Went out with the brilliant Jigmeister and fishinChristian for a day on Scooteney Reservoir. Always heard mixed news about this lake, usually that it can be quirky due to significant flow changes imposed by the irrigation district. I've frequently shot carp up there, but never fished it very systematically, and always from the shore. The other day I got into some pretty nice bluegill from the shore, and wanted to explore it by boat.

Ironically, bluegill was the one spiny ray species we didn't do super well on (a few nice ones, including a very nice one caught by Jiggy). However, the bass fishing was pretty much non-stop for smallmouths, although the size left something to be desired. We did, however, come home with a nice bunch for a fish fry, and the action on ultralights was both amusing and fun. The perch were really scarce until into the evening, when we (OK, actually fishinChristian .. LOL) found a big school actively feeding around some weed beds. We hit them, and brought home a nice mess of perch.

We did reasonably well on the walleyes. Brought home a few small ones for the dinner table. Jiggy lost what was probably a very nice one.

We caught an interesting mix of warmwater spiny ray species: largemouth bass (biggest = 16.5"), smallmouth bass (we probably caught at least (conservatively) 100+, nothing bigger than perhaps 3 lbs), yellow perch, walleye, bluegill, and pumpkinseed. Personally, I blame Jiggy and Joe for not helping us find channel cats, crappie, and most importantly ... carp. On the latter item, it is their loss for not taking a yummy carp home for a fish fry. Perhaps next time they'll try harder...

All and all, a really superb fishing day with good friends!!