I drove to Fourth of July lake for the first time in years. The access road was in excellent shape, and I was the second vehicle there. After a 15-minute hike up atop the bluffs overlooking the eastern shoreline, I dropped down to the "First Narrows" area. There was no ice anywhere except for some small sheltered bays along the east shoreline. The setting hasn't changed at all since I first fished there in 1987.

Using my ultralight spinning gear (Ugly Stik and 4-lb. test line), I cast out into the deeper water of the First Narrows. My 1/8-oz. Acme Kastmaster slab-jig was reeled in after being JIGGED sideways; I'd twitch it about 2 feet sideways, return the rod tip to the water, and reel in the slack line. The jig "flutters" like a leaf on the slack line, and that's when the Rainbow Trout grabbed it. I caught-and-released 6 ea. ~14" rainbows and kept 2 in 70 minutes of fishing. The fish seemed to be "suspended" about halfway down, and weren't on the rocky bottom.

There was a group of 4 otters who swam by in the First Narrows. They just grunted occasionally and headed north. Other fishermen working on the western shoreline (just north of the First Narrows) saw them too. They didn't "spook" the rainbows. A lone duck flew by, and a flock of geese soared by about a mile south.

The First Narrows has always been a hot spot. Years ago, I recall an Oriental family casting into the First Narrows from ON TOP of the western cliff. They were able to cast their bait into the center of the channel, and they limited-out in 20 minutes flat and left.

We ate the two 14" trout that night, and they were delicious! One had a real pink meat, and the other one had more grayish meat. They both tasted fine. Gone was the typical "grassy" taste of fish taken from that lake in previous years.

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