I'm sure many of you will recognize this lake from this photo if you've been there. This was my 72nd outing to this lake, but for my young friend, it was only his 3rd outing. The water temperature has cooled down to the 64 to 67 degree range, but there is a heavy algae bloom, so the water visibility is only about 3 to 4 feet. I believe the water is murky down to around 8 to 10 feet, but clear below that. Surprisingly, my friend and I were the only fishermen there on Friday and Saturday. What did everyone else know that we didn't? There seemed to be no fish along the edges or in the shallows, probably because of the algae bloom, but we did find fish on the drop-offs and deep water. The rainbows were mostly silvery, chunky and hard fighters (although they tended to stay deep, like browns, maybe because of the algae bloom). None of the fish landed (and released) needed reviving.
Here's another silvery rainbow taken by my friend:
Here's a chart of the fish sizes I landed; my friend found similarly-sized fish and about the same number:
We found that casting and stripping leech patterns in dark olive, dark green and black seemed to work the best.
Wildlife sightings: At the lake and at the campsite I saw or heard a good number of birds, including: Peregrine Falcons, Northern Harriers, Turkey Vultures, Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese, Double-crested Cormorants, American Coots, Mallards, Ravens, Crows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer’s Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, Canyon Wrens, Rock Wrens, Marsh Wrens, Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Common Nighthawks, Common Yellowthroat, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinches, Black-billed Magpies, American Robins, Ring-necked Pheasants, Mourning Doves, California Quail and Northern Flickers. Also saw 2 Deer and 1 Rabbit. The Merlin app also identified by sound (but I could not verify) the following: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pectoral Sandpiper (?), Horned Lark, American Pipit, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, White-throated Swift, Orange-crowned Warbler and Chipping Sparrow. On the drive I saw Canada Geese, Mallards, Coots, Great Blue Herons, Crows, Ravens, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer’s Blackbirds, Starlings, a Red-tailed Hawk, 4 Raptors, American Kestrels, Robins, Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern Flickers, Black-billed Magpies, Mourning Doves, Pigeons and Gulls.
Wildflower sightings: The summer wildflowers are diminishing, but there are still some around, including Pearly Everlasting, Canadian Thistles, Fireweed, Ragwort, Rabbitbrush, Sow Thistles, Creeping Thistles, Richardson’s Beardtongues, Rough Bugleweed, Mullein, Queen Anne’s Lace and Goldenrod. The vine maples are also starting to show their autumn colors around the pass area. Here's a photo of some Goldenrod still blooming at the parking area.
I'm sure this lake will fish better in about another month with cooler water temperatures, less algae bloom and stronger fish. If only we could get the state park department to improve the boat "launch."
Rex