Trout Lake Report: Awkward Goodbyes

You think this will be your last trip to the lake for a long time. You're in the middle of packing everything in the house, loading a U-Haul truck, and getting ready for a move away from Washington back to the Midwest. It's too busy to fish anymore.

So you document the last time you park the truck at the channel (the truck is sold; the new owners will pick it up in a day or two) and the last time you launch the float tube.

But then something goes wrong. You can't document the last fish you catch at Trout Lake because you don't catch it. You miss some hits, and a strong fish breaks you off along the weed beds. You think that might have been the big Brown you've been hoping for. But the end result adds up to a skunk.

Looks like you need to figure out how to squeeze in one more trip to the lake.

Trout Lake Report: Change Is Hard

Change is hard--and hard work--but you get away to the lake once again. You range a little farther down the familiar shorelines, saying your goodbyes. A trusty muddler brings some fish.

Trout Lake Report: Standoffish

Busy times. Big changes afoot. But you can still make time for Trout Lake. The trout are still standoffish, but you fool one with a little caddis.