Remained closer to home today for another fishing adventure. Headed for Silver Lake in south Everett... realizing that the lake hadn't been planted with anything since June of 2015, but perchance an opportunity for a nice carryover Rainbow or an occasional Cutthroat. Arrived at Thornton A. Sullivan Park at about 7:30 AM and made the trek down to the shoreline and onto the first of the three piers. For some reason a great deal of the pier had been removed and was now just a narrow, short protrusion into the lake. Air temp was at 43 degrees at the outset, almost a dead calm for the first hour... water temp off the pier, at 15' was 42 degrees. Heavy cloud cover at the beginning. Lines in the water by 7:45... began with marshmallows and nightcrawlers on one rig, Fl. Orange Power Eggs on the other. Within the first two hours, had four hits on the 'crawler rig, two fish fought part-way in, then came off, taking the 'crawler with them... reeled in an empty hook once, a half worm another time... fish biting very lightly... changed up on colors on the PE rod... fishing green (Lemon-Lime) at 11:00 when the rod tip doubled over and into my first fish of the day... a wonderful, chunky winter holdover Rainbow of 12". About 12:30 I noticed a slight movement of the rod tip on the 'crawler rig, began to hand-feed line off my reel until I felt a stronger resistance, then set the hook... reeled in a silvery, lean and beautiful Cutthroat of 12 1/2"... hook just caught the upper lip of the fish. The next two hours produced nothing except one more hit on the PE (still green) with no hook-up. By about 11:00 a strong breeze had developed from the southeast, eventually switching to a northerly wind that carried a real chill with it. I could feel the temperature drop as the afternoon proceeded. About 2:00 I changed the 'crawler set- up and put on shrimp meat (have found that in winter fishing Rainbows will often take shrimp readily... just the small salad shrimp from the grocery store seafood section). Line hadn't been in the water more than five minutes, when the rod tip doubled over with a violent hit... almost pulled the rod into the water... reeled in my third, and largest of the day, a very chunky Rainbow of 13". Had one more hit on the shrimp meat, but no hook-up. Left the lake at 4:30 with three beautiful fish... three fish caught on three different baits. No other fish caught while I was at the lake.
Had an interesting encounter with wildlife about 9:00, as a large mammal poked its head above the water's surface for a brief moment... thought at first that it was a river Otter, later, upon reflection, figured it to have been a large Beaver, considering several debarked tree limbs at the shoreline, bearing distinctive beaver teeth-marks... anyway, it looked at me and immediately dived beneath the surface. Enjoyed watching waterfowl and eagles during the day. Watched a flock of crows chase what I believe was a Northern Harrier across the lake in the afternoon.
Watched as literally hundreds of children attended the park's play area with their parents, many of them exploring the lake's shoreline as well. Saw two children, accompanied by a father and a grandfather try their hands at fishing for an hour or two, neither caught a fish, but obviously enjoyed their time trying. Spoke with a little girl briefly, with her grandfather, who said the she "loved to fish". Does my heart good to see the next generation taking to this sport which offers me such great enjoyment. PTL!

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