Headed up after work to Merrill for some afternoon/evening fishing.I got out on the water around 4:30 and was surprised to see how high up the lake is. The water was way past the start of the boat launch and the 'Fly Fishing Only' signpost was half way covered as well! Anyways...I trolled the lake, at first with the trolling motor on high because of the winds, for about an hour before I had my first strike. Landed a nice thick-bodied rainbow about 15 inches. Kept trolling for about another two and a half hours with consistent action. Biggest fish was a slim bodied, 21 inch monster that inhaled the fly just under the surface and came to the boat quickly. Then when he finally figured out what was going on he woke up and tore out about 15 yards of flyline with one run. Nice battle! All in all it was a great evening, too bad the fish there have parasites. You are only allowed one fish to keep anyway, but I don't keep any because I did a couple of times only to find out that their flesh was infested with worm like parasites. YUCK!

Tight lines to all!

Aaidian

5/20/2011 3:49:00 PM

Nice report. How many people were you sharing the lake with? I have been tying flies like crazy hoping to get up there soon (if the truck can get fixed)

Have heard about the parasites in those fish. Guess the C&R rate there is pretty high for most people because of that.

flyfisherguy

5/20/2011 4:05:00 PM

Hi Aaidian, there were two other fisherman leaving as I arrived who said the fishing was slow, which drained some of my enthusiasm for braving the lake when it was getting whipped up pretty good by the winds. And that's one thing you want to be mindful of: Merrill can go from dead calm to whitecaps in a matter of minutes, so always be sure that you have a good charge left in one your batteries if you plan on using an electric motor! Other than that, there were two or three other people in pontoon boats and canoes that I saw there but no crowds yet. That will change next month I'm sure, Merrill can get pretty full when camping season kicks in. But don't let that discourage you, you should do fine there, bring an assortment of both wet and dry flies, the evening hatch is a blast to fish! Tight lines my friend!

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