Cutthroat Lake Report: Getting Down To Business

I talked big when I was here last without the float tube and with limited time. Something about coming back with the tube and "getting down to business." Well, I had the tube, and I had the time, and I got down the best I could, but the cutts were not impressed. That first time, fishing from the bank for an hour or so, I got two tugs. This time I got exactly nothing.

Lake is high. This is usually a rocky island.

Lake is green. It makes me think of a swimming pool at night. I'm told it's the high alkaline content. That spider--can you find it?--rode with me for awhile until I finally fed him to the fish. Or, based on how much evidence I saw of feeding fish, until I forced him to swim to shore.

I trolled, and trolled, and trolled some more. I was hoping evening might bring some fishy activity on top. There was a heavy hatch of midges and I patrolled with a muddler for awhile, but the fish were nowhere to be seen. So I trolled some more.

I saw this family of geese each time I made my way along the shoreline. This time one of the goslings was trying to get up but seemed to have a lame leg. He flopped around until I got close, then he hunkered down until I moved on. He's in the lower right of the photo. He finally got up and joined the others, but he was still limping. Hope he makes it.

And hey, here's a magpie.

I enjoyed kicking down the far shoreline away from the road. I could hear the inlet for a long time before I got there.

All in all, I enjoyed myself. It was a beautiful afternoon and evening.

But next time I'm really going to get down to business.