Headed out early to Silver Lake for a morning of fishing. Arrived a bit before 5:00 AM, parked across the street from Thornton Sullivan Park (gate doesn't open until 6:00 or whenever the gate keeper shows up!) and headed down to the lake. At the lake by 5:15 AM. Another fisherman had already taken his spot on the southernmost pier, so I chose a location on the shoreline. Sky was cloudy, with the air temp at 48 degrees at the outset. Water temp was at 72 degrees at the shoreline. Began fishing with Fl. orange Power Eggs on one rig (3' leader), and nightcrawlers under a float on the other. Began to have bites on the worms, almost immediately. Became apparent that Yellow Perch were hitting the worms, and in the first couple hours hooked at least a dozen of them, keeping three that were about 8" and releasing the smaller ones to grow bigger. Also caught and released a half dozen small LMB of 6" to 8". Meanwhile, was having no luck at all on the PE. I was having trouble with the vegetation in the water... though I was casting beyond the heavy vegetation near the shoreline, upon my retrieve, was bringing in 10#s of "salad"! Tried numerous colors of PE as well as Power Dough, on various leader lengths. About 8:00, had the only bite I got from the shoreline, on pink PE on a 5' leader... but no hookup. About ready to leave the lake by 9:00 (weather had turned decidedly nasty with heavy showers and brisk wind... felt more like November than June!), when the fellow on the pier left. I decided to see if getting beyond the weed-line would help. Continued to fish the 'crawlers, now targeting Perch, and went with green PE (lemon-lime) on a 5' leader... Bingo! Within fifteen minutes, had a hard hit on the PE and fought a good sized Rainbow to the pier where it spit the hook as I reached for it with my net. Now my adrenaline kicked in and I felt warmer, in spite of gusty winds and mostly continual showers. Over the next 2 1/2 hours I landed four Rainbows of nearly 14" and one smaller, near 12". I missed one Rainbow somewhere in the 20+" range, when reaching for it with the net, the knot at the hook broke... never have had my knot fail before? Can only think that in the wind and rain I hadn't tied it correctly (I do retie my hooks after almost every fish I land)?
In the meantime, continued to fish for Perch. Hard to hook them in the gusty wind, but did manage to bring in two more in the 8" range and released a few smaller ones. Once, when reeling in a Rainbow, I had allowed the float to drift in close to the piers and when I went to attend to it, discovered that the float was under the surface. As I began to retrieve it, felt resistance... then the water exploded at my feet and I discovered that I had hooked a 17" (4#?) LargeMouth Bass... returned safely to the lake. Finished my day at 12:30, with five great Rainbows and five nice Yellow Perch (7 1/2" to 8").
Saw about a dozen other fishermen come and go throughout the morning... good to see my old friend Pete and visit with him for a bit. Saw only one other fish caught all morning, by a fellow on the northernmost pier. By 10:30, I'm sure, due to the wind and rain, I had the lake to myself.
Always enjoyable to watch the waterfowl, lots of hen Mallards tending to their young. Watched a Bald Eagle and a large Osprey dueling all the way down the length of the lake. Still some large Rainbows to be had at Silver Lake, and some terrific fishing for Yellow Perch as the weather warms. PTL!

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