Big Twin Lake Report 9.9.16
On Thursday, I had a fun afternoon outing on the Big Twin Lake in the beautiful Methow Valley. Light pressure, mid 70s, light winds, just a gorgeous, beautiful day.
I had a few small fish right off the bat by casting a waterboatman pattern something I like to use in the fall. I managed a few stronger grabs that didn’t stick - and then I saw a large fish that looked 20" follow it to the surface but did not commit. Other anglers that I interviewed reported the same: lots of small fish, no heavies. I was very happy with my setup: an Echo rod/reel combo throwing a RIO Clear 'Camo Lux’ intermediate line with 5 foot 3X level tippet. I wonder though-.those bigger fish can be wily, perhaps I should have tapered it down to 4X? Hmmm.
Looking for a new setup? Pick and choose your gear here
So, I put on a dragon nymph pattern on the same set up and caught another lil’ rainbow while trolling to the south end area where I could see a hatch was starting-
I guess anglers should expect the Pale Evening Dun (PEDs) hatch at Big Twin in the fall because it was prolific! I did see some much larger snouts and riseforms. Smaller PEDs in size 16, 18 even 20 imitations including spent/spinners and long leaders would have been the ticket. I was not prepared for the technical floating line fishing. I did have a dry line however; I only had a #14 comparadun PED dry. This I cast well into the night getting a few halfhearted slurps and missing all except the lesser experienced fish- I’m betting that prior to the evening surface action, a light yellow colored mayfly nymph/emerger pattern cast and retrieved on that clear camo intermediate would have been smart too-. lesson learned. I’ll definitely be back here to try more exciting stillwater techniques on these challenging fish.
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Quality fisheries like Big Twin Lake in Winthrop, WA don’t give up their secrets easily-next time: Little Twin Lake-
This report was provided by our local shop friend Steph.