Trout Lake Report: Nothing Lasts Forever

You load your Father's Day present and head for the lake for some more Drake research. It's a warm day, and you should get a more accurate picture of the hatch than you did in the cold, wet conditions of the last trip.

The new tube looks good getting all wet and muddy at the channel access. Time to break it in.

Break it in you do. There are three guys ahead of you down the long Drake shoreline, so you make a long kick across the lake around them and down to the west side. Tube does just fine.

Drakes are already popping here, and fish are taking them. 

You pick up a nice Rainbow right off the bat.

Then another one.

Two casts and two fish. The problem is that you hooked five fish and lost three of them. You think the acrobatic "Drake takes" you're seeing result in poor hookups. You'd hate to think it was you.

While you're catching those fish the three guys who had been on the Drake Bank before you head back to the campground. It looked like they were waiting for Drakes, but maybe they gave up, or have an idea for supper they're really eager to try. You kick over, and another guy moves into the west side.

You fish all up and down your favorite stretches of shoreline looking for Drakes and rises, but they are sadly lacking. The inescapable conclusion is that the hatch is dwindling. And that you want to get to the west side first on your next trip.

You finally decide to tie on another secret weapon--the Brown Drake Stimulator--and start working your way back to the truck.

You work the shoreline carefully but nothing is happening. You have time to enjoy the changing colors in the sunset.

The moon is out, and the BD Stimulator is visible in the moonlight, so you can keep getting it in close. You drop it into a notch in the willows and let it sit. A fish makes a grab for it. You raise up and miss it.

You kick back and maneuver into position again and lay the fly right in there where it was. You wait. There's a rise on down the bank. That's good. A Brown, you think, patrolling its territory. You're pretty sure it will check out the notch again. You wait. And the fish comes back and grabs the fly. This time you hook it and net it. Now, that's fishing.

You fish on. You're tired but the lake is waking up. You hear rises along the shoreline, and you get bumps on the stimulator. You cast it in close and get a strong take. It's a good fish, and it's fun while it lasts. Like the day.

Time to head for home, but you'll be back on Monday for the solstice, the full moon, and the longest day of the year. You'll bring the Drake box, but you'll also be ready to move on. Nothing lasts forever.