High lakes season is almost over for me. This week I took my Sharpes 85 5 weight bamboo rod and a couple Farlows Grenaby reels to a central cascades cutthroat lake in excess of 4,000 feet. I did well fishing a cinnamon and gold wet fly and a black hackle peacock wet fly to deeper water. Does T.C. Ivens ring a bell?
I noticed some fish rising in the lake's weedy shallows so after lunch I switched to an intermediate line and size 14-16 wet flies (wickams fancy, ginger quill and silver march brown).
Worked like a charm, sometimes two at a time. Don't be afraid to fish small in Alpine lakes especially when fish are at the surface or picky in bright sunshine.
The Sharpes 85 taper was designed by Charles Ritz. The rod flexes to the handle. If you relax and stay calm it does the work for you. No need to windmill around like you sometimes have to do with stiff graphite rods. One of the reasons I fish bamboo.
