So here is the deal with Lake Wenas. Due to a conflict between the Fish and Wildlife department, Wenas is no longer going to be planted with fish, at least this year. If you are interested, the story is here:

http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/2494

Needless to say, there are not near as many fish in Wenas as there used to be, but despite the odds I headed out anyways, hoping to hook into one of wenas' famous lunker german browns or a nice rainbow.

The weather was perfect, seventies, with a nice light breeze, and lots of sunshine. We fished from the bank all day with pretty much any and every bait one could try for trout. We tried different colors of powerbait, rooster tails and various other lures, and only had one bite between me and my buddy. We started on the upper end, where the boat launch is, and slowly worked ourselves all the way down to the dam. I figured at the dam we would at least have a bite, as it is the deepest portion of the lake. Anyone preparing to fish Wenas from the bank be warned!!!! The rough dirt road that used to hug the lake, and ended at the dam, is now barricaded off, in an effort to dissuade people from fishing the bank and littering it. Thus, it is a twenty minute walk from the upper end to the dam. Add an ice chest, heavy tackle box, lawn chair, net, etc, and it becomes kind of a pain in the ***

As I said, the weather was nice, and we tried pretty much everything and anything to entice the finicky fish, and finally just called it a day, and let the lake win the battle. Another important notation is that there were quite a few other fishermen on the lake and NOBODY caught a fish. There were quite a few boats. People were drifting, trolling, stillfishing, etc, and I did not see a single fish get landed. Aside from the lake not being stocked, I'm thinking that the last few summers (when the lake has been drained down to a trickle) have had a big impact on the fish population. Oh well, it was a beautiful day in the out doors! Attached is the catch of the day: The elusive, but always abundant brown bottle fish!

Joe

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