Full Moon Circus - September 2024
This September, because of colder weather at the 8,000-foot elevation, mosquitoes usually plaguing one of our favorite high-country lakes had about died down to zero and the fishing Gods smiled down on us, giving us five consecutive moonlit nights with very few clouds. One night though, the winds from the south were so fierce that whitecap waves forced us to beach on the north shore to wait them out.
After the winds died down to a fishable level again, we shoved off in our inflatables and no more than five minutes later, within about 50 yards of the shore, I hooked and landed a nice rainbow in churned-up water that looked about like chocolate milk. This was a testament to the effectiveness of the noise-producing, fish attracting features of the Midnight Reaper fly we were all using. Visibility in that bay was less than a foot and that fish had no trouble finding the Reaper.
Tying instructions for the Midnight Reaper fly can be found at:
https://lakestreamstudio.com/blogs/news/project-fly-tutorial-the-midnight-reaper-a-night-fishing-fly
Chocolate Milk Rainbow
One of the highlights of this September’s night fishing trip was witnessing the Northern Lights – something I had never before seen in person. Charged particles from the sun create solar wind which slams into the ionosphere creating a reddish hue of Nitrogen molecules, called Aurora Borealis. Seeing it while fishing open water at night was a sight to behold. Unfortunately, my brother, Eric was fighting a fish during the whole ten-minute spectacle and missed most of it.
Aurora Borealis as seen from the lake
On these nighttime fly fishing adventures, the challenge of taking photos of the fish we catch becomes what we have come to call, the “CIRCUS”. Sometimes the fish cooperate for these photo sessions and sometimes they don’t. These sessions always end up in lots of laughs because the fish usually wins by soaking the fisherman with lake water and slime before being released, sometimes prematurely!
The first hurdle to clear even before getting out the camera, is netting the fish. I had one double-digit trout on my line for 20 minutes before I even saw the fish! Getting it in the net is when the circus begins. Imagine being on a lake, with wind blowing your inflatable who knows where, while a buddy with the camera tries to get into position, and you are holding a powerful, squirming, slippery fish in the dark while waiting for a flash
This photo worked out - Eric and a big rainbow under the moon
Regardless of that challenge, we were fortunate on this trip to collect a few good photos along with the duds. The highlights were a couple of personal best fish that were caught and released. Eric netted a gorgeous 7-pound, 25-inch male brown trout that was the only brown caught on this trip. This is what he said about it:
“This lake we fish is known for trophy-sized Brown Trout. We were all catching Rainbows and hybrids but the Browns were seeming to elude us until I hooked into this fish. Photos do not do justice to its symmetry and beauty. I felt fortunate to have caught and experienced it.”
A big smile and Eric's seven-pound Brown
Justin likewise caught a personal best 8-pound rainbow-cutthroat hybrid. Here is his story:
“This was my first foray into night fishing under a full moon. On the third night of the trip, I hooked into this 8-pound Cutbow and it's one I’ll never forget. It hit my Midnight Reaper like a freight train and put up a good fight against my 6wt. To interact with such a beautiful trout, on a moonlit lake, it was the highlight of my trip by far.”
Justin's eight-pound Rainbow/Cutthroat hybrid
After five straight nights of fishing, it was time to go home for a well-deserved rest. There were lots of stories to talk about on the way home of trophy trout, caught and lost. These photos will always help us relive the memories and keep us coming back.
Heading out at sunset for another night of fishing
Paul Laemmlen is a fly fisherman and wildlife artist from Cedar Hills, Utah. His artwork can be found at www.lakestreamstudio.com.