We (the wife and I) finally got down to a cold lake in the shadow of an active volcano this last Saturday and were able to land a few Bows and Cutties. The weather forecast said mostly sunny and around 69 and the winds were supposed to be around 5mph. Well, I need to start using another weather app. Temps stayed in the high 50’s, wind was blowing out of the W/NW at probably 10 to 15mph and the sun only poked through the low hanging clouds a few times. With the wind, it was downright chilly on the water.
We saw a couple boats on the water and then later in the day as it warmed up just a bit, quite a few Kayakers. But, most of the others on the lake stayed close to the launch to avoid the heavier winds. We had the far end of the lake to ourselves.
All in all, it was a great day. I got to get the new to me raft out of the water and was able to continue some testing to work out the little kinks here and there. And we caught some fish! The wind was coming out of the W/NW so I headed over to the SE (right) side headed up the lake. For the most part, we were able to drift along the SE shore only using the electric motor sporadically to keep a proper distance from the shore while the wind carried us along at a nice slow pace. We started out fishing the shore but after a few casts into the deeper water, we figured out that’s where the fish were holding. It had been pretty warm up until that day so I’m guessing the water temp and the waves crashing on the shore kept the fish a bit deeper. We ended up heading all the way up the lake to the far end and then took our time coming back to the launch due to the wind.
The wife fished gear and out fished me for the day but I was still able to land 3 nice fish. Nothing big but beautiful 10 to 12 inch bows and cutties. My wife did land one rainbow probably around 15 inches or so and we had a ton of small chasers all day probably in the 6 to 8 inch range. I caught everything on balanced leaches in darker colors with orange and red heads working the best. Had quite a few strikes and if I were a better fly fisher, I probably would have landed a few more. But, it was good to get out there and get some more experience under my belt. This summer has been about just getting out there and figuring it out. If I catch fish along the way, all the better.
Even with the cooler temps and wind, we had a blast. The boat is getting dialed in and the motor and battery performed really well. I had plenty of battery left even after running the entire length of the lake in a strong headwind. The raft is about 10 feet and light so I went with a 40lb Motor and a 100 AH Lithium battery. I figured going with the smaller 40lb motor compared to the 55lb and larger batter would give me some good battery life and still have plenty of power. This combo pushes two people along more than fast enough and I usually kept the speed/power backed off a bit.
We saw a couple boats on the water and then later in the day as it warmed up just a bit, quite a few Kayakers. But, most of the others on the lake stayed close to the launch to avoid the heavier winds. We had the far end of the lake to ourselves.
All in all, it was a great day. I got to get the new to me raft out of the water and was able to continue some testing to work out the little kinks here and there. And we caught some fish! The wind was coming out of the W/NW so I headed over to the SE (right) side headed up the lake. For the most part, we were able to drift along the SE shore only using the electric motor sporadically to keep a proper distance from the shore while the wind carried us along at a nice slow pace. We started out fishing the shore but after a few casts into the deeper water, we figured out that’s where the fish were holding. It had been pretty warm up until that day so I’m guessing the water temp and the waves crashing on the shore kept the fish a bit deeper. We ended up heading all the way up the lake to the far end and then took our time coming back to the launch due to the wind.
The wife fished gear and out fished me for the day but I was still able to land 3 nice fish. Nothing big but beautiful 10 to 12 inch bows and cutties. My wife did land one rainbow probably around 15 inches or so and we had a ton of small chasers all day probably in the 6 to 8 inch range. I caught everything on balanced leaches in darker colors with orange and red heads working the best. Had quite a few strikes and if I were a better fly fisher, I probably would have landed a few more. But, it was good to get out there and get some more experience under my belt. This summer has been about just getting out there and figuring it out. If I catch fish along the way, all the better.
Even with the cooler temps and wind, we had a blast. The boat is getting dialed in and the motor and battery performed really well. I had plenty of battery left even after running the entire length of the lake in a strong headwind. The raft is about 10 feet and light so I went with a 40lb Motor and a 100 AH Lithium battery. I figured going with the smaller 40lb motor compared to the 55lb and larger batter would give me some good battery life and still have plenty of power. This combo pushes two people along more than fast enough and I usually kept the speed/power backed off a bit.
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Glassy days are the real challenge.
