Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service
Windy, wet and cccold! That is the story for Lake B this Saturday morning. Met friend Pete at 7:30, fishing off the pier shortly thereafter. Started out windy... got worse... then got wet too! Air temp was 35 degrees upon arrival, thin layer of ice on the pier... made walking an adventure! Water temp at 15' was 48 degrees. My target was Cutthroat and I began with Nightcrawlers w/ EZ eggs for floatation. Also put a Nightcrawler on a jig head and twitched it back in to the pier. Had one hard hit on that about 8:00, but the gusting wind made that kind of fishing very difficult. Pete started with Power Eggs, orange on one rig, chartreuse on another. At about 8:30 Pete had a hit on the orange and reeled in a feisty 12" Cutthroat, a buck as it turned out. I switched up to orange Power Eggs on one of my rigs and fifteen minutes later, "fish on"... reeled in a sleek 11 1/2" Cutthroat, a hen. I noticed right away that this fish had the classic look of a Sea-run Cutt... dark blue back and shiny silver sides. Reminiscent of the Sea-runs I used to catch on a fly years ago in Hood Canal, or on the Deschutes River. Wind made it very difficult to determine if we were getting subtle bites, but had nothing more until about 11:00, when I had a strong hit and reeled in a very, very chunky 12 1/2" Rainbow. Rain became more serious, Pete said the rain was coming in "sideways"... his back began to stiffen up and he left reluctantly at about 12:30. I endured for awhile longer, but the wind and rain became too much and I left the lake about 1:30 PM.
Interesting, upon cleaning the fish, found maturing egg skeins in the Cutthroat hen (put them in a cure, will use them at Green Lake later for the Browns). Also found two copepods (sea-lice) near the anal fin on the hen Cutthroat, belying the tale of the fish's life. Perhaps began as a hatchling in Lake Ballinger several years ago, migrated down McAleer Creek into Lake Washington, then into Lake Union, down the Ship Canal, through the Ballard Locks, into Puget Sound. Fattened up on krill and shrimp, then back the same way to spawn in Lake Ballinger this Spring.
Upon cleaning the Rainbow, I discovered it to be stuffed with small lake snails, first time I've encountered that at Lake B.!
All in all, a very challenging day on the lake, but very rewarding as well. Hadn't been fishing for two weeks, due to Holiday commitments! Almost more than a man can take! PTL!
Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service