BC lakes fly recommendations?

Last summer I had good luck the last few days with an olive Gomphus on a type V letting it sink to the bottom and slowly working it just off the deck. The dear hair floats it up and the strip makes it dive appearing to get away. At least that's what I was thinking it looked like.
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Yeah, I like the 2nd one also. What is the body material and collar made of?

I recently tied some small damsels for a nearby lake that is a damsel farm. Shortly after the opener I often see tiny damsels wiggling around that are only about 1/2 inch long and I'm hoping the fish will pay attention to my little patterns that can hide under a dime.
 
iveofione said:
Yeah, I like the 2nd one also. What is the body material and collar made of?

I recently tied some small damsels for a nearby lake that is a damsel farm. Shortly after the opener I often see tiny damsels wiggling around that are only about 1/2 inch long and I'm hoping the fish will pay attention to my little patterns that can hide under a dime.
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Thanks! Assuming you mean the 2nd individual fly:

Tail: Rabbit fur
Abdomen: Brown WB antron chenille with green mylar*, small
Thorax/collar: FTD MS Bugger Dub, Big Horn, in a dubbing loop 20230403_170636.jpg
*This has been my best body material for olive willies around here, also. Found in a discount bin somewhere, of course...

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I will be at MLFC that same week and most of my visits have been in the June 27th – July 13th timeframe. The lower lakes close to camp should be on caddis around that time. However, last year was delayed and the fish were still on mayflies through the 1st week of July, so be ready for both. Chironomids are always there, but you will likely be past the typical mid-June peak. There are a few lakes that are higher and elevation and have less shallows…typically a few degrees colder, so don’t expect much caddis action in those…leeches are typically better with some mayflies mixed in. Like chironomids the scuds are always there, but the fish are not as keyed in on them with so many other options around. There are no baitfish in any of those lakes, so leave the minnows at home.

Six Pack (Olive, Yellow, Black)
Green Carey
Spratley (Red, Black, Green)
Guaranteed
Nyerges Nymph
Tom Thumb (size 6!!!)
Royal Wulff (or other mayfly dry)
Gomphus
Pheasant Tail
Halfback
Semiseal Leech
Wooly Bugger
Little Fort Leech
Booby/FAB
Chironomids
Scuds

That probably covers you for 99% of situations you will encounter in early July. If you have 3 rods I would have sinktip and intermediate for trolling and a floating line rigged with a Tom Thumb ready to go if you see surface action. I also keep a type 6 sinking line in the boat for FAB and Gomphus. For casting wet flies, intermediate will be your best bet. You will get lots of lake specific tips and the latest fishing report from the staff and other guests once you get up to camp.

Make sure you have sunscreen, bug dope, rain gear, and rubber boots. Feel free to DM me if you want more info on specific lakes.
 
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Aaron Meredith said:
I will be at MLFC that same week and most of my visits have been in the June 27th – July 13th timeframe. The lower lakes close to camp should be on caddis around that time. However, last year was delayed and the fish were still on mayflies through the 1st week of July, so be ready for both. Chironomids are always there, but you will likely be past the typical mid-June peak. There are a few lakes that are higher and elevation and have less shallows…typically a few degrees colder, so don’t expect much caddis action in those…leeches are typically better with some mayflies mixed in. Like chironomids the scuds are always there, but the fish are not as keyed in on them with so many other options around. There are no baitfish in any of those lakes, so leave the minnows at home.

Six Pack (Olive, Yellow, Black)
Green Carey
Spratley (Red, Black, Green)
Guaranteed
Nyerges Nymph
Tom Thumb (size 6!!!)
Royal Wulff (or other mayfly dry)
Gomphus
Pheasant Tail
Halfback
Semiseal Leech
Wooly Bugger
Little Fort Leech
Booby/FAB
Chironomids
Scuds

That probably covers you for 99% of situations you will encounter in early July. If you have 3 rods I would have sinktip and intermediate for trolling and a floating line rigged with a Tom Thumb ready to go if you see surface action. I also keep a type 6 sinking line in the boat for FAB and Gomphus. For casting wet flies, intermediate will be your best bet. You will get lots of lake specific tips and the latest fishing report from the staff and other guests once you get up to camp.

Make sure you have sunscreen, bug dope, rain gear, and rubber boots. Feel free to DM me if you want more info on specific lakes.
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Great advice! As for the Tom Thumb or a Mikuluk, even if the fish have seen a traveling sedge in the last 5 days, they’ll look up and grab it. We were far to late for it last year, but I still fooled a couple on the second closest lake on one a few times.
 
Irafly said:
Great advice! As for the Tom Thumb or a Mikuluk, even if the fish have seen a traveling sedge in the last 5 days, they’ll look up and grab it. We were far to late for it last year, but I still fooled a couple on the second closest lake on one a few times.
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Spot on! The Mikulak sedge (and Tom Thumb) do seem to bring trout up even though there's no sedge hatch going on. I've found it best on shoal drop offs - I don't know why that seems to be a place.... The TomThumb is so fragile it's kind of a one fish fly. ;-)
 
Aaron Meredith said:
I will be at MLFC that same week and most of my visits have been in the June 27th – July 13th timeframe. The lower lakes close to camp should be on caddis around that time. However, last year was delayed and the fish were still on mayflies through the 1st week of July, so be ready for both. Chironomids are always there, but you will likely be past the typical mid-June peak. There are a few lakes that are higher and elevation and have less shallows…typically a few degrees colder, so don’t expect much caddis action in those…leeches are typically better with some mayflies mixed in. Like chironomids the scuds are always there, but the fish are not as keyed in on them with so many other options around. There are no baitfish in any of those lakes, so leave the minnows at home.

