Having tech issues loading photos to my laptop. Will have to edit them in, later on, using my phone.
I've been wanting to do Leech for several years, but never really had a good opportunity, due to my work schedule. This time, I was being "kicked out" of the house, because my wife needed to look after one of her sisters, who lives by herself and after a major surgery. Very small house life, so perfect timing!
Tuesday:
I made the 3 hr+ drive from Shoreline to Leech on Tuesday morning, with a quick stop in Auburn for $4.00/gal gas at the Marathon station. From my Leech Lake Newbie post (huge thanks to all who volunteered info and observations!!!), it looked like not waiting until Wednesday was the wisest option. When I got there, I was a little concerned by the number of vehicles parked by the boat launch. However, once I got to looking, roughly half the camp sites were open. As one would expect, the sites with good access to the water were already taken. Not that big of a deal, as I still found a decent enough spot.
The solo drive and the reality of setting up camp put the kibosh on fishing that afternoon and evening. My 63 yr/old mind and body just wasn't feeling it. After getting everything squared away, I grabbed my rod and some flies to dink around the boat launch. And who did I see there getting out of the water? None other than the legendary Lue Taylor! We chatted for a bit, and he mentioned that he had some success with a pheasant tail nymph. Cool.
After he left, I made a cast or two before I snagged bottom and lost my fly. As everyone said before: it's a shallow lake. Time to call it and have a late lunch/early dinner.
Temperature dropped into the 30s overnight. I froze my nuts off.
Wednesday:
Woke up somewhere around 6:30 and 7:00, had breakfast, and was on the water around 8:30ish. Already a fair number of anglers on the water. Had to even negotiate the boat launch between folks, just to get in. Having taken comments on my "Newbie" post seriously, my float tube was fully ready to go and dropped off well to one side outside of the water, to make sure everyone had free pass to get through without me being in the way. Parked my truck, strung up my rod with an Intermediate line and my favorite Carey Special pattern, grabbed my tube, and got going.
Okay, one thing I've learned over all my years of fishing, is that no one should never have high expectations with new water. And, Lord, if you put my learning curve in the middle of Leech Lake, people would have thought a ski lift pylon got misplaced there. It was brutal. I managed to scoot through the pack of anglers parked in the middle of the lake, sniffed around the edges and middle and even the out to the rock slide at the far end of the lake. Did I manage to catch anything? Not in my morning to early afternoon session. Total skunkage! But I learned the bottom structure habitat.
Went back for round two around 3:00. However, this time I recalled Lue's comment about the pheasant tail nymph, I did find a Purple Flashback Pheasant Tail nymph in one of my many boxes during my break. I tied it on my tippet, and that brought on some attention, and I think I scored one or two brookies by the end of my day. Hope springs eternal! Still, a number of fish immediately lost right at first strikes.
Towards the end of the day, once the sun tipped past the western ridge line, I could see the silhouettes of trout gliding through the shallows, even without polarized lenses. I found that they were easily spooked by anything out of the ordinary in their field of vision. Fly line above them, leader laying on the water, the first tug on the fly line, etc. It didn't take much to give them the heebie-jeebies.
Thursday:
Started around 10:00 am, due to the previous day's bite happening midday. I couldn't believe the number of anglers out in force that morning! At one point, I counted 16 out there. Someone in my Newbie post said that a fly fishing club does Leech every Wednesday through Friday. No doubt that! I assume that they normally make the drive up for the day and drive back home. Of the few anglers I talked with, some lived in Pierce and South King County--a drive of about 2 hours.
Which is to say: If anyone is at all concerned about hotspotting Leech Lake, forget about it. When a fly fishing club can show up and pack that lake with more people per square acre than I've ever encountered at any other lake, your concern is completely misplaced. The only other water that exceeds this, that I have seen, would be the Texas Hole on the San Juan River in New Mexico. And that's a fly fishing tourist destination. Oh! What am I thinking? I guess Leech Lake surely must be a fly fishing destination. Whatever...
