Norm & I were back on a lake this morning after a long drive of over 2 hours. We were pleasantly greeted with cooler air temps of 53 degrees instead of the humid 90’s we had been having lately. The expected highs were to be around 74 degrees with a cool wind of 10 to 15 knots from the north. This was going to feel like fishing in air conditioning! Unlike the last several days on the water, the boat traffic was also non existent and we were excited. Water temps had risen to the upper 60’s and were almost 68 where we began the troll. With the warmer water, I decided to run one rod high and the other deep to cover the area more thoroughly. Although I didn’t mark nearly as much activity, I did see some hooks and small amounts of baitfish present and that was reassuring. As I came over a giant hook down 20 over 35 feet of water I immediately stalled the motor allowing the deep line to settle in the fish’s zone and as soon as I picked up the speed, the reel started a blazing. It was a smoker and I knew we were tight to a big fish! Without knowing for sure, Norm played the fish carefully in hoped of at least getting a glimpse of what was so powerful on the other end of the line. I think it was close to the 5 minute mark and well into the backing before he was able to bring it close enough for a good look. Not to my amazement, it was exactly what I had expected. A very large brown trout was sounding once more as we saw the full view, at the same time as the fish saw the boat. Eventually I was able to slide the net under this beast and we were both relieved to see just how big it really was. At over 27 inches, it was surely a trophy for this lake and Norm’s personal best. Several pictures were taken and we both decided that he was too beautiful to be killed. This was to be the brown’s lucky day as he tangled with someone that believed in “Catch & Release” and was allowed to fight another day. I knew that after this one that everything else would be downhill for the day, but fished on none the less. Although we did have several other hookups with short lakers, legal lakers and a couple of smaller brownies, we never were able to match the first fish of the day. Somewhere around 5:00 P.M. we decided to call it and head on in. Today was the perfect example of just what a full moon does to the fish with trophies being the quest instead of the usual smaller numbers of fish. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but thoughts of bigger & better are running through our heads for tomorrow’s fishing!!

I thought that an early start would be a good thing this morning and we arrived on the water at the crack of seven. Warmer weather greeted us today with the high reaching into the 80’s and water temps fluctuated between 58 & 61 degrees depending where we were. Winds were almost non existent, but the boat waves were incredible after mid day as everyone seemed to be on the lake today. Even the police were pulling people over for violations! It definitely took a little longer to fire off a reel today but we did manage to have several hook ups. The best one was the 24 incher that fell victim to yet another fly on the troll. We even had a double laker hookup when passing an anchored vessel and they had front row seats for the fight. In total there were 4 salmon and two lakers taken on the fly along with several other fish that ate the offerings too. If it weren’t for the insane boat traffic, I expect there would have been even more! Overall, a great day on the lake despite all the traffic!!

After a few days at home fishing shad I was back at the lake with my wife for our anniversary weekend. We started out a little later than expected Saturday morning and were into a fish in less than 3 minutes. The weather was nice to begin but soon changed to a light drizzle and heavy clouds. Water temps were around 58.5 degrees and the air was in the low 60’s as we began the fly rod troll. Almost immediately after setting the lines, the short, deep one fired and boy did it ever! Spectacular aerials and sizzling runs were soon greeted by a landing net and a beautiful rainbow was officially ridding us of the skunk. Four more salmon, two lakers and a brown were soon to follow, as we had an awesome day on the water. There were also several other drive byes but what would a day be without a few of those? We even had to leave one of my best mid lake humps when the bass wouldn’t leave the streamers alone! You could say that it was a tremendous day on this our 25th anniversary vacation!!!

