Yes, but no takers.
Central WA's husky rainbows 2/22/2024
- Thread starter Starman77
- Start date
One would think so, but why are their stomachs totally empty?
Even though this fishery is known for the good winter fishing, I thought I'd give it another try to see if any of those big rainbows were still around. For the longest time I didn't even get a hit. But in a deeper spot I was waiting for my fly and fly line to sink and a fish intercepted the fly while it was sinking and took off with it. It turned out to be this nice rainbow that I retained:
This rainbow was 22 inches (used a MeasureNet, from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail) and it weighed 5.75 pounds (measured with my handheld scale), not as chunky as some of the previous rainbows. It had a bit of an orange slash under the chin, a missing adipose fin (which I believe suggests this is a triploid), no milt sacs or eggs, and had almost nothing in the stomach, except for 10 very tiny, black micro-midge pupae. Since some of the previously retained rainbows from this fishery produced the best smoked trout I've ever eaten, I'm going to smoke this one up as well. I also landed a 15 inch rainbow and 16 inch rainbow, but released those ones. The fly pattern used was the same one described previously, but with a silver beadhead (can be seen at the butt of the grip). I was the only one fishing this particular location, aside from a couple of Power Baiters, who fished for about an hour and left.
This rainbow was 22 inches (used a MeasureNet, from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail) and it weighed 5.75 pounds (measured with my handheld scale), not as chunky as some of the previous rainbows. It had a bit of an orange slash under the chin, a missing adipose fin (which I believe suggests this is a triploid), no milt sacs or eggs, and had almost nothing in the stomach, except for 10 very tiny, black micro-midge pupae. Since some of the previously retained rainbows from this fishery produced the best smoked trout I've ever eaten, I'm going to smoke this one up as well. I also landed a 15 inch rainbow and 16 inch rainbow, but released those ones. The fly pattern used was the same one described previously, but with a silver beadhead (can be seen at the butt of the grip). I was the only one fishing this particular location, aside from a couple of Power Baiters, who fished for about an hour and left.
The colors on that fish are fantastic.
It looks like someone has been beating down the bullrushes. Ah, those rocks. Such a fantastic lake, the scenery, but man, that launch SUCKS. Well done on the pretty rainbow, good luck today.
Islander
Life of the Party
That’s a pig, way to go!
Tried one of the small, hike-in lakes in central WA on Friday 4/26/2024 and surprisingly had the lake to myself the entire time. The air temperature was perfect in the 63 to 65 degree range and the water temperature was also nice in the 59 to 61 degree range with about 8 to 10 feet of visibility. On the hike in, there were lots of wildflowers blooming, and the Larkspurs this year are about as numerous as I've ever seen:
The lake was nice, with calm to light wind conditions:
The fish were very feisty, hit the fly hard and fought well, even if I didn't find any big ones (here's the largest one, a 17 incher):
All the fish were hooked on a water boatman pattern, casting and stripping.
The main negative to the outing were all the mosquitoes pestering me on the hike back. Bring your insect repellent if you go.
While packing up at the trailhead, I had a nice sunset to view:
Rex
The lake was nice, with calm to light wind conditions:
The fish were very feisty, hit the fly hard and fought well, even if I didn't find any big ones (here's the largest one, a 17 incher):
All the fish were hooked on a water boatman pattern, casting and stripping.
The main negative to the outing were all the mosquitoes pestering me on the hike back. Bring your insect repellent if you go.
While packing up at the trailhead, I had a nice sunset to view:
Rex
