Northwest Fishing Reports

I'm looking for anyone who knows of the best fly patterns for the Fall rainbows and browns in Medical Lake. I usually fish for trout at higher elevations with spratleys and tom thumbs, I gave those a try at Medical during a big hatch and not a single fish even bumped them. I know there are a lot of Medical Lake fly fishermen out there and anyone willing to offer a frustrated fisherman some advice would be a God-send.

Doc Spratleys are a great Medical pattern, in both olive and black. Not sure about a Tom Thumb.....I'll research that pattern later! Medical's fish are ultra-finicky, especially at this time of the year. They will catch fire in mid-September or so, maybe earlier if the weather cools sooner. Leeches, buggers, damsels, carey specials, olive willies and various chironomid patterns are always a good bet. I used a pattern there for years called a Copper Killer. It was a fish catcher, especially the browns, in September! Avoid early morning, as you'll be wasting your time, IMO. Fish late morning to mid-day and again in the evening. You can even get them on dries during the last hour of the day. I used Yellow Humpies, caddis and Adams patterns then.

I lived in Medical Lake for 9 years and Medical was my hometown lake. Don't be discouraged by a single skunk. I lost count of the times I went fishless on a certain day just to get a dozen the following day, under identical weather conditions.

BTW, a large Medical Lake rainbow is a special treat! Good luck!

A red bead head olive Carey works well also.