Six Pack (Olive, Yellow, Black)
Green Carey
Spratley (Red, Black, Green)
Guaranteed
Nyerges Nymph
Tom Thumb (size 6!!!)
Royal Wulff (or other mayfly dry)
Gomphus
Pheasant Tail
Halfback
Semiseal Leech
Wooly Bugger
Little Fort Leech
Booby/FAB
Chironomids
Scuds

That probably covers you for 99% of situations you will encounter in early July. If you have 3 rods I would have sinktip and intermediate for trolling and a floating line rigged with a Tom Thumb ready to go if you see surface action. I also keep a type 6 sinking line in the boat for FAB and Gomphus. For casting wet flies, intermediate will be your best bet. You will get lots of lake specific tips and the latest fishing report from the staff and other guests once you get up to camp.

Make sure you have sunscreen, bug dope, rain gear, and rubber boots. Feel free to DM me if you want more info on specific lakes.
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That is awesome info - thank you! And hopefully I'll be able to thank you in person, also

I'll likely bring all of the setups you mention, so good on that front, but I better start watching tying videos!
 
Northern said:
Hey all,
I'll be going up to Meadow Lake Fishing Camp first week of July.
I'd like to start tying some stuff up; suggestions from those who have been there?

I much, much prefer active fishing over bobber watching (and will gladly accept fewer fish to keep my eyes from rolling back in my head) but I'll soak chironomids if I have to

Much thanks in advance!
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My favorite lake in the Meadow Lakes Chain is Lost Horse Lake. A 15 minute walk from camp. Here's a map.

Screenshot 2023-04-04 at 9.34.08 PM.png

The big shoal off the area marked "shallows" is a great spot. Anchor on the edge of the shoal and cast a small shrimp or wet fly or carey or wooly bugger off the shoal into the deeper water and strip it back. A size 10-12 dry olive sedge will also work. In the evening the fish will come up over the shallows dimpling.

I like to fish classic wet flies. On my last trip to Meadow Lakes I caught most of my fish on Roderick Haig Brown's Gammarus wet fly.
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Forgot to mention that the mosquitoes can be really bad in June and July. I've had some trips where we had to wear gloves and mosquito nets until we got out on the lakes because the mosquitoes were so bad. The ground between the lakes is very marshy so there are lots of mosquitos.
 
Dave Westburg said:
Forgot to mention that the mosquitoes can be really bad in June and July. I've had some trips where we had to wear gloves and mosquito nets until we got out on the lakes because the mosquitoes were so bad. The ground between the lakes is very marshy so there are lots of mosquitos.
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Good to know! I think we both have nets leftover from our AK trip a couple years ago

Thanks for the map and tips as well!
 
If you get into furious sedge action, stimulators will work too.
I much prefer going just after the ice and before the bugs - I'll be going up next month a couple of times and chasing ice off up the mountains.
 
Got to love it when we hit the sedge hatch. By far my best sedge patterns were deer hair caddis/muddler hybrid (Deer/elk hair caddis with a spun head - I typically under sized the palmered hackle a size) sized and colored to match what is hatching. Those flies were much more durable and once the tyer learns to spill the deer hair not a difficult pattern to tie.

Ira makes an excellent point the fish seem to remember those juicy bug and have had excellent dry fly action once the hatches start hours before the first bugs appear on the surface.

Curt
 
Smalma said:
Got to love it when we hit the sedge hatch. By far my best sedge patterns were deer hair caddis/muddler hybrid (Deer/elk hair caddis with a spun head - I typically under sized the palmered hackle a size) sized and colored to match what is hatching. Those flies were much more durable and once the tyer learns to spill the deer hair not a difficult pattern to tie.

Ira makes an excellent point the fish seem to remember those juicy bug and have had excellent dry fly action once the hatches start hours before the first bugs appear on the surface.

Curt
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I once took an August Trip to the Teepee lakes chain in BC where I fished nothing but dry sedges and had excellent fishing. I like to dub an olive polypro body, no body hackle, elk hair wing and front hackle. Size 8-12 Some times I'll do two elk hair wings for extra durability on the big sedges.
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Dave Westburg said:
My favorite lake in the Meadow Lakes Chain is Lost Horse Lake. A 15 minute walk from camp. Here's a map.

View attachment 60524

The big shoal off the area marked "shallows" is a great spot. Anchor on the edge of the shoal and cast a small shrimp or wet fly or carey or wooly bugger off the shoal into the deeper water and strip it back. A size 10-12 dry olive sedge will also work. In the evening the fish will come up over the shallows dimpling.

I like to fish classic wet flies. On my last trip to Meadow Lakes I caught most of my fish on Roderick Haig Brown's Gammarus wet fly.
View attachment 60525
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All this talk about BC lakes gets a fellow ta thinkin. What’s the latest you’d go into this area? I’m thinking about camping at Lost Horse around the end of Sept or beginning of Oct.
I have access to a pop up bed camper on a 4 wheel truck. I also have a nice 23’ trailer. What might your thoughts be? Would it be better to use the trailer and camp closer to the main hyw and drive to the various lakes in my 4x4 for the day. Or forgo the creature comforts and use the pop up at Lost Horse? Thanks in advance!
 
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