by The Troutist, June 04, 2013
I wanted to start this column out about long range weather forecasts that you get about 7-days in advance. They are rarely correct and I never take them seriously, if I had done so over this past holiday weekend I would have been sadly disappointed. Don’t get me wrong I am quite happy with the way the weather turned out. If the forecasters had been correct the lakes, parking areas, and ramps would have been packed. Remember we live in the NW and a little liquid sunshine is just part of our way of life. Here is my summer forecast, partly sunny with a chance of showers. You can take that to the bank.
The second thing I think that needs to be discussed is ramp etiquette something I learned 50 years ago from my grandfather. The number one thing is to have your boat loaded and ready to launch before you get to the ramp. Backing up to the ramp and then loading all of your gear and prepping your rods should have been taken care of before you got there. Pulling over to the side of the parking area and then getting ready is the correct way to do it and ensures a smooth flow at the launch. For those of you that have a problem backing your boat in go practice in a vacant parking lot it really helps. Practice makes perfect and also makes your day a lot less stressful.
As planned my brother Brett was going to come up here for a little catching for three days. His first choice was going to be Pattison Lake for a couple different reasons one he hadn’t been there for a couple of years and two was that he really enjoys the fishery. According to the weather report this was supposed to be the worst day of the three day weekend. We hit the lake at 10am and had our first trout of the day within five minutes on a black bugger and a purple smile blade. He was quickly released and we set our goal at 50 for the day and if we happened to get lucky just maybe we would be able to get a couple of keepers to take home.
For us a keeper sized trout is at least 16-inches and after all this is a sport and we like setting our standards high and making it a challenge. In the old days we measured our success against each other by how many we hooked and released but now it is measured on who has the biggest and a limit of two over 14-inches. Now that we had our first one hooked and released we proceeded to break down our favorite trolling pattern in search of not only our goal of 50 but to see who was going to be the king of the lake on this particular day. The water temperature was holding steady at 62 degrees with a light drizzle to start our day off. The wind was basically non-existent, which is always a good thing when you can control your speed and how you work your trolling patterns.
As the day wore on it cleared up with an occasional sun break and our numbers of hooked and released trout just kept piling up but nothing over 14-inches had been brought to hand. We were fast approaching our goal and still had nothing in the cooler that we could bring home, all of a sudden Brett hooked up and told me to kill the engine he had a nice one on. After some give and take a very nice looking 18-inch bow found its way into the net and then the cooler. We continued to work the lake for another 15 minutes when Brett told me to kill the engine once again and yes it was another keeper a very nice looking 16 ½ inch rainbow. We had finally reached our goal of 50 trout, 48 hooked and released and 2 keepers in the cooler on ice. I couldn’t manage anything over 14 inches making Brett the King of the lake on this day, all and all not a bad six hours on the water.
Sunday morning we were headed on a little road trip to a lake that Brett had never been to and one I have only worked twice before, Thurston County’s Summit Lake. We rolled into the parking area and prepped our boat and setting up our rods to begin this adventure. The clouds were low with a steady drizzle and at time as the day wore on we endured a few showers. We launched at 8:30am and in just 15 minutes we had hooked and released 4 feisty 10 to 11 inchers. With a little discussion we decided that 50 trout should be our goal once again. By the time we had reached the other end of the lake we had hooked and released 38 of the same sized trout we had started out with all of them in the 10-11 inch size. These little guys hit hard and put up a great battle in fact I recommend this lake for those of you that have kids because there is plenty of action to keep them focused on.
We decided to work this end for a little while and see if we could put a trophy or two on ice. After our second pass I heard those familiar words coming from Brett, “kill the engine I have a nice one on”. When I seen Brett playing give and take with this trout I knew he had a very nice one. He battled this monster for about five minutes as it made several runs on him and even went under the boat a few times. A lesser experienced angler would have lost him but Brett is very experienced and knows when to put the tip of his rod in the water and when to let him run. After this give and take battle Brett brought in a very healthy 22 inch rainbow which was quickly put on ice.
In less than five minutes later I heard Brett’s all too familiar battle cry and I had the net on the ready yes once again another beauty was to find its way into the net, a nice 19-inch rainbow. Yes it seems his other trout now had company in the cooler. We continued to work that end for another 30 minutes and decided to work our way back to the ramp. By the time we reached the launch area we had hooked and released 70 and kept two. Once again Brett was the King as I couldn’t manage anything over 13 inches. The olive bugger with a green smile blade was the ticket for steady action. The water temperature was holding steady at 62 degrees. We called it a day at 12:30pm just in time to miss the speed boats and jet skiers that were starting to show up. Another great day on the water was had by both of us.
Monday, day three of our catching adventure had us weighing our options and what challenges we would encounter as far as the traffic to and from the different lakes we had to choose from. With a cold front moving in, the barometric pressure dropping , and steady rain was expected, along with the traffic concerns had us headed to Pattison for the last time this year. We arrived at the ramp at 7:30am with a steady rain storm in place. We quickly had our first hook and release action in less than five minutes. We worked our usual trolling pattern to start out with but after a few hours and only 14 trout providing action for us we decided that breaking the lake down was going to be a must if we expected to make this adventure worth our time.
After an hour we discovered working the lake going from bank to bank from the ramp to the other side was the direction and the key to the day. From there we narrowed it down even further to working a lazy “S” pattern right down the center of the lake. The color combination had also changed with an olive bugger and a green smile blade being the most consistent and successful on this day. In short order we managed another 14 scrappy 11 to 13 inch rainbows. All the while steady rain continued to pound on us and the three other anglers on the water. I figured they were hardcore anglers or just plain nuts like us. In the 5 ½ hours we were out there we only seen another two boats join in the action and they were residents on the lake. Limits were definitely not the norm as most of them were to reveal to us.
Although we never managed a trophy to decide who the King of the day was going to be it was still a fun day and after we finished breaking the lake down action was fast and furious at least for a little while. I will admit 28 trout hooked and released was a little disappointing considering the action over the previous two days we were still pleased that we could figure out what it took to get action when no one else was. So after three days our total was 150 with four keepers measuring out at 16, 18, 19, and 22-inches, not too bad. As usual I have posted the photos of the lake and the trout on my face book page Uncle Wes.
So until next time may your next trout be your trophy mount.
The Troutist-“Uncle Wes” Malmberg.
Buy Western Washington Lakes Guide By Wes Malmberg Here
