| McKenzie River fishing guide and Rogue River steelhead fishing guides specialist, fly fishing Oregon McKenzie River trout and Rogue River steelhead |
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Michael Gorman, Oregon Fishing Guide |
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Introduction to MG’s Lake Fly Fishing Book Copyright © 2010 Michael Gorman Reproduction of the text or photos are allowed only by the expressed permission of the author. I have some angling friends who have excellent fly fishing skills, but they absolutely refuse to fish lakes or ponds. It’s mostly pride, I think. They have a low humility threshold. Because lake fish have not come easily my these friends, they wade and boat only streams and rivers where fish --- mostly trout out here in the Pacific Northwest --- are more easily located and caught. For them, lakes are too demanding, too many puzzles to solve, and their fish-catching egos may get bruised. So when they meet with unsolved stillwater challenges they take back their ball from the other kids, and pout their way home. All good lake fishermen know defeat, as measured in fish-catching success. Part of the learning process. So why fish lakes? When my students at Oregon State University pose this logical question, I reply with three good reasons: elbow room, lots of fish, and the possibility of BIG fish. To expand briefly on these . . . River fishermen have their favorite spots. I am no exception. Stream fish hold in very specific, sometimes small, areas. Often, there is room only for one angler without trespassing on someone else's personal space. When the fishing is good and the weather is nice, other anglers may commandeer every single place I want to fish. Grrrr! River fish concentrate in relatively small areas where for food, safety, and comfort found in combination, greatly limiting locations where they will be found. “Small” neighborhoods that meet all three criteria limit the number of fish in most streams, compared to the more prime habitat and food production in quality ponds and lakes. Lastly, if a fisherman wants to try for a truly large resident, non-migratory trout, or a lunker bass, the best chances will be found in productive stillwaters.
Sometimes even a mediocre fly angler can put up All Star statistics on lakes. The fish seem to be everywhere the fly is thrown, and the pattern and method are not important to success. It is days like these that can create a false confidence in the fly fisherman whereby he (or she) believes he actually knows the basics, even the skilled nuances, of catching worthwhile trout in stillwaters. Rude surprises and frustration are only one fishing trip away for delicate egos. This book is for those who want to overcome the psychological defeat that we all inevitably deal with fly fishing lakes. Even the best lake anglers I know in my large circle of angling friends and acquaintances meet total defeat now and then. Me, too. There seem to be two camps of emotional reaction to being humbled on stillwaters: 1) resignation to only fish rivers and streams, or 2) embracing the challenge with a determination to figure out the puzzle next time. By reading the next 200+ pages, my hope is that you will always be in the camp with those who are inspired by a beating on a lake to turn it into a positive determination to learn more, discover more solutions to fishing challenges, and take pleasure in future fish-catching successes when you can correctly arrange all the puzzle pieces on a lake when others cannot.
For the portion of the introduction that immediately follows this paragraph, I received a mild chastisement for implicating that I am not the Absolute Stillwater Expert with all of the answers all of the time when it comes to catching fish in lakes and ponds. My young critic was troubled that I would admit that I sometimes actually get skunked, or catch very few fish on a given day in productive waters. Having fished with lake fishing “experts” and published stillwater fishing authors, I know that every expert has tough days when the fish refuse to be fooled by any fly fished with any and all proven methods. Should an “expert” claim otherwise, suspect their veracity. Now, let’s continue . . .
As I did in my first book Guerilla Tactics for Steelhead on a Fly Rod, you will find this book replete with my personal stories of victory and defeat, elation and frustration, to illustrate lessons I have discovered to be key in successfully fishing lakes. So this is meant to be more than a sterile fishing cookbook containing only lifeless recipes on how, where, when and what. This said, it is only appropriate that I start right now with a story.
