Kudos to my friend Pete for suggesting on Wednesday that we try Lake B this weekend... what an awesome day!!! We met at the lake at 7:30 AM, were fishing off the pier at 7:45... a bit dark, but growing lighter by the minute. The lake was a flat calm, not a breeze, though a chilly 38 degrees at the outset. Had a light rain falling for the first three hours, then mostly dry and cloudy. Was really a pleasant NW winter day. Water temp off the pier was 45 degrees (10'). This time of year I mostly target Cutthroats here, but you never know what might bite. Started off with Nightcrawlers and yellow Power Eggs for flotation. Tried spin casting small spoons for the first hour or so... nada! About 8:30 had a good hit and reeled in a beautifully colored 12 1/2" Cutt. About 9:00, as I was setting up my second rig, I watched my rod tip plunge toward the lake and the butt of the rod and reel head up and over the pier's railing. I grabbed the rod just in time and set the hook... Big Fish On! The fish tail-walked 150' out, drawing the attention of the resident Bald Eagle which made a dive at the fish as I fought it towards the pier. Pete did an excellent job of netting the Beautiful 17 1/2" Rainbow. Aside: although the world by all accounts did not end on 12/21/12, the universe most certainly took a big hit... Pete ALWAYS catches the first fish... ALWAYS!!!
About 10:30 I had a subtle bite, played out some slack until the fish inhaled the bait, and set the hook. Reeled in a beautiful, mint bright 14 1/2" Cutt. Throughout the morning Pete and I had been plagued by lots of subtle bites... the rod tip would bend, once, twice, even three times, but no hook-ups. We tried everything we could think of to hide the hook, to make a different presentation, a different mode of flotation... we would have the hit, then reel in a 1" piece of Nightcrawler, or an empty hook. The fish are becoming much smarter... I think it is because they travel in SCHOOLS... ha,ha. Anyway, by noon we had had, conservatively, 20 hits, with only the three fish to show for it.
At about noon, Pete switched to Power Eggs (chartreuse and orange) and shortly thereafter reeled in another gorgeous Cutt, 14 1/2" 'er, though very skinny. About 1:30 Pete brought in a brightly colored 13 1/2" Rainbow and I caught my fourth, a 14 1/2" Rainbow about a half hour later. By 3:00 the NFL playoffs were beckoning, so we left the lake.
About 8:30 a young couple launched a small pram and trolled the lake for about two hours, they left with cold, numb fingers, saying that they had had dozens of bites trolling worms, but were unable to catch any fish. About 12:30 we were joined on the pier by another fisherman, Peter, who was able to land one nice Rainbow before we left.
It was fascinating watching a large flock (I counted over 50 birds) of American Mergansers fishing the lake. They dive in waves, herding the fish in one direction until the entire flock dives to capture their prey. Amazing how they work together toward a common goal... maybe we could learn from them!!???
Upon cleaning the large Rainbow, I discovered that she had recently eaten four 3" Perch, plus the remains of a crawfish. She also had fully developed skeins of eggs, as did the 14 1/2" Cutt. The eggs I cured for Springtime fishing.
What a truly awesome beginning to the New Year! Go Hawks!! PTL!

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