With all the hot weather in central WA this week, I decided to go higher in altitude to find cooler weather and water. The lake I fished had winter-killed in 2022 - 2023, so I wasn't sure what I'd find, although I knew that the lake had been stocked after the winter-kill with 13 to 14 inchers, because that was all I hooked last spring. I hoped that with the milder winter this year those fish would have survived and grown larger. I fished this lake on Wed afternoon/evening and on Thursday morning to early afternoon before quitting due to the wind. The highs were around 72 degrees, and the water temperature was 59 to 60 degrees.
The wind was ferocious most of the time, but early Thursday morning, it was calm. I was surprised to see something out in the lake, and it turned out to be a moose swimming the length of the lake:
The moose could have easily walked around this small lake, so why it was swimming was a mystery to me. Even with its spindly legs, it was making pretty good speed (as you can tell from the wake), and when it got out on shore, it shook itself three times like a big dog. Very cool! I've seen moose in BC and Alaska, but I think this is the first time I've seen a moose in WA. Also saw 3 deer at the lake.
Those 13 to 14 inchers I was catching last spring after the winter-kill had grown pretty nicely to be the 17 to 19 inchers, as indicated in my chart above (the fish were all measured in my Measure Net, from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail). The rainbows were all very silvery, well-fed, good fighters and about half were jumpers. Here's a photo of one of the 19 inchers that jumped a half-dozen times (note the small head size relative to the body, suggesting it is eating quite well):
About 75% of the hits came on my water boatman pattern and the rest on a scud imitation, but I don't think the particular fly pattern makes much of a difference. Getting the depth and retrieve style right are much more important than fly selection.
A number of other small lakes in that area also winter-killed in 2022 - 2023, so I'm interested in trying those lakes to see if they have recovered equally well as this lake.
Rex
The wind was ferocious most of the time, but early Thursday morning, it was calm. I was surprised to see something out in the lake, and it turned out to be a moose swimming the length of the lake:
The moose could have easily walked around this small lake, so why it was swimming was a mystery to me. Even with its spindly legs, it was making pretty good speed (as you can tell from the wake), and when it got out on shore, it shook itself three times like a big dog. Very cool! I've seen moose in BC and Alaska, but I think this is the first time I've seen a moose in WA. Also saw 3 deer at the lake.
Those 13 to 14 inchers I was catching last spring after the winter-kill had grown pretty nicely to be the 17 to 19 inchers, as indicated in my chart above (the fish were all measured in my Measure Net, from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail). The rainbows were all very silvery, well-fed, good fighters and about half were jumpers. Here's a photo of one of the 19 inchers that jumped a half-dozen times (note the small head size relative to the body, suggesting it is eating quite well):
About 75% of the hits came on my water boatman pattern and the rest on a scud imitation, but I don't think the particular fly pattern makes much of a difference. Getting the depth and retrieve style right are much more important than fly selection.
A number of other small lakes in that area also winter-killed in 2022 - 2023, so I'm interested in trying those lakes to see if they have recovered equally well as this lake.
Rex
