Want to Catch a 15 lb. Rainbow on a Black Ant?
Lake Pend Oreille is without a doubt a world class fishery with plenty of different fishing opportunities to offer. Whether you aim to chase state record smallmouth, once-in-a-lifetime rainbows, energetic westslope cutthroat, or 4-foot pike, it has you covered in spades. The trick is to recognize the right time of year and the weather conditions.
One fishing opportunity that continues to get me fired up year after year is the carpenter ant hatch in May. Thousands of, size 10, ants take flight and litter the calm lake’s surface on the first few hot spring evenings that reach 70 to 80 degrees. Trout, bass, whitefish, and pike minnow rise to the surface by the hundreds to partake in this annual event of fine dining. When the hatch is hot and heavy, the lake’s surface looks like it is being hailed upon as hungry fish suck down juicy ants.
Most of the fish you find will be a mix between 12-18-inch westslope cutthroat and pike minnows. However, the opportunity to hook into a five-plus pound rainbow or brown trout on a dry fly is there! Do yourself a favor, leave the 5-weight at home. This type of fishing calls for a 9ft. 7 or 8-weight fly rod. The ant hatch is so prolific, that the large trout of Lake Pend Oreille will come to the surface and switch their diet from kokanee to almost entirely black ants for a handful of days.
Although finding these trophy trout is not easy. Not only is the weather and the time of the year a factor, but so is location. Think of the lake as a giant river. The water flows in from the Clark Fork River, and then it flows out of the Pend Oreille River. Since the lake is usually filling up from early May to late June, there is a small current that flows from East to West. Because of this, the black ants will naturally load up in the eddies. It is there that you will find your higher concentration of black ants, which translates to trout.
Chasing large trout on the lake’s surface with dry flies is kind of a catch-22. Generally, fishing dries on a lake requires 9ft. 5X or even 6X leaders. Needless to say, 6X leaders and five-plus pound trout don’t mix. Good luck, if you hook into a 10, 15 or 20-pound fish because they’re in there! To select the perfect leader, you must be able to read the water. Often, the lake is stained this time of year due to spring runoff, so getting away with a well-presented 3X or 4X leader is not out of the question. My suggestion is to have a 3X, 4X, and 5X leader and tippet ready to go at your disposal. If you feel the need to go smaller than 5X, forget about the hatch and throw streamers.