Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Backpacking Idaho-Trout lures?

Backpacking trip to Idaho.
Taking a packable UL spinning rod/reel.
I've got the small adjust-a-bubble for some flies.
What lures should I include for high mountain lakes?

Thanks

In lakes, I don't think you can beat small spoons like Kastmasters or the bigger Super-Dupers. I don't like spinners near as much in lakes as in streams. I've also used small jigs with good success, with little trout magnets/worms.

You can also carry a variety of flies to put behind the bubble. If you have the right fly, and the right cadence, you will do well. Kastmasters are more fool proof , but not as good as the right fly and cadence.

Small gold Phoebe's have been killer for my son who isn't a fly-fisher. As for flies, small wooly buggers (sz. 10-12), BH pheasant tails, BH hare's ears, elk hair caddis, and Adams all work well in sizes 14-16.

Where are you headed?

Order some pistol petes and a few clear floats.

Two ohter patterns of dry flys that work well in many areas are Stimulators, and Renegades.

Also, little black gnats...

Small Daredevil spoons, small Rooster Tails in non-exotic colors-the naturals seem to get better results for me.

I'd get an idea of how much fishing the lake(s) will get a year...I've been in to a couple that were "tourist free" and "untouched", but reality was that the fish had seen about everything I was carrying well before I got there.

Hard to beat a Pautzke's Green Label Balls O' Fire salmon egg on a #8 Eagle Claw hook under the bobber...just sayin!

Great advice!

I use blue fox and rooster tails, natural colors, small--tough to beat.
And the harder the lake is to get to...the better the fish and fishing. A full days hard hike might yield some of the finest mountain trout fishing in the world. You will earn 'em.

While hunting mountain goat I fished in several remote Idaho (X) lakes last Fall, some were stuffed with beautiful cutthroat and one lake produced 18" arctic grayling. Yes, large grayling. It was heaven on earth.
Other lakes yielded great brookies.

Not to hijack...but a few pics to whet your appetite...

Thanks to all.
Hey broomd, Those pics are definitely not hijacking!

We have used Thompson fighting lures with great results for cutts. Gold color with red works well

Awesome Broomed! I didn't know there were any grayling left in the lower 48.

Broomed has steered you well. Having fished a large number of mountain lakes in the Idaho mountains I have done best by packing a reversible handled rod and both a spin and fly rod.

The spinners which have done best are sonic rooster tails, Blue Fox, and Meps. I would suggest you take a variety of color, and take a couple of hot red/orange colored ones. At times you can see the fish lurking, but not biting and can get them territorial with the aggressive colors. Also, while the lightweights are generally best, take a couple of heavy spinners to be able to reach the middle of the lakes and get down to the deep pools in the middle for when it gets hot and the fish "disappear".

Definately, the more remote the better.

Check the IDF&G website and they have stocking records. If you want larger fish, pick the lakes that were stocked 2+ years ago. If you want quantity, pick the lakes that were stocked last summer. If you want size and quantity, pick the lakes that don't ahve a designated trail to them.

Good luck.

For flies I find the "Humpy" to be great in high mountain lakes. Red and yellow. Terrestrial (ant) patterns are great on the downwind side of alpine lakes with timber near.

Mark

Not really related, but this post reminds me of a day of fishing with my wife. We pulled off the highway in the Uinta Mtns of Utah to do some fishing. Having never trout fished, we followed the advice of a local shop for beginners; Power Bait of your choice under a bubble. I thought this seemed like a good idea as the 3 other groups of folks at the lake appeared to be doing the same thing. We caught a few fish, but I got bored so I tied on a 1/4oz red/white spoon. After a few quick fish, I tied one on for my wife. We ended up out catching everyone else there at least 5 to 1, with the largest being a 20" rainbow! I imagine that in this case, the spoons were enough different to be good for us.

