drakes on the lakes

Drakes on the Lakes (click image for detail)

                12/15/08                         Drakes on the Lakes                    By Joel King                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I first started noticing what most would call moving water food Forms on lakes fifteen years ago.  As many years ago Green Drake was on-the-fly list for Delaney they worked reasonably well.  From a floatation device on the inlet side of the lake, in about 8 to 10 feet of water on the side of the lake that the Roaring River inlet brings the bugs from moving water to Stillwater.  The other explanation for why the bugs would be found there is flights, mishaps, and blunders.  I have personally seen fish taking Drakes all the way into mid-October out in front of inlet areas in particular.  I had always wondered why I had seen fish violently striking what appeared to be dry flies on the surface of Delaney Buttes while out on a float tube.  Since those days, of those long forgotten events.  I have seen the influx of moving water, food forms in Lakes at inlets, whether it be high mountain lake or lower-level reservoir the fish learn to pay attention to the addition of these bugs, whether it be nymph form, or adults, or flying in from mating flights.  Or simply being blown in from blunders.  Key factor seems to be that there is some sort of moving water, River, Creek, or stream flowing close by that feeds the stillwaters.  Plain and simple these bugs are from the moving water, traveled there, or are blown in, but I have seen them to some degree, hatching from the lake bottom.  The cou de Grau of this phenomenon being when I witnessed a pack of very large fish, following the hatch, of mahogany Drakes, and nothing else, would do for them.  Having a large cutthroat slap his tale five feet from you, taunting you with his gorgeous pastel side. Strangely enough we also see Stillwater encounters with stone flies, from great rivers like the North Platte River, through Saratoga Lake.  At Lake Agnes, fish are used to seeing black Drakes, with the two inlets being prime spots on the lake.  I once ended up in a fly shop in Fort Collins, The Western angler telling them of the mystery mayfly, lots of funny looks, my Entomology was not what it is today.  If one thinks of it, Lake Agnes is only one Mountain away from the headwaters of the Colorado River, Lulu city, the Colorado River being loaded with Drakes.  Some Drake activity is primarily limited to, lowlight or even after dark, depending on conditions, afternoon's can be the warmth needed to make things happen for these Spruce gooses of large mayflies.  Peterson Lake on the other hand has mid-day and mid-summer green drake activity from the South Fork of the Poudre River. Forming the lake and running through it, end to end.  The river not being far from the lake is, a short flight for very large mayflies. When those fish get on the Drakes. they will not touch anything else.  Like a string of Pearls, or Gems, the three Delaney Buttes Lakes are tied and circled, by the roaring River, running from the north to south and then finally through the East Lake.  So the next time you are out on your favorite lake.  And you see a large mayfly consider if there is moving water, if so the possibility of Drakes is there.