First day on Liberty for me this season. We spent the afternoon after work checking out all the open water for some Brown Trout. The Water temp started out at 38 degrees near the launch at 4:30P. By the time we shut it down at 7:30P, the temp dropped two degrees to 36. Along with the temp drop, the fishing slowed as well.

The one brown we put in the boat was soon after the lines were in the water, all quiet as the evening progressed. The 'bird didn't show any fish within the water column although I did spot numerous good fish holding on the barren silt flats near the edges of the organic areas and main points. These fish, likely the bass and walleye, were sucked against the bottom as tight as a drum. My guess is the nice browns are primarily in the top 5 feet of water (where ours was hooked) which is why we split them in the boat and didn't see any on the graph. Planer boards will be in the water next time.

As the water report goes, 3/4 of the lake is ice free. A line of ice crossed between Mackensie bay and in front of Dreamwood bay and covered the south end of the lake. This sheet looks like it's in it's final days however. Now we just need the WDFW or whoever to get the launch dock out and if we are really lucky they will make it longer this year...

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