On March 27 the wind blew hard all day and most fishermen left early to seek shelter in their camps. Fishing reports for the day were none to one fish per fisherman with few exceptions.

March 28, Sunday, the sun shone all day, and there was virtually no wind, just the opposite from the day before. Surface temperature was between 50 and 52 degrees, depending on location. Hatch on the lake was chironomids, mostly black, size 18-22, with the occasional size 14-16 “bomber” making its appearance. Although there were some olive chironomids, too, only the larger ones were black.

Although I caught fish on other patterns—two on Denny Rickard’s Stillwater nymph (size #12), two on his Callibaetis-Peacock Nymph (#12), and one on a Pheasant Tail (#18)—most of the action came on fishing chironomids several feet off the bottom. Most other fisherman reported the same story: fishing leeches would work sometimes but chironomids were not failing.

Monday’s weather was akin to Sunday’s: sunny without little or no wind. And instead of 40 fishermen on the lake there were maybe 25, which surprised me considering it was a Monday. The chironomids hatched throughout the day and throat samples yielded only chironomids and some daphnia present. I overheard one fisherman note how much weight the fish had put on in the last two weeks. This was my first visit to the lake and I noted all my fish were fat, with the exception of one Tiger Trout I caught that had a medium build to it.

I found that using a large indicator acceptable when there was significant wind on the water; yet this same indicator would not work successfully when the water was calm. By switching to a smaller indicator, one just large enough to sustain itself, I would get strikes. I used 6X fluorocarbon tippet with Cortland’s Camo (Clear) Floating Line to be a successful combination on a calm clear lake. I had all my strikes by fishing closer to the bottom than near the top, as I believe these large fish felt more secure taking the fly farther away from the indicator and the surface. Also, when fishing chironomids, it’s important to get the fish to see and want your fly when there are latterly hundreds to choose from in trout’s feeding window. For this purpose, Brian Chan suggests using one size larger than the norm or a slightly brighter pattern. Although most chironomids were #18-22, I fished a #16 black with silver rib, silver tungsten bead head, and also found a #16 chromie to work.

I caught 10 fish (18-22 inches) in the day and a half I fished. I lost another eight (and eight flies) on the strike, mostly when fishing the suggestive patterns mentioned above on 5X tippet: when the fly is fleeing the fish will usually strike more aggressively than when the fly is sitting still. While using a larger tippet is an option, it may reduce the number of strikes also.

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