Central WA Lake Report 5/13/2022

[Starman77]

Fished a central Washington general regulation lake on Friday and found some interesting fish. In addition to a bunch of 14 to 16 inch stocker rainbows, I also landed a 9 inch bluegill, one of the larger bluegills I've ever landed:



Also landed a couple of largemouth bass, including this 19 incher which fought quite well:



But, the surprise fish (a surprise because I didn't even know this lake had this species) and best fighting fish of the day was this 24 inch carp:



My friend saw a porcupine as well and we also saw elk tracks (my friend bow hunts elk and positively identified the tracks). Just never know what you'll find in or at these lakes, and the two of us had the lake to ourselves for most of the day.

All the fish were hooked on either a BH Black Simi Seal Leech or a BH Dark Olive Rabbit Fur Leech, casting & stripping, as I usually do.

Water temperature was 59 degrees and very clear with about 15 feet of visibility, as clear as I've ever seen it at this lake. The cooler than normal spring must be inhibiting the growth of algae.

Rex

 

[Starman77]

Decided to try this central WA lake again on Saturday, 6/4/2022, but this time the unsettled weather must have put the fish off the bite, at least in the morning as it was tough fishing for both me and my gear fishing friend. But around mid-day the weather cleared up and warmed up and the fish seemed to start biting. Here's my friend with a nice largemouth bass (one of five nice ones) he caught on his spinnerbait (amazing how effective that spinnerbait is compared to my fly patterns):



I couldn't seem to find any cooperative bass, so I tried to catch the rainbows and fortunately found a school of them that I think were feeding on chironomid pupa down in the 17 to 18 foot depths. The reason I think the fish were feeding on chironomid pupa was that I saw chironomids hatching and the cliff swallows were going nuts overhead. However, I never saw a fish rise. I managed to land 18 of the rainbows, most in the 14 to 16 inch range, but the largest was this fat 18 incher:





The bite lasted about two hours and then it was tough fishing after that, but it was fun while it lasted. The water temperature was 65 to 66 degrees with about 8 feet of visibility. I caught all the rainbows on a BH Black Simi Seal Leech, although I don't think the fish were being all that particular as long as you got the fly in front of their faces. You guys who fish chironomids would have probably done better than me, but I prefer to cast & strip over watching an indicator dip. For me, the tug is the drug...

No bass, carp or bluegills this time. I did see a pair of nice bass next to shore when I was taking a shore break, but for whatever reason I couldn't get the bass to hit my flies on this outing.

The mosquitoes are starting to get active and I had to apply insect repellent for the first time this season. Lots of good birds out there, the most notable being the American White Pelicans. Also saw a weasel, a muskrat, bullfrogs, turtles and my friend saw a female elk, first time we've actually seen an elk out there, although we've seen elk tracks from time to time.

Rex

 

[Wanative]

Thanks for your report Rex. I always enjoy them and appreciate the details you provide.

 

[dep]

nice fish -