Pete and I decided to hit Green Lake again for some urban/wilderness adventure. Lots of big fish being caught recently due to huge plant of trips just before Father's Day (1,500). Met at the lake at 4:30 AM, went to 65th St Pier and had lines in the water before 5:00. Lake a flat calm, not a breeze... temp was 57 degrees, water temp off the pier at 10' was 67 degrees. Fish were surfacing all over the lake, obviously their "feed bag" was on and they were gorging on something in the water. I started with fl. orange Power Egg (4' leader) on one rig, pink & white "Mice Tail" on the other (5' leader). Action was hot in the early morning... had my first by 5:30, a football shaped trip of nearly 14" (P&W MT). Just before 6:00, reeled in my second, a 11 1/2" 'Bow (MT). By 6:30, had my third, this a feisty, hard fought 16 1/2" trip (MT). Shortly before 8:00, Pete caught the fish of the day, a 20+" trip that took him around the pier. Pete caught another trip of 17", then a 12"'er before calling it a day just after 11:00. By 9:00 the sun was high in the sky and the temp began soaring and the bite fell off proportionately. I caught my fourth Rainbow, 12" just before 1:00 (green PE), then tried valiantly for my last, trying every bait combination in my bait bag, until 4:00, when I left the lake. Only a few hits (one huge hit that nearly pulled my rod off the pier, about 1:30, but no more hook-ups).
The pier remained crowded all day, with anywhere from 10 to 15 lines in the water. Saw some real nice trips landed early on, but bites came fewer and farther between as the sun rose higher.
Upon cleaning the fish, I learned what they had been feasting on... three of the four were stuffed with small black ants (size 18 or 20 for the fly fishermen!). Had been a huge hatch of ants and they covered the lake and the trout were going "ape nuts crazy" for them.
All in all, a great day to sit and relax and enjoy the sun, the urban/outdoor experience and catch a few fish. Even had a guest appearance by the local Great Blue Heron to add entertainment to the day. Filleted the trips, prepared them with my favorite molasses marinade, grilled them and my wife and I ate them with relish. PTL!

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