Had a kitchen accident early last week, scalded my foot and could only sit in my recliner and watch day-time TV all week... stir-crazy by Saturday, pulled on my boots (ouch!) and headed out the door! Destination, Gissberg... WDFW had made a considerable deposit of trips,... hoping to tie into some! Arrived at about 5:00 AM, lines in the water by 5:15. Overcast but mild, temp at outset was 59 degrees. Not a breeze, wisps of fog coming off the warmish water... water temp at 72 degrees at the shoreline. Started out with "Mice Tail" Power Bait on one rig (red w/ brown tail) and marshmallow and nightcrawler on the other. About 6:00 had a strong hit on nightcrawler, nearly pulled my rod through the holder, but not able to hook-up. About 6:30 had a hit on the MT and reeled in a Rainbow of about 9 1/2"... bleeding badly, so retained it. Over the next two hours, had several hits, able to land two more Rainbows (all on MT), both near the 11" mark. By 9:00 the sun was climbing high in the sky and the temp was soaring. The bite was off! Continued fishing through the early afternoon... changing up baits and presentations, with little success. About 1:00, went to a nightcrawler under a slip-float and was able to connect with two more Rainbows in the 9" to 10" range... hooked in the lip, so released both of them. Left the lake about 2:30. Disappointed in the very small fish... the WDFW planting site does not suggest that their plants here are significantly smaller fish, but that seems to be the case... did not see many fish caught, but those I did see were on the small side, for sure!
All in all, was great to get out and enjoy nature. This small lake is teeming with life. About 6:00, a humongous beaver swam by... plenty of evidence of his presence around the shoreline! Watched pond turtles, bullfrogs and hundreds of their tadpoles... saw schools of LMB fry, as well as larger (8" to 10") individuals swim by... bluegills, sculpins... as well as the eagles and ospreys. By 8:00 dozens of fishermen and women and their families were on the shoreline, enjoying the sun and the outdoors, but as stated above, didn't see many fish caught. PTL!

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