On Thursday I tried one of the small hike-in seep lakes in central WA. If you've been there, you'll probably recognize the lake from this photo. The water temperature was 49 degrees with about 8 feet of visibility. This lake has been fishing well the past couple of years, but this year I was skunked in early February soon after ice-off, and on this outing I didn't get skunked, but it was tough fishing. I only landed and released 6 chunky rainbows in the 15 to 16 inch range and lost another 5 of similar size. Those rainbows were good fighters and jumpers and made one think they were at least two inches bigger that what my Measure Net said they were. Here are a couple of fish photos to give you an idea of how chunky these fish were:
For the first two-thirds of the day, I only had 4 hits casting and stripping in the shallows and drop-offs. The wind really became fierce about mid-day and by the mid-afternoon I was thinking about quitting early and calling it a day. But while I was standing on shore trying to decide what to do, I saw a fish rise (the only fish that rose all day), so I had to go and check it out. It rose over deep water, where it was like 30 to 32 feet deep, and at that location I started to mark fish on my fish finder right off the bottom. It is difficult to get a fly down that deep when the howling wind is blowing one's float tube all around, but I managed to get another 12 hits in that area before calling it a day. Maybe there was a small underwater spring down deep there, but I don't know. I wasn't marking fish elsewhere down deep, so why the fish were congregated in that one area in about a 30 foot circle is a mystery.
Another float tuber beat me to the lake, but left early so I didn't get to talk to him, but I did see him land one fish and have another one on, fishing something under a strike indicator.
It is hard to gauge the state of this lake from just two outings this season, but my feeling is that there are fewer fish in the lake this year for unknown reasons. I don't think the lake winter-killed, but it may have partially summer-killed last year. The surviving fish seem to have more food available per fish, based on the chunkiness, good fighting and jumping abilities.
If you do go, I'd recommend anchoring to better control the fly line and fly depth. If it is windy you'll need a fairly substantial anchor to hold you in place. To avoid having to carry in the extra weight, I carry a mesh bag and rope and fill the mesh bag with rocks at the lakes to use as an anchor. I didn't anchor because it was late in the day and I didn't want to take the time to go to shore, collect the rocks and then go back out. But if I would have marked those fish earlier in the day, I definitely would have anchored and would probably have done much better.
Wildlife sightings: At the lake I saw or heard: Black-necked Stilts, Red-tailed Hawks (I believe a pair is nesting in the northwest cliffs), Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, Snow Geese, Canada Geese, Coots, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, Northern Pintails, Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, Ravens, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Brewer’s Blackbirds, Say’s Phoebes, Song Sparrows, House Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Violet-green Swallows, Tree Swallows, Cliff Swallows, Canyon Wrens, Rock Wrens, Marsh Wrens, House Finches, American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, Common Yellowthroat, Horned Larks, Ring-billed Gulls, California Gulls, Killdeer, Western Meadowlarks, a Long-billed Curlew, Black-billed Magpies, American Robins, Mourning Doves, California Quail and Northern Flickers. Also saw a Muskrat and signs of Beavers. On the drive I saw a Red-tailed Hawk, a Turkey Vulture, Snow Geese, Canada Geese, Mallards, Buffleheads, Coots, Ring-necked Ducks, Scaup, Common Mergansers (on the Yakima River), Great Blue Herons, Crows, Ravens, Western Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer’s Blackbirds, Starlings, 2 Raptors, American Kestrels, Robins, Golden-crowned Kinglets, House Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Flickers, Black-billed Magpies, Mourning Doves, Pigeons and Gulls.
Wildflower sightings: The spring wildflowers have started to appear. Saw some Phlox, Biscuitroots, Balsamroots, Fiddlenecks, Red-stemmed Storksbills and Blue Mustard.
Rex