Round two with David & Jeff had us hitting another lake this morning in search of more trout. It definitely was nicer than yesterday with sunshine & temps expected to reach into the 60’s today. The only thing was that the winds were going to be blowing at 15 to 25 knots and they were coming from the north. This would make the boat control a little tough at low speeds. Water temps were 48 degrees where we began and the fly lines were in. I don’t think we were trolling for 5 minutes when a long line started screaming and David was tight to the first fish. We weren’t quite sure which trout it would be but it was definitely a trout and that’s all that mattered. I soon was able to slip the net under a beautiful little brown trout of almost two pounds and the skunk was once again gone for this day. We really thought hat that after such a quick start that it was going to be one of those banner days and immediately released the fish back to the lake for some more action. Several hours later while trolling boards & riggers we had a fiasco when the board line to the lead core broke. When we were finally able to clear the riggers and reach the planer board, I was reattaching the line with a blood knot when Jeff said he had a fish on. I didn’t want to lose the lead core so I worked fast with the knot but I guess it wasn’t fast enough as we lost the fish along the way. I did recover the board and line but it would have been nice to get the fish as well. I decided that with all the wind and difficulty working the area, I would only run the down riggers and was soon rewarded. This time it was on the rod over 40 feet of water. I had been having some success trolling open water humps and this fish also came from one of those rock piles. Strangely enough the rod hadn’t released and it was pinned as soon as I came over the ledge. Jeff got to battle a laker of just over 20 inches after the rod was popped and we found the line rather tight. A quick couple of pics and right back to the lake she went before we reset the lines and started all over again. This time through I barely saw the rod act funny and immediately popped the line from the release to find another fish attached. David was up and he was landing his first laker from here of slightly smaller length, also from the same area as the first one. Another quick release but this time we decided that it was too much trouble to try and troll the area with the 2 & 3 footers blowing and decided to move along. We casted jigs & jerk baits through a spot that I had browns following earlier in the week, but nothing more than schools of perch showed any interest. With not much time left before they had to leave I tried one more area before we called it a day and was rewarded when Jeff landed another brownie on a small X Rap. All David could do was catch a couple of northern pike and stir up tons of baitfish with his jerk bait before we had to go. Although we didn’t catch a bunch of fish today it was definitely a much better day all around compared to yesterday’s rainy one. Tough bite but still great!!

David & Jeff were joining me for the weekend and arrived at the lake, only to be greeted with heavy clouds and rain. Last look at the weather the night before had sunshine and clouds but go figure! We launched during one of the open pockets and managed to get out before the rain started again. Winds were blowing at 10 to 20 knots out of the NW and created quite a chop on the water as we headed across the lake. Salmon were what we were after and after Thursday’s outcome, I was more determined than ever to succeed. Water temps were still rather cold at 45 degrees as we began our troll. I went through all the usual areas that had produced earlier in the week and came up empty once again. Although I was marking bait and the occasional fish, nothing was feeding on our flies. It wasn’t until I went over deeper water of 80 feet that the reel made that lovely sound and Jeff was tight to our first fish. I knew by the power that it was a good one and was happy to see a plump 17 inch salmon soon in the net. Strangely enough, it never jumped in this cold water and this was rare. They pretty much always take to the air at least a couple of times but this one stayed down right until the boat. The skunk was officially out of the boat! I thought we were onto something and stayed over the deep water hoping for another taker and then we did. Too bad it was a drive bye though and a mangled fly was our reward. Shortly after, another & then David was locked up on a real screamer over 100 feet of water. By the amount of line it took out I thought he had another good one but was surprised to see that it fell just under the 16 inch limit. Back to the lake it went and we continued in our quest for more. It was a while before our next one and this was the strangest one yet. While stripping in the line to check he fly, something hammered it and immediately got off. Another drive bye and I wasn’t too thrilled with this one either. A couple more rips with nothing to show and we decided to pack it in and try our luck elsewhere. It wasn’t too pleasant on the water today with rain falling for the most part and an occasional break once in a while. We tried casting, and down riggers a little later without any success other than several large perch and around 5:30 decided to call it a day. The sun was finally coming out and it was time to go! Overall, it wasn’t a great day but at least we managed to get into some action and David would be taking home Jeff’s salmon for dinner. A weather change is really needed and hopefully this is the last of the cold for a while. High today was around 45 degrees. Better weather tomorrow, I hope!!