Having owned a fly fishing shop (The
Scarlet Ibis in Corvallis, Oregon) for twenty years, I had to know how to
catch fish in lakes; simply, it However, even after more than forty years of fishing lakes, I have an occasional day when I am skunked, even on very good, highly productive lakes. Though these days are rare at this point in fishing life, I had such a day in the not-too-distant past: June 12, 2010. It had been more than a dozen years since I had fished lakes in British Columbia, Canada. So, in the late winter of 2010 I started collecting information on the lake fishing possibilities in and around the city of Kamloops. Over several months, I narrowed the number of waters to be fished in my week’s stay to five. One of the five was Roche Lake, a productive lake within thirty minutes of Kamloops. Roche is easily accessed and very popular. To keep the fishing masses happy, B.C. Fisheries plants many, many rainbow trout here. I had high hopes for lots of trout-catching photos and stories of glory during my day at Roche Lake. When fishing a lake for the first time, it is helpful to watch other anglers to get some clues about where and how to fish. On Roche Lake that day there was no shortage of fishermen to observe. There were float tubes, pontoon boats, rafts, canoes, and powerboats everywhere! I expected a lot of people; people go where the fish are, especially if it’s not too hard to get there. And, there were, indeed, many fish in this food-rich environment. When exploring a new lake, I attach my electronic fish & depth finder unit to my float tube or pontoon boat. As I kicked away from the launch site, I immediately had fish readings on the screen of my finder; so many readings, in fact, that there was no time in the first thirty minutes on the lake that I was not getting multiple images of trout swimming under and around me. I imagined my cousin John Gorman, my fishing companion on this trip, and I were going to have not just a good day, but a stellar day on Roche. With so many sightings on my “radar”, I was not prompted in any way to remember that Pride often comes before The Fall. Not today, for sure; too many fish, and too much experience. Moreover, I was fully prepared, carrying three fly rods on my craft, with boxes of killer flies to fish the top, middle and bottom of the water column. The fish did not have a chance! For the first hour, I bobbed and weaved through several dozen anglers anchored or kicking around in the bay in which we had launched. I watched and I listened as I mindlessly trolled leeches, scuds, chironomids, and my dependable Bead Head Prince among and over the trout that seemed to be everywhere. In that first sixty minutes I saw two fish hooked by no less than twenty anglers who appeared to know what they were doing. I suspect that at least half were local regulars, familiar with Roche Lake and its idiosyncrasies. These guys were not being any help. I was going to have to figure out the fishing on my own. Well, after more than seven hours, the expert from Oregon had landed not a single fish! Ouch! I could not remember a day in recent years when I had been as soundly thrashed by trout in a lake, especially one that had so many fish in it. However, my experience was not a total loss; there were adjustments I realized needed to be made for my next trip to this lake. Some of the changes to be made came from hours of reflection on that fishing day; others came from talking to several semi-successful anglers with whom I spoke on the lake throughout the day. My only consolation was that there were many anglers, including skilled locals, who recorded a goose egg on Roche Lake that June day. After my drubbing, my first inclination was to return to Roche Lake the next day to avenge myself. I had a revised game plan that I wanted to implement: earlier arrival, a few different flies, and a more exploratory, stay-on-the-move approach to locating willing, feeding fish. However, our schedule was tight, and my top priority was to explore different lakes during our short stay. There would be no immediate attempt at salvaging my pride. Maybe 2011. A full year to reflect and plan. Even though my ego was pummeled, I will be going back to Roche Lake, to make adjustments, and finally fool those wily trout that refused to bite for the vast majority of fishermen on my day there. Instead of resigned defeat, I am inspired to try again and again, until I find the solution to the puzzle. If I had caught many fish in the B.C. lakes we fished, I would not be anxious to return. However, now I must go back. Roche Lake will not beat me again. However, if it should, this will not instill a sense of defeat in me. Instead, my attitude will be one of determination, with a hint of anger in response to my stung pride. I will go back as long as it takes to crack the code. This is the kind of attitude (minus the hint of anger) that I hope to instill in the readers of this book. I know there is never just One Answer to challenging lake fishing. One discovery about location, fly pattern, or method may suffice for an hour or a day, but conditions and the fish in stillwaters can change constantly. Too often, there are multiple and changing challenges with which to deal. For instance, not only do fish re-locate often during the fishing day, but also their food preferences can change hourly, as can the effective retrieve of the fly, the fly pattern itself, and the depth at which you find willing fish. Changing weather, moon phase and the angling activities of fishermen crowded into a small area can all affect your angling success. Sometimes, the fish refuse to bite a fly no matter what you do. One of our challenges, then, is to discern whether the fish are truly “off the bite”, or if they can be tempted if the necessary adjustments are made. To be a successful lake fly fisher, you must embrace the challenges. You must enjoy puzzle solving. And, finally, you must cultivate an attitude to win tomorrow when you were “defeated” today. Besides discussions of effective fly fishing equipment, killer fly patterns, and seeking out excellent lakes to catch worthwhile fish, this book will help you formulate successful strategies for making thoughtful adjustments for those inevitable times when no one on the lake can catch a fish. If anyone can catch a fish on such days, I want it to be you. Start with the decision that it will be you.
"People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be." Copyright © 2010 Michael Gorman Reproduction of the text or photos are allowed only by expressed permission of the author.
Copyright © 2010 Michael Gorman Reproduction of the text or photos are allowed only by expressed permission of the author |
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Scarlet Ibis Fly Fishing Tours Inc |
was a matter of good business. I had to be the local expert. People came to me
for fly fishing advice and products. If I could enable them to be successful in
catching fish with the equipment and flies they purchased from me, I had a happy
customer who patronized my business and told their friends. To do this, I had
to learn not only how to fish rivers, but lakes, too. 