When I arrived at Coldwater the sun was high, the wind was calm and there were sporadic rises across the water. Of course by the time I put the tube in the water the wind came up and the fish dove down.
I started out trolling towards the far shore with a black leach pattern on a full sink line. The first strike came as I was approaching a shoal on the south end of the lake. The stout 15" wild 'bow put up a great fight for his size and was beautifully colored. The topography of the lake bottom is surprisingly varied with lots of relief where you would least expect it. Unfortunately I trolled right across the shoal to explore more of the lake. I fished along the south end and southeast bank for a few hours trying various techniques never quite settling on one approach. Eventually I found myself back on the shoal where I found my first fish. Trolling a crystal bugger along a drop-off produced another 15" bow and casting the same black bugger(#10) along the edge of the shoal produced a thick 16" rainbow, the last and final fish of the day. All three fish were strong and tenacious. Their brilliant colors were enhanced by a bronze tint that made these wild fish a pleasure to catch and release.

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