Word has it that the gate to East Lake will be closed on November 15th. It’s been an excellent season up there. The spring started off great, water was low but the callibaetis hatches were great, as was subsurface fishing. Then the heat came. Things got a bit tricky and fishing in the shallows wasn’t an option. Once August rolled around water temperatures declined just enough to really improve the fishing. Surface fishing with terrestrials and callibaetis was top notch and the nymphing was great as well. As we moved into fall, balanced leeches and streamers started to be the hot flies. Some excellent browns and rainbows were getting fooled by big meaty flies. For the last few days of fishing, I would continue to use leeches and streamers. Both small streamers and big articulated streamers get attention. If you’re looking to use an indicator, balanced leeches are essential. Pair that with a midge, dark assassin, or chironomid. Looking forward, East Lake should be in better shape next year. Hopefully, this La Nina winter nukes the mountains with snow. Combining a huge snowpack with a cool spring would do wonders for the water levels at East. Thanks for reading the East Lake reports this season, we’ll be back with more next spring!