We like to think the fish are gonna be there anyway. I mean, like where else are they gonna go? It’s a lake. If we’re late, well we’re going to catch them anyway. It can be like that.

But not so much in the top dead center of summer. We arrived before the sun was on the water.

This was my first time at Fourmile Lake, which sits in the shadow of Mount McLoughlin right off the Pacific Crest Trail, 6 miles off Highway 140.

Fourmile Lake’s 740 surface acres (at full pool) are split by the line that marks the Sky Lakes Wilderness boundary in southern Oregon. An angler can drive to the lake, launch the boat and motor into the wilderness. And catch rainbow trout, kokanee and mackinaw, and maybe a brook trout.

We had an experienced team: my wife Merrilee, daughter Tiffany, 10-year-old Ava, 8-year-old Holden, Mitch Booher from Creswell and my 9-year-old pudelpointer Liesl, who was an Alaskan brown bear in a former life.

My friend Darren Roe had the boat in the water already. Liesl leaped aboard after scouting out a dead fish she would eat later and then Darren pushed off and vaulted over the bow.

It’s a deep lake with a trench that plumbs at 170 feet deep and a nice mix of shallows to grow bugs and ledges where trout go up and down in the water column.

We set anchors fore and aft to hold us in position and Darren baited hooks with jar bait. Fourmile is a great fly-fishing destination, and we love to fly-fish, but when you have a boatful and the idea is to have as much fun as possible for the next two hours, it’s hard to beat a trout dough and fluorocarbon combo.

Darren’s idea of rigging for trout deserves consideration because he takes a different approach than other anglers. He insists on long 12-pound test fluorocarbon leaders and the hooks were No. 12 trebles, bigger gear than most anglers use. And he tunes up the hook with pliers to spread out the points of the trebles. And the bait balls he puts on the hook are bigger, too. The result is that you might not catch the trout that only want a small bait but you do get the fish (and some of them bigger than average) that will eat a bigger bait.

We had convened the day before with a kayak trip through the tules on Upper Klamath Lake then suited up for the zipline. Darren and Jenifer Roe are the owners of the Crater Lake Zipline and the biggest reason they had to build it was to try to bring families together.

“We looked at how we do things as a family,” Darren said. “What are we looking for? Not necessarily a high-end fly-fishing experience, but what can families do where they are entertained, where you can take four to six people at a time. What did we come up with? What our family does.” Zip-lining and trout fishing.

Darren and Jenifer re-imagined their business to offer families something the children could do, and give the adults a thrill.

“We made it so families can be together and all connect under one tree canopy.”

And then go fishing.

Darren and the kids and I fired casts along the ledge and out into the deeper water and imagined the weights and water-filled casting bubbles finding their depth. Rods went into rod holders and we took turns taking up the slack.

Then we found out how bossy each of us can be. Darren bossed Holden, who bossed him back. And I bossed Ava and tried not to boss my wife and then a rod started getting bit behind someone and we took turns teasing.

I like to let the kids catch the legals, the 10- to 12-inchers, and watch for the subtler cues that indicate bigger fish. Merrilee was feeling that too, and she caught the first 18-incher. I waited until a trout almost ripped the rod out of the boat and that one, too, was 18 inches long.

We stopped at 25 fish. And when we pulled the boat out of the water, my dog jumped out and went back over to a stinky dead trout and ate it so she could remind us of the great fishing at Fourmile Lake all the way home.

If you go, be careful at the very shallow boat launch. There is no ramp, no dock, and with a larger boat the truck is going to have to back down the gravel and probably get the front tires wet. A smaller boat, a long rope and a pleasant attitude is what you want at this boat launch.

This is a great fly-fishing destination. The faithful come to fish the traveling sedge hatch where the bugs run across the surface in the late evening and early mornings. Watch the air quality and the temperature and wait for the fall rains.

We left some for you. It’s a lake, where else are they gonna go?

You can never have too many caddis patterns. They come in all colors, not including peacock, but I dare you not to fish peacock!

I like the profile of this fly better than the standard Elk Hair Caddis and the white wing post, too, which can help keep the fly in sight on long casts.

The trout are watching for sure. The easy way to fish the Dancing Caddis PK is on a dead drift. During a caddis hatch, don’t be afraid to fish two dries in tandem. And, especially on the McKenzie, pick them up and lay them down again when the pair start to drag. Drives trout crazy!

To tie this one, start with a No. 14 dry fly hook and wrap a body of peacock herl or imitation peacock. Next, tie in a low elk hair wing to extend just past the bend of the hook. Tie a white poly wing post then trim off short. Build the thorax with peacock. Finish with a brown hackle wrapped parachute style.

—Gary Lewis, For The Bulletin