I don't think I've witnessed that level of crowdedness since I last had to go to Alderwood Mall, where the looking for a parking space felt like being a shark following fish for a meal. This was far worse, as the anglers were invested in their spots for several hours. The only thing to do is to move through until you find a workable place.
Having kept the PFPT nymph on, from the previous day, I trolled my way between the north shoreline and the crowd. I figured the slot between shore structure and the weed beds everyone was fishing could give two sides for a trout to ambush my fly. About halfway down past "the parking lot," it was fish on!
The trout struck shortly after I made a cast. One strip to begin the fight and the trout demanded more line. All slack gone and line on the reel! Obviously a good fish, taking more line, the reel drag spitting buzzes between palming the spool and reeling in line, and me getting taken for the sleigh ride. It took a while, because I didn't want to break my 5X tippet, but I finally brought that 16" rainbow to net. Big fun!
I tried anchoring up, like everyone else, but I wasn't into chironomid fishing like everyone else, so I wasn't catching fish like everyone else. A few brookies came to hand, but only a few. Then I noticed two guys in pontoon boats trolling and casting, who were actively catching fish. Okay. Clue taken. Anchor aweigh, aboard, and float tube underway.
I went through a couple of fly changes before I happened to notice a #16 Partridge and Peacock soft hackle fly I tied up back maybe ten years ago. The PPT nymph wasn't producing enough to instill adequate confidence. The P&P was bouncing around in the corner of one of my boxes, and I had a fond recollection of that pattern. In no time flat, it was fish on with most of my casts. I did manage to chat a little with one of the guys in the pontoon boats. His name was Rig, and he was using a Pumpkin Head leech to good effect. I guess good presentation with a fly you have confidence in can make all the difference in the world.
Not long after that, I landed another 16" rainbow. This one wasn't as full of vigor as the first one. It was already around noon, so I got to thinking that maybe lunch was calling me. It was then I noticed a large float tube that looked familiar. It was Lue again! I went over to chat with him again before heading in. All total, I think I netted around six brookies and the two rainbows. Not too bad.
Thursday Afternoon at Lake Knuppenburg:
After lunch, I decided it was time to give little Lake Knuppenburg a shot. It must have been around 3:30 when I parked at the so-called campground that more resembled parking. I noticed another angler coming back along the highway, so I went over to talk with him. He had been fishing from the bank at the inlet stream. He said caught a couple of brookies and browns, despite there not being any room for a back cast. I decided to recon for myself and was discouraged by the prospect of bushwacking my way along the stream with a float tube. Walking back along the highway, I happened to notice a small gap in the brush at the water's edge. It was definitely wide enough to get my float tube through. I went back to my truck and parked it right by that spot.
Caveats:
Now, I don't recommend doing Knuppenburg with anything wider than a float tube. Definitely not even a small pontoon boat. Additionally, the grade going down from the road to the water was steep enough that there was a chance of someone slipping while holding a fly rod. Fortunately, I usually keep a length of rope or two in my truck for tying down stuff. I used one to not only keep my float tube from blowing out of my truck bed, but also to slide it down and drag it up again. I also used it to hold onto going down and getting back up the slope. Easy peasey!
You can use Google Maps to see how small Knuppenburg is. Not big at all. More like a pond--but a cold and deep one. My guess is that it might have been created when the highway was put in. But who cares when the WDFW stocks it with Brown trout, right? Well, there is a caution or two I need to put forth first.
DO NOT fish Knuppenburg, if you haven't looked carefully at and come up with a thoughtful and safe game plan before even gearing up. Like I said, the water is cold. Much, much colder than Leech Lake. If you fell in, hypothermia would be a very real and quick concern. Given the steepness of the bank and the drop off at the tiny launch site, it wouldn't take much for a couple of minor series of events to put you into very cold water well over your head. The cold shock would mess you up right from the quick.
