This should have been written a while back, but back in September I went to Heenan Lake with my cousin Chase. For those of you that don’t know, Heenan Lake is known for its large Lahontan Cutthroats. Now when I say large I mean large. Now something that is important to know about Heenan Lake is that it is only open 2 months out of the year and only Friday through Sunday; catch and release only with barbless flies or artificial lures. Make sure to check the regulations before you plan a trip to the lake. We decided to give it a try at the end of September.
I headed up on Friday and Chase was going to meet me up there later that night. I got to the lake around 2 O’Clock and started out trying all kind of flies; Woolly Buggers, Pheasant Tails, Leech patterns, Prince Nymph. I wasn’t getting anything, but was noticing that, for how many people were on the water, not many people were catching. I saw in the distance someone in a drift boat caught a huge cutthroat. I overheard him tell someone that he caught it with a Red Copper John.
I just happened to have a Red Copper John in my box. I put it on and within minutes got a massive strike. I set the hook and it was on. I could tell this was going to be a huge fish so I made sure to not over work it. When I got the fish to the surface it looked like a shark swimming though the water. I got the fish over to my float tube and the got the fish in my lap. The fish measured out to 24”! That fish alone made the trip worth it.
The next day Chase was there to fish with me. I wound up catching another fish with a Red Copper John again. It was not quite a big as the fish but still a really nice size.
By midday the wind picked up to the point that it was hard to control the float tube on the water, so we called it. I walked away with two fish and am looking forward to planning another trip for next year.
I headed up on Friday and Chase was going to meet me up there later that night. I got to the lake around 2 O’Clock and started out trying all kind of flies; Woolly Buggers, Pheasant Tails, Leech patterns, Prince Nymph. I wasn’t getting anything, but was noticing that, for how many people were on the water, not many people were catching. I saw in the distance someone in a drift boat caught a huge cutthroat. I overheard him tell someone that he caught it with a Red Copper John.
I just happened to have a Red Copper John in my box. I put it on and within minutes got a massive strike. I set the hook and it was on. I could tell this was going to be a huge fish so I made sure to not over work it. When I got the fish to the surface it looked like a shark swimming though the water. I got the fish over to my float tube and the got the fish in my lap. The fish measured out to 24”! That fish alone made the trip worth it.
The next day Chase was there to fish with me. I wound up catching another fish with a Red Copper John again. It was not quite a big as the fish but still a really nice size.
By midday the wind picked up to the point that it was hard to control the float tube on the water, so we called it. I walked away with two fish and am looking forward to planning another trip for next year.
 |  |
