Trout Lake Report: More Time To Fish

You finally get to the lake again. The day is warm and windy, a pageant of light and shadow.

You run the shorelines again with a muddler, and you find some fish tucked in among the willows.

In a river, if you aren't hanging up on the bottom sometimes you aren't deep enough. At a lake, if you aren't hanging up on the shoreline sometimes you aren't close enough.

You see a fish working and tie on a brand new stimulator just for a change of pace. 

It takes several casts and a lot of coaxing, but you finally get the take you've been looking for. This Brown is a jumper. He jumps twice before you get the net under him.

You get some photos in the net, then pick him up and switch him around for a closeup shot with the fly, and he jumps a third time, right out of your hand into the water. You grab the leader by reflex, he gives one head shake, and he's gone--with the fly. So you crop a photo for a bogus closeup.

They fire up another prescribed burn. You make another circuit.

You're in John's Cove and a nice Brown porpoises just a few feet to your left. Unfortunately, your fly is way out in front of you. You go after him, but he won't come to the muddler. You get a small Rainbow to bite, though.

And later another small Rainbow. You're reminded that even with catch and release this is a dangerous business.

You kick up a different shoreline. You get a good hookup--some weight to it--but it comes undone for some reason. 

So you have to be content with another small rainbow...

And a small Brown.

The day winds down. You fish it out, but catch no more fish.

But you've been fishing for hours, you've had a good workout--your stripping hand has a kink in it, and you're ready to call it a day.

You climb into the truck, crank it up, and then see by the dashboard clock that it's already 9:26. And tomorrow there will be even more time to fish....