I've been out of action for the past 5 weeks due to dealing with kidney stones and associated surgery. Just hope you never get kidney stones... Never knew one could get so many tubes, cameras and tools stuck up one of a man's most sensitive private parts.
I wasn't able to do any exercising over this past month, so I got out of shape quickly. I thought I'd try one of the hike-in seep lakes in central WA just to test out my endurance and to see just how badly out of shape I was. Fortunately, I made it in to the lake and back out without needing to call for medical support. Somehow, that trail gets longer and longer each year, and mysteriously, it is also uphill both ways.
The fishing was tough, probably due to very murky water. The water temperature was ok, in the 45 to 46 degree range. But the fish gods were merciful to this recovering pilgrim, and I was able to land and release 8 fish in the 12 to 19 inch range:
Most were nice rainbows, like this one:
But, one was a skinny Tiger trout:
I was casting and stripping, as I usually do, and most of the fish took this #10 Muskrat Nymph:
A Muskrat Nymph is an older fly pattern that is just a generic, all-purpose nymph pattern that can imitate a wide variety of insects, depending on how it is retrieved. On yesterday's outing, I was trying to imitate a damselfly nymph, as I know this lake has a lot of damselflies. But I don't know that the fly pattern was anything special, as I think I was just at the right spot at the right time (near sunset) when the fish went on the bite, as they sure weren't biting for most of the day.
Anyway, it was so nice to be back on the water after being out of action for over a month. I enjoyed seeing a flock of snow geese (maybe 1,000?) in the fields along I-90. Near the lake I also saw a huge flock of cackling geese (maybe 10,000?). At the lake I also saw what I'm pretty sure was a mink, maybe an escapee from a mink farm? The muskrats don't stand a chance against that mink. I didn't see any sandhill cranes, but I heard some, so they are starting to migrate thru.
Rex
I wasn't able to do any exercising over this past month, so I got out of shape quickly. I thought I'd try one of the hike-in seep lakes in central WA just to test out my endurance and to see just how badly out of shape I was. Fortunately, I made it in to the lake and back out without needing to call for medical support. Somehow, that trail gets longer and longer each year, and mysteriously, it is also uphill both ways.
The fishing was tough, probably due to very murky water. The water temperature was ok, in the 45 to 46 degree range. But the fish gods were merciful to this recovering pilgrim, and I was able to land and release 8 fish in the 12 to 19 inch range:
Most were nice rainbows, like this one:
But, one was a skinny Tiger trout:
I was casting and stripping, as I usually do, and most of the fish took this #10 Muskrat Nymph:
A Muskrat Nymph is an older fly pattern that is just a generic, all-purpose nymph pattern that can imitate a wide variety of insects, depending on how it is retrieved. On yesterday's outing, I was trying to imitate a damselfly nymph, as I know this lake has a lot of damselflies. But I don't know that the fly pattern was anything special, as I think I was just at the right spot at the right time (near sunset) when the fish went on the bite, as they sure weren't biting for most of the day.
Anyway, it was so nice to be back on the water after being out of action for over a month. I enjoyed seeing a flock of snow geese (maybe 1,000?) in the fields along I-90. Near the lake I also saw a huge flock of cackling geese (maybe 10,000?). At the lake I also saw what I'm pretty sure was a mink, maybe an escapee from a mink farm? The muskrats don't stand a chance against that mink. I didn't see any sandhill cranes, but I heard some, so they are starting to migrate thru.
Rex
