Current Lake Conditions: No crowds, great views of forests, bald eagles! Callibaetis are still coming off in the mornings, but slowing down. The cool weather this week has been great for the fishing. Don't go expecting big rainbows. Just go expecting a fun time, some hook-ups and a totally unencumbered (no pun there, keep reading) fishing experience. The weeds are starting to fill in.

Lake McCumber is surrounded with tall conifers, enveloped in clean crisp air and watched over by soaring eagles with sharp talons. A medium sized impoundment, the lake is considered "just right" for tubers, prams and Goldilocks.

The Fly Shop's?? Tips: Fish the deep water! Finding the right water temperature is easy with a thermometer! Suspend your thermometer with an old fly line. Check depths from 5 ft to 20 ft. Avoid fishing depths colder than 55??. Stripping a #14 Pheasant Tail Nymph on a floating line connected to a 9' 5X tapered leader in the mornings has been working great! A variation of this technique calls for a Damsel fly nymph, like one of Zack's leech patterns found in the Streamers/Leeches section on the right.

Using a float tube or a pontoon boat, paddle out into the lake and look along the edges for cruising rainbows and browns. RIOs Aqualux Intermediate Sink Tip is a perfect line for retrieving and stripping leeches, damsel nymphs and streamers. Use a floating line and leader tapered to 4x with a bead head PT with a very, very, very slow retrieve. Fish will find your nymph and take it, but don't set the hook! Just lift and let line out until you can bend the rod without first breaking the fish off.

Suggested Fly Patterns:

Dry Flies:
• Parachute Adams - #16-18
• Gallop's Cripple Callibaetis
• Quigley Cripple Callibaetis

Nymphs/Wet Flies:
• Skip Nymph
• BK Laser Midge - #18-16
• Mercer's Midgeling - #18
• Zallibaetis
• PT Nymph - #14-18
• Hogan's S&M - Brown #16-18
• GB Half-Flashback PT #16-20
• Fox's Callibeeotis - #14

Streamers/Leeches:
• Freshwater Clouser - Olive/White #6
• Zonkers - #4
• Beaded Mini Leech - Any
• Beaded Micro Buggers - Any
• Zack's Zugger - Yellow/Brown