Just over the border, into the Kootenays of BC, I love fishing mountain lakes more than any other fishing. I like Adams, Renegades, Pine Borer ( a regional pattern-very effective), Mosquito, Royal Coachman and in wet flies. Hare's Ear, Royal Coaschman, California Coachman and Carey Special.

Lures, I like small nickel and nickel and red spinners, with maggots or small Kamlooper, Gibb's Stewart, Deadly Dick or Wedding Rings,usually in red-silver, but, green-pink seems to do well with "West Slope Cutthroats". We have Rainbows, Cutts,Brookies and some Dolly Varden char in these lakes and most of them see very little action during the two months of snow free fishing.

The most effective is a log raft floating and trolling a tiny spinner with worms or maggots. This is legal, but, flyfishing "purists" tend to look askance at such angling behaviour....tough sch*t, I like to eat fresh trout.

Sir-

I'd just like to say that I am very jealous of your opportunity. I backpacked into one of the lakes in the southern Sawtooth Mountains a few years ago. Great hike and great fishing. I believe I will be getting stationed back there soon, so more trips could be in the future.

Depending on the time you go, a grasshopper fly will get hammered out there. Earlier in the summer is best for the rivers, before they get used to seeing them all the time. In the backcountry lakes, though, I don't think the trout get that much pressure and they would probably work most all season. Or just pickup a handful on the trail as you hike in and rig it on a hook.

Please post a few pictures of the scenery and the fish once you get back!

If, your comments are directed to me, I am currently learning how to operate this Panasonic digital camera a friend traded me and also how to post pix. here.

Fishing this year is a "no go" as yet, due to the massive alpine snowpack, constant rain all over BC and flooding, including major highways being washed out/blocked. Good old BC weather!

BTW, while HUNTING as in "Stone's Sheep" is highly regulated here in BC, fishing alpine lakes and streams is not and most of us prefer to keep it available to Yanks as we have done as we do not want the international "guiding" businesses to get their greedy hands on it.

So, all you need is a "non-resident's licence",some gear and the knowledge of where/when to go. The latter is the "sticker", but, I can help here and if you want to fish alpine lakes in BC, I will help you with some advice.

There are also "fly-ins" by choppers and three guys, maybe four split the costs, it is not bad and you can get into some incredible spots.

Edit to add - this is a quick reply directed at nobody in particular...

What little mountain trout fishing I've done would suggest they're none too picky, but that's based on limited experience in the north cascades of WA.

I've caught fish on small kastmasters, 1/4 oz and 1/6oz rooster tails in black, red, and brown, brass bladed and red/white bladed mepps spinners in 0 and 1 size, and probably some others. Lots of my trout gear is old and musty but still seems to work.

If I were to get back into it (and I will probably, as Thing 1 and Thing 2 grow older), there are lots of things I'd like to try - small krocodiles, thomas buoyant spoons, small vibrax, panther martins, and the like.

Obtain a number of open-eye siwash hooks sized in proportion to the trebles you'll be replacing - I choose replacement size more on equivalent weight than hook gap. Bend a very slight offset into the point (so that point is no longer in same plane as shank, no more than ~10� off or so ), and bend the point a bit back toward the eye so that the eye is pulling more in the point's direction (care in doing this will prevent you from closing the hook gap too much - don't overdo it). The offset will help the single hook point catch in a fish's mouth, and lining the point up more with the eye will help with hookset depth. I carried this over from saltwater salmon tackle in dealing with single siwash hooks, and it works great for single siwash hooks large and small. Crimp the barb down and you'll mangle fewer fish faces.

What PastorDan said plus damsel fly nymph and scud. phil

Good stuff Vek, a single hook changeout opens up possiblities for different trailers ( grubs, etc). Speaking of trailers, I found that the dressed versions of Mepps and Rooster Tails outfished the non-dressed versions at least two to one in AK streams for rainbows and grayling. I have no idea if this holds true for high country lakes as I've not had the chance to fish them, but that may change soon.