Monster Rainbow from one of the Seep Lakes 9/18/24

Starman77

Starman77

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Thought I'd check out one of the seep lakes to see how the water temperatures are doing in central WA. Still fairly warm at 66 to 68 degrees F. No one was out there, so I had this small, general regulation lake to myself all day, which is good if you like solitude. Fishing was very slow; I didn't even have a single hit the first couple of hours. I was beginning to think I was going to get skunked, which happens more often than not at this particular lake. But my luck finally started to turn and I started to hook a fish now and then like this one:

20240918_111822 p.jpg

Landed and released 4 of these fat 18 to 20 inchers and lost a couple of other good ones. Towards the end of the day, I was about to quit when I hooked this monster rainbow that I could barely fit into my net. It was 24 inches and weighed 8.5 pounds (measured on my handheld scale):

20240918_151650 cropped.jpg

I retained this fish and in the stomach I only found one huge water boatman and several tiny glassworms. However, it took a SBH Dark Olive Rabbit Fur Leech, although I'm guessing that the particular fly pattern wasn't that important. I believe this monster was the largest rainbow I've caught in the seep lakes. It is a little ironic that last week I drove 8 hours up to a BC lake, hoping to catch an 8 pounder (but couldn't find one), and then this week I find an 8+ pounder down here in WA. This just proves that if you hike into enough lakes and flog the water regularly, in spite of the frequent and inevitable skunkings and near-skunkings, you'll eventually be rewarded.

Rex
 
Starman77 said:
Thought I'd check out one of the seep lakes to see how the water temperatures are doing in central WA. Still fairly warm at 66 to 68 degrees F. No one was out there, so I had this small, general regulation lake to myself all day, which is good if you like solitude. Fishing was very slow; I didn't even have a single hit the first couple of hours. I was beginning to think I was going to get skunked, which happens more often than not at this particular lake. But my luck finally started to turn and I started to hook a fish now and then like this one:

View attachment 127567

Landed and released 4 of these fat 18 to 20 inchers and lost a couple of other good ones. Towards the end of the day, I was about to quit when I hooked this monster rainbow that I could barely fit into my net. It was 24 inches and weighed 8.5 pounds (measured on my handheld scale):

View attachment 127568

I retained this fish and in the stomach I only found one huge water boatman and several tiny glassworms. However, it took a SBH Dark Olive Rabbit Fur Leech, although I'm guessing that the particular fly pattern wasn't that important. I believe this monster was the largest rainbow I've caught in the seep lakes. It is a little ironic that last week I drove 8 hours up to a BC lake, hoping to catch an 8 pounder (but couldn't find one), and then this week I find an 8+ pounder down here in WA. This just proves that if you hike into enough lakes and flog the water regularly, in spite of the frequent and inevitable skunkings and near-skunkings, you'll eventually be rewarded.

Rex
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Wow, that’s a tank!
 
Amazing fish, Rex! You earned that one.

Regarding your comments on BC, after making a couple of week-long trips to the interior lakes, I have yet to find a 20+” rainbow. Those trips were great for the exploration and adventure. But just like here in WA it pays to learn your local waters and put time into the lakes with big fish potential!
 
Great fish. But gotta ask. Why did you "retain" it? Try to release it and it just wasn't going to revive?
 
ifsteve said:
Great fish. But gotta ask. Why did you "retain" it? Try to release it and it just wasn't going to revive?
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Have you spent time fishing the area where this fish was caught? Most of the water is general regs. And one of the challenges with finding big fish is overstocking. Taking a fish home is a good idea, IMO.
 
