Day out fishing with dad! Arrived on easily accessible road at about 9:00 AM. Having never been to Fourth of July lake before we followed tracks down the east side of lake. We were the only ones there and were concerned about finding a place to fish. After walking about 1/2 the lake (30 Minutes) the tracks came to a small cove. In the cove there were several holes drilled into the ice. We were not very far from the shore and the ice seemed stable. With our hatchet we re-broke through the holes in the ice. Bites were there and finally landed one. (Funny to use the term land when pulling a fish upright through a hole in the ice). What was working for us was orange power bait, size 8 single hook, and small weight about 12 inches above hook. The water depth was shallow, but the fish were large. In the end we left with 3 16" and 1 15". Absolutely beautiful fish. As we returned to the car we saw many other people out in the middle of the lake, they were less concerned about the ice thickness than us. Got back to car at 1:00. Go Have fun. This is beautiful Eastern Washington landscape.

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