Went to fish Green Lake with my friend Pete. I must have offended the piscatorial gods, because my fishing stinks lately... (actually, it's the "catching" that stinks!)... hoping to regain a bit of fishing mojo at ol' Green Lake. We arrived at 7:30AM and decided to fish the northeast shore, a couple hundred yards north of the boat rental, on the rocks (just like my fishing!). Air temp was a chilly 45 degrees when we arrived, and water temp was 60 degrees at the shoreline (later took a measurement at 10' and it was 56 degrees). A strong wind was blowing into our faces from the south. Pete put on chartreuse Power Eggs and had the first bite (he always does!!!). About 8:30 he landed a beautiful, chunky Rainbow of 13 1/2". The wind was insufferable and made casting and discerning a bite very difficult. Met another angler who said he fishes this area nearly daily, and had lost a huge Brown at this shoreline the day before. Perhaps the Browns will be active a bit early this year! About 10:30 we decided to drive around to the southeast side to the 65th street pier. As I arrived, I spoke to another angler who said that he had caught a 16" and 17" Rainbow the day before... had only a few bites before having to leave today.
Pete and I settled in for a good afternoon of fishing. At about 11:30 Pete had the first bite (he always does!!!). Then, nothing... no hits, no bites, no, nada! By 1:00PM Pete's back was bothering him again, so he left the pier. I resolved to keep on keeping on...?? I changed up to half a dozen Power Bait colors and combinations, worms, salmon eggs... was spin casting a host of various spoons, spinners, wobblers, plugs... desperation setting in. The wind had remained pretty constant all day, but it really picked up as a rain squall approached about 3:00PM. Then, in the middle of a torrential downpour, my line went tight and... hallelujah!!! fish onnn... brought in a beautiful 14" Rainbow, full of fight... out of water twice, under the pier, back out front with a powerful run, then to the net! Pink Power Eggs reign! At about 4:00, line went tight again... this time a beautiful 13" Rainbow... man how these fish fight this time of year! About 4:30 a couple of younger fishermen joined me on the pier, at about 5:00, one of them landed a thick bodied Rainbow of 15" to 16" (perhaps a triploid?). Left the pier at about 6:00, feeling a bit better about future fishing prospects but having to face a worried wife when I got home after dark... so much for leaving my cell in the car!.
Through the day, had seen lots of avian fishers... Grebes, Cormorants, Mergansers... some of them having great success near the shoreline... but late in the afternoon I spied a couple of Bald Eagles flying south down the middle of the lake. They were followed by a bevy of Gulls. I noted that the lower flying eagle was a bit smaller, and that the larger eagle above was diving and swooping down on it. As they approached my position, I could see that the smaller eagle couldn't gain altitude because it was carrying an enormous trout in it's talons... the larger eagle was obviously trying to rob it. After one great blow to it's back by the larger bird, the smaller eagle dropped the fish and went squealing back down the lake. The larger bird then went into the water, obviously to get the fish before it sank or swam away. After what seemed to be minutes, the bird was finally able to get off the water with the great fish in tow... three times he was forced back into the water before finally gaining enough altitude to settle into a tree on Duck Island to enjoy his ill-gotten gain! Ain't fishin' wunnerful!!! PTL!

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