ifsteve said:
Great fish. But gotta ask. Why did you "retain" it? Try to release it and it just wasn't going to revive?
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The main reason I might keep an occasional fish these days is to thoroughly examine the stomach contents to see what they are eating to grow so big and fat. One of the fisheries biologists I used to keep in contact with would encourage me to keep more fish so he could get a better idea of what the fish were eating. A stomach pump doesn't really show you what the fish are eating, and in any case I don't use a stomach or throat pump anyway. I also might like to smoke up some trout once in a while, as my wife likes to eat smoked trout. Some friends also like to eat trout, so in this case I gave the trout to some friends who I know will appreciate it. This is a general regulation lake, so it is legal to keep fish. Fish don't live as long in WA as up in BC, so I suspect this fish was near the end of its normal life span as well.
 
troutpocket said:
Have you spent time fishing the area where this fish was caught? Most of the water is general regs. And one of the challenges with finding big fish is overstocking. Taking a fish home is a good idea, IMO.
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Overstocking may well be an issue. But killing one of a few trophy fish in a place doesn't help that one iota.
 
Starman77 said:
The main reason I might keep an occasional fish these days is to thoroughly examine the stomach contents to see what they are eating to grow so big and fat. One of the fisheries biologists I used to keep in contact with would encourage me to keep more fish so he could get a better idea of what the fish were eating. A stomach pump doesn't really show you what the fish are eating, and in any case I don't use a stomach or throat pump anyway. I also might like to smoke up some trout once in a while, as my wife likes to eat smoked trout. Some friends also like to eat trout, so in this case I gave the trout to some friends who I know will appreciate it. This is a general regulation lake, so it is legal to keep fish. Fish don't live as long in WA as up in BC, so I suspect this fish was near the end of its normal life span as well.
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Great. Then why not kill one or two of those 18-20" fish and let that monster go so perhaps another angler could have the chance to catch it. Maybe it was near its end of like. Ok but still.
 
ifsteve said:
Great. Then why not kill one or two of those 18-20" fish and let that monster go so perhaps another angler could have the chance to catch it. Maybe it was near its end of like. Ok but still.
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He already said, because he wanted to see the stomach contents and his wife likes smoked trout.
Personally I'm applauding his approach. That tank probably isn't going to make it much longer, but those 20" fish are going to be in the 22"+ range next year if one of them makes it thru to next year.

Strongly considering the $100 bounty Billy is offering 😬
 
ifsteve said:
Great. Then why not kill one or two of those 18-20" fish and let that monster go so perhaps another angler could have the chance to catch it. Maybe it was near its end of like. Ok but still.
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Absolutely no reason why if Rex wants to keep a big fish for him, his wife or a friend he shouldn't. Make no mistake these fish are planted to be caught and enjoyed. The regional biologist will tell you such.

You fish these lakes long enough you realize how much they cycle. One year great fishing and the next the whole lake is dead. Be it winter kill, summer kill, powerbait crowd, stocking change and so on. You fall in love with a lake only to have it break your heart the next year.

A fly angler who releases maybe 98% of his fish (just a guess for Rex) is not hurting the fishing...nor should he be shamed for legally keeping a stock trout.

His detailed reports, his knowledge sharing and his skill will only help an angler catch more fish.

I've certainly learned a lot from him over the years.
 
Billy said:
Absolutely no reason why if Rex wants to keep a big fish for him, his wife or a friend he shouldn't. Make no mistake these fish are planted to be caught and enjoyed. The regional biologist will tell you such.

You fish these lakes long enough you realize how much they cycle. One year great fishing and the next the whole lake is dead. Be it winter kill, summer kill, powerbait crowd, stocking change and so on. You fall in love with a lake only to have it break your heart the next year.

A fly angler who releases maybe 98% of his fish (just a guess for Rex) is not hurting the fishing...nor should he be shamed for legally keeping a stock trout.

His detailed reports, his knowledge sharing and his skill will only help an angler catch more fish.

I've certainly learned a lot from him over the years.
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As have I. I appreciate his willingness to share his experiences and tip.
 
Plus now we know how much that fish weighs. Up in BC everybody talks about the size of trout in pounds, so now I have at least one point of data to use to convert the measurements if I'm ever fishing up in BC again.
 
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