My fishing forays have slowed down considerably this fall since I got an AKC chocolate Lab pup from my good friend Adam Barnett. With 8 roosters in the bag so far, I jumped at a chance to go fish with my buddy Joe Cortez of Sunnyside at pond #4 along the I 82 corridor south of Union Gap by Yakima. There were quite a few rigs in the parking lot, along with several boats trolling the south end of the lake. A light steady drizzle put my Mossy Oak Duck hunter parka to the test. Joe and I settled down at the South end of the the Pond and enjoyed the scenery. It wasn't long before the drizzle turned to wispy puffs of snow, and with the snow, the bite picked up. A young latino guy showed up and started pitching a chrome cast master and three casts in, his rod bowed over and his line peeled off his spool. I could tell that he was one cool cat, because the fish he had on was a brute and he expertly played it into the bank. That trout was an easy 7 pound hen, bright and chrome with all the hall marks of a recently planted hatchery brood stock fish. I changed up my choice of power bait to Captain America and the trout started biting for me. After a light pick up, I swung and connected with a 17" broodstock buck rainbow, and it fought me all the way to the net. A boat passing in front of us with a grandpa and grandson said they had picked up 4 decent fish that morning. Poor ol' joe played the part of "too slow Joe" and let his bites get the best of him. The best part of the morning was flipping Joe a little crap, joking around and making the most of another beautiful morning fishing the I 82 ponds.

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