Dry Fly Innovations

As is tradition, we at Dry Fly Innovations have always made a fourth of July trip to Red Mountain and all the lakes under its peak.  The trailhead is about 20 miles from the town of Lowman, Idaho and from Boise it takes about 3 hours to reach.  We arrived at the Red Mountain trailhead bright and early at 8AM.  If you ever plan to hike into the lakes there it is essential to leave in the morning while the air is still cool and the sun still lower.  The five mile hike is fairly short, but let me be the first to tell you that it is all up hill…ALL up hill, especially the first 2 miles.

We made it up the mountain in good time and set up camp on the highest of Red Mountains lakes.  The campsite, situated next to one of the most pristine springs of all the world, looked as if it had just thawed from the winter snows.  Even so, we were there and we weren’t going to leave; besides the lake was brimming with rainbows and cutthroats.

As I filmed, Geoff and Nate started catching 10-12 inch cutthroats and slightly smaller rainbows.  We moved about the sides of the lake watching for cruisers and cast specifically to them.  These fish are on feeding mode and ‘cruise’ the sides of the lake in search of food.  We would serve up black ant, beetle, or mountain emerger, all on #16-18 hooks, and they would take them, one after another.

We caught enough for dinner, let some go, and accidentally dropped a few more back into the water!  It was a good time, and as far as I was concerned, as long as I didn’t go hungry I would be happy.

At all of our campsites, not just Red Mountain, we use a unique fire box to cook our fish.  Made out of the same materials most use for a fire pit, we have engineered the perfect method for cooking on an open bed of coals.  Look for the video we filmed on how to construct such a useful contraption. (See How To’s on our web page).

The second day I fell ill.  Being sick in the high mountains is not something I would ever recommend, but we were there and we fished on anyway.  Second day fishing is much tougher than the first, which can almost be considered a rule.  The fish are wary and much more reluctant to commit to a fly.  We fished all day and only picked up just enough for dinner.  It took an extreme amount of patience and a bit of luck to get the trout to go for the fly.  We would lay in waiting behind trees and shrubs waiting to ambush the wary cruiser as he made his way around the lake.  If they saw you they were as good as gone, and in the clear waters of the mountains, that happens often.

Once again, the black ant proved to be the most successful fly and because of it, we did not starve.  We cooked and ate our fill and shoved off to bed.  The third day we hiked out early and headed home.  Red Mountain is a bit of a buttkicker when it comes to walks, but the fishing is always fun and worth the effort.