Did a day trip this week to a westside lake as I didn't have time to make a trip to central WA. No solitude on this outing, as there were about 25 anglers there (4 boaters and the rest fishing from shore). I was the only fly caster in the bunch, which is usually the case at this lake.
Mostly caught little planters in the 9 to 11 inch range, but managed to luck into 7 nice fish, landing 4 of them in the 18 to 20 inch range (3.75 to 4.75 pounds, as measured on my handheld scale). These large fish had good girth and fought quite well, including one that had 4 spectacular jumps:
An examination of the stomach contents of the 4 fish I retained showed just two small chironomid pupa and one tiny damselfly nymph, so no matching the hatch here. I don't think the fish are finding much to eat at this lake. I was casting and stripping a baitfish pattern, although I don't think the particular fly pattern was that important.
If you don't want to drive over the mountains to central WA, there are some westside lakes that have good fish in them.
Rex
Mostly caught little planters in the 9 to 11 inch range, but managed to luck into 7 nice fish, landing 4 of them in the 18 to 20 inch range (3.75 to 4.75 pounds, as measured on my handheld scale). These large fish had good girth and fought quite well, including one that had 4 spectacular jumps:
An examination of the stomach contents of the 4 fish I retained showed just two small chironomid pupa and one tiny damselfly nymph, so no matching the hatch here. I don't think the fish are finding much to eat at this lake. I was casting and stripping a baitfish pattern, although I don't think the particular fly pattern was that important.
If you don't want to drive over the mountains to central WA, there are some westside lakes that have good fish in them.
Rex
