North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine March 2018 | Página 48

are open to non-tribal members.
When fishing Omak make sure to fill your
boxes with a few rows of minnows. Keith Roe, an
avid fly tier and North 40 Omak Fly Shop manager,
ties dozens of “LC Minnows” every spring and fall
to satisfy local anglers trying to match baitfish. A
minnow pattern approximately two-inches long,
with large eyes, that acts like a lost or injured chub
is often irresistible.
When minnows aren’t doing the trick, a number
of other flies will. In fact, Omak’s Lahontans have
been known to eat just about anything from a
chironomid to a Carp Breakfast. San Juan Worms,
damsel nymphs and buggers (oh the buggers) are
all functional on these fish. In fact, buggers are
often all you need when the cutts are really biting.
Recently, anglers have dangled a Balanced Leech
under an indicator just beyond the color change.
Coupled with a slow, twitching retrieve, this
method can make the deal when, otherwise, the
fish have seemingly contracted lock-jaw.
5. MCGINNIS LAKE
Second in size only to Montana’s Blackfoot
Reservation, the Colville Confederation of Tribes
hosts a bevy of fly-fishing lakes across its multi-
million acre reservation. Atop one high plateau
within the reservation, just east of Nespelem, is a
collection of fine stillwaters: Buffalo, Rebecca and
McGinnis lakes. The first two feature some of the
best bass and rainbow fishing in the state; the last
is the most valuable for fly-fishers.
Not only is McGinnis primed for fishing on the
fly, but the lake features brook trout exclusively—the
only lake boasting this species that makes our list.
McGinnis’ brookies are wonderful fish. They’re strong,
take flies willingly, and in the fall, during the spawn,
they are as colorful as any fish in the state. These
brookies also enjoy a healthy ecosystem and grow to
sizable proportions, with an average fish measuring
about 14 inches, and the toads to 18-inches plus.
At 2,400 feet in elevation, and 118 acres in
size, McGinnis starts a little slow early in its season,
which begins mid-April and lasts through October.
But by May, McGinnis is in full swing and its brook
trout hit attractor dries, such as Royal Coachmans
and orange Humpies. Later in the season, fish
go deeper. That’s when booby-eyed leeches,
suspended off the bottom, take feeding fish.
As fall settles onto the reservation, male brook
trout become even more colorful as they move into
shallow water, heeding the urge to spawn. This is a
great time to fish a scud or a water boatman. These
and other nymphs, slowly retrieved along the shoals
at the north end of the lake, take colorful fall fish.
Dry Falls Lake