It’s August. The water levels here in Montana are at record highs for this time of year. Which is good. But it doesn’t seem to have changed fish habits much, if at all. Lower down on the water sheds–in drift boat country on the state’s bigger rivers–the fish seem to be feeding early and late, with not much beyond slow to mediocre fishing in between.
But at high altitude all bets are off. For the higher lakes, alder choked meadows (mosquito condominiums) and pocket water streams, the fishing seems to last all day long. The fish aren’t big. But they sure are a lot of fun. I’d forgotten how much fun high altitude fishing is. There’s a certain innocence there too, to catching eager fish that have no hooking scars. And even to wacking a few over-populated brookies for the frying pan.
High altitude fish will bite almost anything, including cigarette butts (or so I’ve heard). But caddis imitations do seem to work best of all for dry flies, and any generic soft-hackle for a wet fly. You can leave your waders and vest at home. All you need is a lanyard, a fishing rod and a single box of flies. And some good bug repellent.
Having just returned from yet another high altitude fishing expedition, I have the following additional thoughts:
1)
High altitude fish are not so dumb after all. I recently found pods of brook trout sipping at emerging midges in a sheltered lagoon (less chop on the water than every where else).
Those fish would not take anything but a tiny midge emerger. And the risers could only be found in well-defined locations. You can’t just fish anywhere at the edges of a big high-altitude lake and expect to catch fish. You have to find them first.
2)
The big fish (if there are any) tend to take over prime spots in swampy, shallow lagoons where there are lots of damsel fly and dragonfly nymphs. If there isn’t an active midge hatch in progress, then your best bet will usually be a fat dragonfly nymph. Leeches work well too. But you won’t catch the big ones in deep water without a radar-equipped boat. In the shallow lagoons you can spot them like bonefish. And then have at it. I caught a 20" plus rainbow in a lake the “Beartooth Fishing Guide” reports as holding nothing bigger than 10". I found it in 4-6’ feet of water, over a weed bed rather than the barren pebbles that line most of the lake.
Love it, love it, love it! And miss it!! Got a chance a couple of weeks ago to fish the Sawtooth area in central Idaho and had a blast. Even though I couldn’t go to far or wade, I had a blast. Never experienced more particular (picky) fish in my life. Just about went through my whole fly box to find the right nymph. Stuck on a size 16 Elk Hair Caddis and knocked the tar out of them. That fly and a size 18 Royal Coachman did the trick and brought some beautiful fish to hand - not big, just beautiful.
I have done well with hoppers, and also have done well with the match the hatch approach. A lot of what I have read is that the trout are not picky at to what they will take up high, but in my limited experience, that has not been the case.
The hoppers that I have found up high typically have been fairly small, a #8 being the bigger end. I have used more #10s to #14s than anything else. I like one that floats well because the streams I fish up high often have some quick water, so the hopper pattern I have tied and used more than any other up high is basically a stimulator. To the basic stimulator pattern I add rubber madam X type legs and trim the hackle a little bit on the bottom so that the pattern sits a little lower in the water. That pattern has worked well for me.
A wonderful series of pictures Kelly, we don’t have the altitude but there are a lot
of mountain lochans with aggressive little brownies. All on a much smaller scale but
there is nothing to compare with wild country fishing.
Stalking trout in shin deep crystal clear water. 
