u/aiceeslater

Will be spending 6 days in this area with family on a camping trip and it’s not an area we are familiar with. Looking for short or day hikes that have good mountain views or include a small lake to fish or jump into. Kids are 8 and 10 but decent hikers. Willing to drive to a good hike.

Thanks for any tips!

I’m a river guy. Always have been. Mostly fish dries late spring to early fall but do plenty of nymphing and streamer fishing as well.

I’ve been trying to fish lakes more but having no luck. Small ones. Definitely realizing that it’s a whole other discipline and I’d love to figure it out. With the rain in my area, it’s all thats available and there are some species like tigers and goldens I’d love to be able to catch.

Whether it’s from shore, a packraft or SUP, I’ve really only had luck catching rainbows, and rarely. The other trout species not so much.

I’ve tried chironomids but hard to anchor down the raft completely, never seems to work out. Too much movement on the water I think is my problem.

I’ve nymphed with really long leaders in 16-20ft of water with the self release indicators that come free on a hook set, learned the trick to measure depth and adjust indicators accordingly… nothin.

Casting and retrieving wooly buggers, nymphing them, balanced leaches, wire worms, etc… nothing.

5x, 6x, doesn’t seem to matter.

A couple times I’ve even sat on the lake with fish rising all around me, feeding on emergers. So I tie on a klinkhammer or similar emerger pattern and fish rise all around it but won’t touch it. Drop a nymph or chironomid 6” below a dry in the same situation and same results.

I’ve watched videos, read books and can put it all into practice out there but just get my ass kicked anyway.

I feel like paddling close enough to where I can fish a spot on a lake or trying to get close to rising fish must scatter the fish and the more I move spots the more I just scare fish and maybe it’s more that this is my problem over my rig/casting. Also feel like casting big clunky long leader rigs on calm water does the same thing.

Any advice for a guy like me that just wants to get success on a lake? Does anyone have a simplified lake rig that’s their go to for results? I’d love to hear it. Is there something I’m not considering that’s affecting my success?

I’ve got my eye on a couple hike in lakes I’d love to backpack into but would like to learn how to reliably catch em first.

In the area and would like to take my kids up to one of the falls but it’s a little chilly for them to be doing creek crossings