When I put my tube into the water and started getting my fins on, I was right at the bank. But, once I started with my second fin, I somehow managed to easily drift into too deep water that was maybe not more than 6 feet from shore. Imagine trying to get that last fin on without accidentally sliding off the tube seat. Well, I wouldn't have gotten into that situation, if there wasn't so much brush surrounding the launch point that would have easily broke my fly rod, if I had only spun the rod holder 180 and went back to shore, using one fin.
Right... No, I wasn't into that, and was lucky enough to be just limber enough to barely finish strapping up my last fin. Meanwhile, I kept seeing myself slipping off the seat and into the very cold water. Big NOPE factor going all through just getting launched. Maybe could I have finned up before launching? Like, how clumsy is walking around like that? And then falling onto your float tube and into the water and your tube drifting away? If you haven't already tried it, just don't "should on me."
A last thought on coldwater shock. If your PFD needs to have you pull a toggle to activate it, do you really think you'll have the self-possession to find and pull that inflation toggle? 'Nuff said.
Getting down to business. I ain't going to get down to minutiae. There are two inflow sources. One from a pipe draining off the slope on the opposite side of, and going under, the highway, and the natural creek coming down from White Pass. One outflow with a steep shoal going up to it. A nice "crew cut" of weeds where the sunlight shows you the bottom. The water is so clear, you can see fish in some places maybe +6 feet deep. Go make of it what you will. But I won't tell you where and how to find the fish. If you have enough game, you will know exactly where to find the Browns. If you don't, you will find lots of dinker Brook trout abusing your fly. Like, embarassingly small. Like, so small, you should be using a 2 or 3 wt rod to help you enjoy the experience. Fuck that shit. Work it out on your own.
By the time I cracked the code, I brought to hand three, 10", 11", and 12" Browns. You can make of it what you will. At the end of the day, I definitely earned the White Pass Trifecta of 'Bows, Brookies, and Browns. I'd like to think that others have done it before, but, given the people who pulled over from the highway to ask me, "WTF?" maybe it's not that common? If someone can verify they've done it already, please let me know. I can't help but be curious.
I've been wanting to do Leech for several years, but never really had a good opportunity, due to my work schedule. This time, I was being "kicked out" of the house, because my wife needed to look after one of her sisters, who lives by herself and after a major surgery. Very small house life, so perfect timing!
Tuesday:
I made the 3 hr+ drive from Shoreline to Leech on Tuesday morning, with a quick stop in Auburn for $4.00/gal gas at the Marathon station. From my Leech Lake Newbie post (huge thanks to all who volunteered info and observations!!!), it looked like not waiting until Wednesday was the wisest option. When I got there, I was a little concerned by the number of vehicles parked by the boat launch. However, once I got to looking, roughly half the camp sites were open. As one would expect, the sites with good access to the water were already taken. Not that big of a deal, as I still found a decent enough spot.
The solo drive and the reality of setting up camp put the kibosh on fishing that afternoon and evening. My 63 yr/old mind and body just wasn't feeling it. After getting everything squared away, I grabbed my rod and some flies to dink around the boat launch. And who did I see there getting out of the water? None other than the legendary Lue Taylor! We chatted for a bit, and he mentioned that he had some success with a pheasant tail nymph. Cool.
After he left, I made a cast or two before I snagged bottom and lost my fly. As everyone said before: it's a shallow lake. Time to call it and have a late lunch/early dinner.
Temperature dropped into the 30s overnight. I froze my nuts off.
Wednesday:
Woke up somewhere around 6:30 and 7:00, had breakfast, and was on the water around 8:30ish. Already a fair number of anglers on the water. Had to even negotiate the boat launch between folks, just to get in. Having taken comments on my "Newbie" post seriously, my float tube was fully ready to go and dropped off well to one side outside of the water, to make sure everyone had free pass to get through without me being in the way. Parked my truck, strung up my rod with an Intermediate line and my favorite Carey Special pattern, grabbed my tube, and got going.
