Fishing Small Lakes
Small lakes make a great fishing destination on those days when you want more success and less size. With less water to cover, you can hit up structures like logs and weeds, shoals, and the edges of drop-offs for best results. Drop your bait into weedy areas, inflow or outflow streams, and the thermocline – the area between the warm surface water and the cold deep water – where fish like to hang out.
Explore a new lake by working searching-type lures and flies near subsurface structures of the water. Equip yourself with a good depth chart map and, even better, a depth finder. Depth finders give you a level of detail on underwater structures that no map can match. You may also find polarized glasses to be indispensable when fishing lakes or streams. These special lenses help you spot fish or underwater structures that both your map and depth finder might miss.
To attract those fish that you find, set up a lake troll in your boat with a short leader, a Wedding Band and bait. Work the area just off the drop-off in a figure-eight pattern to vary the direction, depth and speed of the fly. If you opt to fish from the shore, try casting along the shore or towards a fallen log, weed bed or drop-off. Cast small spinners, spoons with bait, such as worms, and bobbers for a good ol’ fashioned angling experience. When fly fishing, make sure to match your bait to the current hatch!
When the water warms up during late spring, move to higher elevation lakes for better fishing. Move higher still as the weather warms, and you will able to fish right up until the lakes cool down in the fall. High elevation walk-in lakes offer great fly-fishing during their limited season, which runs from June to October. Note that fish will be more active when light penetrates the water, so a later morning start will be fine. If you find murky water, move on – this means the lake is experiencing turnover and so the fish will rarely bite. As autumn approaches, move back down to lower elevations.
TIPS
- Some recommended baits include the Panther Martin (silver or black), Mepps Black Fury or Blue Fox.
- Great lures include the Deadly Dick, small Dick Nite, Flatfish and Kamlooper.
- For spoons, try Flatfish, Krocodile or Little Cleo, or a leech pattern for fly fishers.
- Some great all-purpose trolling flies are Carey Specials, Woolly Buggers, and Doc Spratleys.
- When trolling for cutthroat, try a silver Muddler Minnow or other baitfish patterns.
- Always watch for bait restrictions!
- Smaller lakes are a great place to fish rainbow, brook and cutthroat trout.
