are Folks that feel the reverse. I feel lost in big water. I do tend to sell myself short but if someone encourages me I likely to take their advice.
The Logan River is very close and if nothing else it looks perfect.
Baron
Iasgair
Iasgair's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 148
Iasgair on Jul 11, 2019July 11th, 2019, 1:12 pm EDT
I just wade the shallows around rocks and weed beds if I can. I don't have a boat, so I don't get out in the middle of lakes.

The best times I have found are of course early in the morning and in the evening when trout are cruising the shallows.

If you do go deep, cast out heavy nymphs, or buzzers. Try an intermediate fly line or a sink tip line. I recommend a heavier rod for full sinking lines, like an 8wt.
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jul 12, 2019July 12th, 2019, 12:44 am EDT
Get a kayak!! They rock for fishing trout stillwaters, just search around in my posts and you'll see plenty of Stillwater trout taken in that yellow boat in my picture. Stealthy - even though mine is bright yellow, I have had trout up to 16" slam a fly right next to the boat!

Best of luck and remember, trout get BIGGER in stillwaters.

Jonathon

P.S. Strmanglr said, " You'd have to pay me to fish a lake if I could get to the rivers." By golly man, FISH ALL OF 'EM!!! No payment necessary for me!
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Baron
Baron's profile picture
Pennsylvania

Posts: 16
Baron on Jul 17, 2019July 17th, 2019, 4:32 am EDT
Well I had a great time proving I was a beginner with the fly rod. The lake was out of the question as it was more than my gear and my limited fly experience could handle. I decided to fish the native cutthroat and whacked a couple in Mill Creek Canyon near Salt Lake City. Then I moved to the Logan River in Northern Utah and I caught some more. I still have yet to catch a trout on a fly outfit in PA. But there is hope for those that continue to adapt and learn.
Thanks.
Baron
Strmanglr
Strmanglr's profile picture
Posts: 156
Strmanglr on Jul 17, 2019July 17th, 2019, 5:38 am EDT
Get a kayak!! They rock for fishing trout stillwaters, just search around in my posts and you'll see plenty of Stillwater trout taken in that yellow boat in my picture. Stealthy - even though mine is bright yellow, I have had trout up to 16" slam a fly right next to the boat!

Best of luck and remember, trout get BIGGER in stillwaters.

Jonathon

P.S. Strmanglr said, " You'd have to pay me to fish a lake if I could get to the rivers." By golly man, FISH ALL OF 'EM!!! No payment necessary for me!


I own a kayak as well and I do enjoy fishing out of it, on lakes too. I'm a water rat who likes to fish, so any kind of fishing is enjoyable to me. Nothing compares to fishing clear streams though. Exploring new water, what's around the next bend, making a perfect cast in a difficult spot, the seclusion, just the exploring is an adventure. I fished most of my life on lakes. Fishing has never been and never will be the same since my first trout river fishing. As a fisherman, it's where I belong. I would rather spend a day on a trout river and get skunked than have a great day of catching fish on a lake.


Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jul 17, 2019July 17th, 2019, 8:31 am EDT
Understood, Sir. To each his own! I did take my guests out to the Pine on Sunday, and yes, those crystal-clear small streams are just magical places, in fact I have new ones to explore around my new location (story coming on that eventually). To be honest, I have done much more stream fishing for trout than lake fishing, so for me the lake fishing is what I haven't done a lot of. Plus I just have some beautiful little lakes to go to, which also happen to have keeper-sized perch in both, so I can always bring home something to eat if I want to. And catching trout by twitching a grasshopper or cricket imitation on glassy water - well, what can I say? Brookies just blast 'em! And they also just started stocking browns in Reid Lake a couple of years ago, a lake that is loaded with minnows so there will be some alligators in there within a few years!

To each their own, plenty of trout to go around here in MI...tight lines wherever you go and however you fish!

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

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