Okay, one thing I've learned over all my years of fishing, is that no one should never have high expectations with new water. And, Lord, if you put my learning curve in the middle of Leech Lake, people would have thought a ski lift pylon got misplaced there. It was brutal. I managed to scoot through the pack of anglers parked in the middle of the lake, sniffed around the edges and middle and even the out to the rock slide at the far end of the lake. Did I manage to catch anything? Not in my morning to early afternoon session. Total skunkage! But I learned the bottom structure habitat.
Went back for round two around 3:00. However, this time I recalled Lue's comment about the pheasant tail nymph, I did find a Purple Flashback Pheasant Tail nymph in one of my many boxes during my break. I tied it on my tippet, and that brought on some attention, and I think I scored one or two brookies by the end of my day. Hope springs eternal! Still, a number of fish immediately lost right at first strikes.
Towards the end of the day, once the sun tipped past the western ridge line, I could see the silhouettes of trout gliding through the shallows, even without polarized lenses. I found that they were easily spooked by anything out of the ordinary in their field of vision. Fly line above them, leader laying on the water, the first tug on the fly line, etc. It didn't take much to give them the heebie-jeebies.
Thursday:
Started around 10:00 am, due to the previous day's bite happening midday. I couldn't believe the number of anglers out in force that morning! At one point, I counted 16 out there. Someone in my Newbie post said that a fly fishing club does Leech every Wednesday through Friday. No doubt that! I assume that they normally make the drive up for the day and drive back home. Of the few anglers I talked with, some lived in Pierce and South King County--a drive of about 2 hours.
Which is to say: If anyone is at all concerned about hotspotting Leech Lake, forget about it. When a fly fishing club can show up and pack that lake with more people per square acre than I've ever encountered at any other lake, your concern is completely misplaced. The only other water that exceeds this, that I have seen, would be the Texas Hole on the San Juan River in New Mexico. And that's a fly fishing tourist destination. Oh! What am I thinking? I guess Leech Lake surely must be a fly fishing destination. Whatever...
I don't think I've witnessed that level of crowdedness since I last had to go to Alderwood Mall, where the looking for a parking space felt like being a shark following fish for a meal. This was far worse, as the anglers were invested in their spots for several hours. The only thing to do is to move through until you find a workable place.
Having kept the PFPT nymph on, from the previous day, I trolled my way between the north shoreline and the crowd. I figured the slot between shore structure and the weed beds everyone was fishing could give two sides for a trout to ambush my fly. About halfway down past "the parking lot," it was fish on!
The trout struck shortly after I made a cast. One strip to begin the fight and the trout demanded more line. All slack gone and line on the reel! Obviously a good fish, taking more line, the reel drag spitting buzzes between palming the spool and reeling in line, and me getting taken for the sleigh ride. It took a while, because I didn't want to break my 5X tippet, but I finally brought that 16" rainbow to net. Big fun!
I tried anchoring up, like everyone else, but I wasn't into chironomid fishing like everyone else, so I wasn't catching fish like everyone else. A few brookies came to hand, but only a few. Then I noticed two guys in pontoon boats trolling and casting, who were actively catching fish. Okay. Clue taken. Anchor aweigh, aboard, and float tube underway.
I went through a couple of fly changes before I happened to notice a #16 Partridge and Peacock soft hackle fly I tied up back maybe ten years ago. The PPT nymph wasn't producing enough to instill adequate confidence. The P&P was bouncing around in the corner of one of my boxes, and I had a fond recollection of that pattern. In no time flat, it was fish on with most of my casts. I did manage to chat a little with one of the guys in the pontoon boats. His name was Rig, and he was using a Pumpkin Head leech to good effect. I guess good presentation with a fly you have confidence in can make all the difference in the world.
Not long after that, I landed another 16" rainbow. This one wasn't as full of vigor as the first one. It was already around noon, so I got to thinking that maybe lunch was calling me. It was then I noticed a large float tube that looked familiar. It was Lue again! I went over to chat with him again before heading in. All total, I think I netted around six brookies and the two rainbows. Not too bad.
