Fished in the opening season trout derby Saturday at Burke Lake put on by Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce. Fishing was slow! Derby started at sunrise and ended at 12:45. My girlfriend and I trolled all the favorites. Ended up with 1 bite and 1 fish, a healthy bow just under 16 in. The lake was filled with boats and shores lined with anglers as well. We never saw another fish caught but heard of scattered hits here and there. Water temp was between 42 and 43 and the bite was off. Nice fish marked on the sonar at various depths including big schools, likely the recent dump of stocked fish for the derby. Locals and visitors alike reported little success.

My fish was just under the 17 in range that took top five honors for longest. A drawing was held for those top five fish and the winner took home a cute 12 ft aluminum boat and trailer with a 2 5 hp outboard. Other 4 got $100. Other prizes for kids and most weight and a bunch of little goodies given away via raffle tickets.

Highlight was watching my catch slam an orange wedding ring behind macks double d dodger on "wide planer" setting, tipped with an orange power egg. Leaped out of the water and put on quite a show in front of a lot of other anglers who hadn't had a bite. I thought I had the secret to success at 9am but the rest of the day was quiet.

We gave our catch to some local campers and made the long drive back to Lacey after a quick stop at the Thorp Produce and Antique Mall (love that place). All in all it was a fun time, competitors were friendly and the weather was great. I can see some good fishing at that lake when the water warms and the spook is gone!!

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