Description
Two-story lakes are those where coldwater fish, such as salmon and trout, move to deep, cold waters during the hot summer months, while warm-water fish, such as black bass, small norhern pike and sunfish, remain near surface waters. This same separation of coldwater and warm-water fish occurs during the summer in man-made impoundments. Some fish can grow exceptionally large eating the numerous creatures that share lakes with them. Two-story lakes range from large ones, like the Great Lakes, home to a variety of sport fish, to small ones stocked with only one species of salmon or trout.
Two-story lakes are a challenge to fish successfully. They usually have large barren sections, interspersed with shoreline and bottom structure that attract fish, and strong currents that move foodstuffs around and, as a result, sport fish travel from place to place in response to these movements. Discussed are conditions that affect outcomes, such as vertical and horizontal currents, weather patterns, seasons of the year, and time of day. The habits and haunts of the different species of sportfish that inhabit these lakes are discussed, as well as the baitfish and other aquatic creatures that sport fish feed on.
The equipment needed to withstand the stress created by trolled lines and large fish is discussed, including the lines and backings required to reach certain depths and the knots necessary to prevent leader breakage. Specific fly patterns are featured, as well as the hooks to tie them on. Included is a presentation of casting; trolling; wind drifting; pier, breakwater, and surf fishing; back-trolling and back-bouncing; and techniques to fight big fish. The final three chapters are devoted to discussing fishing during specific seasons of the year, with an emphasis on using fly patterns imitating small fare. The material is presented in a colorful way, with many techniques embedded in fishing stories and angling history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
John Mordock was born in 1938 in Cumberland, Maryland at the same time as his father started the first yacht club on Western Marylands' Deep Creek Lake, now a noted two-story fishery mentioned in John's book, Fly Fishing Two-Story Lakes and Reservoirs. John moved to Northfield, Illinois, north of Chicago, in his youth, where his father taught him to fly fish and he grew up canoeing and fishing Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes and rivers. His grandfather, Charles T. Mordock, who lived two blocks west of Lake Michigan, also fly fished Mid-Western waters, as well as those in Utah when he visited his brother, William, who lived in Salt Lake City, and in California when he visited his daughter, Kay, who married James D. Adams, a lawyer who also fly fished. John's grandfather was either a frequent guest or a member of the Coleman Lake Club, the first fly fishing organization in the Mid-West, and his Uncle Jim was a member of the Golden Gate Anglers and Casters Club, and outgrowth of the San Francisco Fly Casters Club. His Uncle Jim took John and his cousins on a pack trip to fish for trout in California's High Sierra, above Yosemite Park, when John was approaching his teens. As a teenager, John also fished Northern California's Klamath River with his relatives.
The only period when John hasn't fly fished since he took up the sport was when in Hawaii surfing, snorkeling, and completing his doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology, which included courses in animal behavior. His graduate studies made him skeptical of claims unsupported by empirical data, a condition that characterizes much of the lure about fishing and which led to his book, Capturing Rogue Trout. John moved from Hawaii to Pennsylvania in 1966, where he fished in the Poconos, and then in 1969 to New York, where he fished, and continues to fish, in the Catskills and Adirondacks. In the early 1970s, John joined Trout Unlimited and the Batten Kill Flyfishers, a group of 10 anglers owning riverside property on the Batten Kill, a wild trout stream up until recently. Since 1975, John has made a summer trip to major Western rivers, with his last 10 trips to Calgary's Bow River and nearby streams.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.