WOW. The BBs of BL got "taken to school" by a bunch of fish that proved to be as stubborn as trying to pry a fat guy off of a bag of pork rinds.

The setup: We arrived at the lake at sunrise (as we have millions of times before); put the boat in the smooth water (familiar to us) and, within 200 yards of the public boat launch, we caught a nice-sized rainbow trout (15" HONEST!).

That fish must've radio'ed a message that the BBs of BL were on the prowl--- and to watch out!!

His message must've been heard, because my partner and I spent the next 8 hours fishing. Sometimes we went upwards of an hour (an HOUR!) without so much as a tickle to our lures. The fish were down there--- they just wanted to show us who was boss. The wedding rings, that were a traditional show to the fish here--- got spotty responses throughout the lake.

We started out with our traditional wedding rings and caught: The initial trout---then it got slow. R-E-A-L slow. The fish just did not seem enthusiastic about our wedding rings. In times past, wedding rings were "da bomb" here...today though, one bite an hour seemed to be what the fish wanted us to have.
Around 1:30 PM I got all "research-y" and re-setup my fishing pole with a Rapala--- a shad-rap. BINGO! I caught a SILVER with a RAPALA (I have a witness to this...) After that initial success--- BUPKIS.

I next set-up with a Super-Duper lure (fluorescent orange) and BINGO! Another trout. I then had my limit, and THAT ended the research exercise.

My partner put a Super-Duper on his line and BINGO! Twice-bit. By that time, I had already caught my limit and was enjoying the warm afternoon (after a cold morning with wind!)

When we arrived at the lake, we were the second ones there. By 10:00, there were a LOT of people fishing, both on the lake and from shore.

BAITS THAT WORKED: RESEARCH into this is presently inconclusive--- at least for the BBs of BL!
TYPES OF FISH WE CAUGHT: Rainbows, Silvers, and 1 cutthroat
LENGTH OF FISH: 11" to 15" (real measurements)
WEIGHT OF FISH: Still no scales for the boat (fish had lots of 'em, though!)
TIME OF DAY: ALL.
LOCATIONS ON THE LAKE: EVERYWHERE. Where did the 'cycle go that had been sitting near the shoreline at Badger Lake? It was there over three seasons... and now, gone.
CONDITIONS OF THE WATER: Debris, temperature 52-54 degrees, depending on location on lake.
LURES: See text
WEATHER CONDITONS: Cold in the morning with light clouds---warming in the afternoon. Windy in the morning, too.
DEPTH: We didn't bring the leaded line rig--- and there were LOTS of fish in the deep. We fished 10', where there were lots of fish, too.
BOAT SPEED: Trolling at 1 MPH...
NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON THE LAKE: Dozens...

One more thing--- The hillbilly that thought it was funny to break his beer bottle in the public rest room: What a classless act, making a mess. Besides, who but a jerk takes their beer into the restroom, anyway?

To the rest of the fishing public at Badger: You were great. Thanks, WDFW!!

---