Lost Creek 8/13

[Riffle]

Fished Lost creek for a few hours this morning. For me this reservoir has always been tough to crack with the fly rod. I had no problem catching numerous chubs (first time I've seen this many), and the occasional planter bow on the fly rod. There appeared to be large schools of chubs across from the boat ramp in the Francis canyon arm.

Water temp was warm at 67 degrees and it looked like most of the cutts were below 40 feet. Even fishing with full sink line I had a hard time getting down to them. Got frustrated and took out my spinning rod and began jigging a white tube. It was non-stop action after that. I'd love to figure out a way to successfully target these deep fish on a fly - any suggestions would be appreciated. Also have never been able to catch a tiger there.

It looks like Lost Creek has now also become popular with the paddle boarding crowd. Around 10 it became quite crowded. I guess everyone is looking for a way to beat the heat and stay covid free!

[Joe_Dizzy]

Thanks for the report and pics!

In my experience, fly fishing at Lost Creek Res. is a spring & fall event. Once the surface temps top 60 degrees the chubs invade. There still may be trout lingering, but sifting through the schools of chubs is almost impossible. I fish LCR from ice out to 2nd/3rd week in May and then return again late September. It's mostly cutts and rainbows for me with a few splake and tigers mixed in.

[richyd4u]

I don't have much experience on Lost Creek per say, but its seems like you were on the right track by going fast sync and getting down into that thermocline where the fish are. Maybe slow down the retrieve even more to make sure you are down, and if they like those 3" white tube jigs, try some large, weighted BH white buggers. Otherwise, sounds like you need to wait for cooler weather and water temps. White tube jigs are fun though!

[chuckbigflies]

Sorry my comment is so delayed but have you ever tried jigging with chironomids and balanced leeches right off the bottom on a fast sinking fly line? Its a technique I've tried at another reservoir with good results. The best way is to anchor up as soon as you mark a bunch of fish, then clip your hemostats to your bottom fly and drop the line all the way to the bottom until the line goes slack. Then reel in any excess line so that when you take off your hemostats and drop your line back down, the bottom fly is 2-8 inches off the bottom. It probably works best in 25 feet or less of water. Then do a subtle jigging motion until you feel any resistance and then set the hook. I've only tried it once at lost creek but it was so windy that I was having a hard time keeping my anchor in place to tell how effective it could be. In those warmer months, it seems like the only bite you can get is right at the bottom like you mentioned. Brian Chan and Phil Rowley are good resources for learning more about this and other stillwater techniques.

[Riffle]

Sorry my comment is so delayed but have you ever tried jigging with chironomids and balanced leeches right off the bottom on a fast sinking fly line? Its a technique I've tried at another reservoir with good results. The best way is to anchor up as soon as you mark a bunch of fish, then clip your hemostats to your bottom fly and drop the line all the way to the bottom until the line goes slack. Then reel in any excess line so that when you take off your hemostats and drop your line back down, the bottom fly is 2-8 inches off the bottom. It probably works best in 25 feet or less of water. Then do a subtle jigging motion until you feel any resistance and then set the hook. I've only tried it once at lost creek but it was so windy that I was having a hard time keeping my anchor in place to tell how effective it could be. In those warmer months, it seems like the only bite you can get is right at the bottom like you mentioned. Brian Chan and Phil Rowley are good resources for learning more about this and other stillwater techniques.

Thanks for the suggestion. Most of the feeding fish I see on my finder are actually not on the bottom but holding deep (say 40 ft in 50-60 ft of water). Jigging with a tube allows me to see the jig go down on my finder and to put the jig right at the feeding level of the fish.  I suppose I could do the same with fly line set up (hemostat would show up on the finder), but after taking off the hemostat my type 6 line would not go straight down without a lot of weight on the point.  It seems that to get that deep with a fast sinking line, you would need to get a lot of line out horizontally, time the sink to the appropriate depth and then slowly troll through the feeding zone. This always seemed very inefficient to me since it did not allow you to maintain a stationary position over the targeted fish. I've seen some of Chan and Rowley's techniques and it seems like they suggest going with a long leader and quick release indicators. I might have to try this the next time I'm up there in the summer.