Where to Go North Slope Lakes

The high alpine country will see bright, sunny skies today with a daytime high near 87 degrees Fahrenheit, which is unseasonably warm for these mountain lakes. Light and variable morning winds will shift out of the southwest at 6 to 11 mph, with gusts up to 21 mph rippling the water surface before dropping to a cool evening low around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The Independence Day holiday weekend brings a 30 to 50 percent chance of afternoon showers and sudden mountain thunderstorms.

Midge activity remains a constant guarantee during the calm morning hours, bringing fish to the surface in the glassy inlets and protected tree lined bays. On overcast afternoons, look for localized hatches of small Blue Winged Olives and Pale Morning Duns. Terrestrials, particularly ants and beetles that blow off the surrounding pine trees, are becoming a critical food source along the steep shorelines, while subsurface scuds and chironomids provide steady forage.

Navigating these clear alpine waters requires dropping down in line size and lengthening your presentations. Anglers should use 9 to 12 foot leaders tapering to 5X fluorocarbon tippet for subsurface work or nylon for dry flies. Suspending a two fly nymph rig under a small, sensitive indicator just off the rocky drop offs works beautifully, while casting small dry-dropper rigs with an ant pattern on top and a midge pupa below is highly effective for patrolling shoreline trout.