Thursday Afternoon at Lake Knuppenburg:
After lunch, I decided it was time to give little Lake Knuppenburg a shot. It must have been around 3:30 when I parked at the so-called campground that more resembled parking. I noticed another angler coming back along the highway, so I went over to talk with him. He had been fishing from the bank at the inlet stream. He said caught a couple of brookies and browns, despite there not being any room for a back cast. I decided to recon for myself and was discouraged by the prospect of bushwacking my way along the stream with a float tube. Walking back along the highway, I happened to notice a small gap in the brush at the water's edge. It was definitely wide enough to get my float tube through. I went back to my truck and parked it right by that spot.
Caveats:
Now, I don't recommend doing Knuppenburg with anything wider than a float tube. Definitely not even a small pontoon boat. Additionally, the grade going down from the road to the water was steep enough that there was a chance of someone slipping while holding a fly rod. Fortunately, I usually keep a length of rope or two in my truck for tying down stuff. I used one to not only keep my float tube from blowing out of my truck bed, but also to slide it down and drag it up again. I also used it to hold onto going down and getting back up the slope. Easy peasey!
You can use Google Maps to see how small Knuppenburg is. Not big at all. More like a pond--but a cold and deep one. My guess is that it might have been created when the highway was put in. But who cares when the WDFW stocks it with Brown trout, right? Well, there is a caution or two I need to put forth first.
DO NOT fish Knuppenburg, if you haven't looked carefully at and come up with a thoughtful and safe game plan before even gearing up. Like I said, the water is cold. Much, much colder than Leech Lake. If you fell in, hypothermia would be a very real and quick concern. Given the steepness of the bank and the drop off at the tiny launch site, it wouldn't take much for a couple of minor series of events to put you into very cold water well over your head. The cold shock would mess you up right from the quick.
When I put my tube into the water and started getting my fins on, I was right at the bank. But, once I started with my second fin, I somehow managed to easily drift into too deep water that was maybe not more than 6 feet from shore. Imagine trying to get that last fin on without accidentally sliding off the tube seat. Well, I wouldn't have gotten into that situation, if there wasn't so much brush surrounding the launch point that would have easily broke my fly rod, if I had only spun the rod holder 180 and went back to shore, using one fin.
Right... No, I wasn't into that, and was lucky enough to be just limber enough to barely finish strapping up my last fin. Meanwhile, I kept seeing myself slipping off the seat and into the very cold water. Big NOPE factor going all through just getting launched. Maybe could I have finned up before launching? Like, how clumsy is walking around like that? And then falling onto your float tube and into the water and your tube drifting away? If you haven't already tried it, just don't "should on me."
A last thought on coldwater shock. If your PFD needs to have you pull a toggle to activate it, do you really think you'll have the self-possession to find and pull that inflation toggle? 'Nuff said.
Getting down to business. I ain't going to get down to minutiae. There are two inflow sources. One from a pipe draining off the slope on the opposite side of, and going under, the highway, and the natural creek coming down from White Pass. One outflow with a steep shoal going up to it. A nice "crew cut" of weeds where the sunlight shows you the bottom. The water is so clear, you can see fish in some places maybe +6 feet deep. Go make of it what you will. But I won't tell you where and how to find the fish. If you have enough game, you will know exactly where to find the Browns. If you don't, you will find lots of dinker Brook trout abusing your fly. Like, embarassingly small. Like, so small, you should be using a 2 or 3 wt rod to help you enjoy the experience. Fuck that shit. Work it out on your own.
By the time I cracked the code, I brought to hand three, 10", 11", and 12" Browns. You can make of it what you will. At the end of the day, I definitely earned the White Pass Trifecta of 'Bows, Brookies, and Browns. I'd like to think that others have done it before, but, given the people who pulled over from the highway to ask me, "WTF?" maybe it's not that common? If someone can verify they've done it already, please let me know. I can't help but be curious.
Last edited:
Good fish were caught, and micro-adventure was had.
