by The Troutist, May 10, 2011

My friend Matt Castor from Joint Base Lewis McChord was making his way down here on Easter Sunday for a pre-season look see. He was curious on what the trout season just might hold in store for him here on Mason County lakes.

Matt has become quite the accomplished feather tosser over this past year and he is no slouch when it comes to building custom fly rods and tying fly’s. Recently he has taken up tying realistic fly’s a skill he was tutored on by world renowned tier Karen Royer.

This was to be his second outing here in Mason County and his second lesson on “Blue Collar Fly Fishing” a technique that I have refined and turned into a very successful art form over the past 10 years. This technique is dragging a fly on a full sink fly line, breaking a lake down in a step by step process and using little maneuvers to draw that hook-up.

Our first adventure found us working Spencer Lake with the water temperature hovering in the upper 40’s. It was a slow day but we did manage a few hook-ups and brought a few boat side. This second adventure was to find us working one of my favorites, Nahwatzel Lake. Matt was quite eager to work this piece of water and see if it was everything that I had built it up to be.

Of course the weather was quite different from the days before it was overcast and raining off and on. Now beings that it was a holiday and the weather was less than ideal for the fair weather fisherman, I was in hopes that the crowd would be way down. Low and behold we were not to be disappointed, only one other boat on the water. For us it seemed perfect, now if the trout would just cooperate this could be a banner day.

As we prepped the boat and loaded our gear I explained how we were going to work the water to start out with. Our first concentrated efforts were going to be on the east side of the lake working in close and then progressively working our way out into deeper water. If nothing was to become of that or we didn’t get the action we were looking for we would head to the northern end of the lake starting in close and working our way to deeper water. From there we would play it by ear and see what developed. Although I wasn’t too concerned these tactics had produced very well in the past.

I made a quick check of the surface water temperature and it was holding steady at 54 degrees quite a change from the 49 degree high of a couple of weeks ago. To be honest with you I was quite surprised to find it had warmed up that much with all the early morning cold weather we had been experiencing in the past few weeks.

Our very first pass through the east side brought a strike to me on a size #6 black Woolly Bugger. I thought perhaps we were going to strike it rich right away but after several more passes and no action our attention soon switched to the northern end of the lake.

Matt had gone through a myriad of flies and finally started getting action on a size #6 olive Chrystal Woolly Bugger. In fact he had hooked and released three pan size trout in the 11-15 inch range and the master had zero. I soon switched to a size #6 olive bugger to see if I could change my luck, and yes it did I brought my first trout boat side a feisty 13-inch rainbow which I quickly released. After that my rod went dead and I was back to square one.

So far we had endured several showers and a few downpours but the smiles were still on our faces even though Matt had forgotten his rain pants and I could see that his teeth were starting to chatter. Another pass or two and Matt picked up another, a nice 16-inch fatty which he quickly released. Seems my only function out there was to drive the boat and net fish.

Knowing that we were running out of time I dug deep into my fly box and tied on a size #6 Carey Special, olive with brown hackle and a foil wrap. My luck changed instantly I soon brought in three quick ones and quickly released them. Matt soon followed and brought another one boat side.

Shortly thereafter we could feel the cold air blowing in and then the worst down pour of the day began Matt could not endure the cold any longer and we headed to the ramp satisfied that we had a successful outing. I can’t wait for our May adventure when we choose another Mason County Lake to explore. So until next time may your next trout be your trophy mount.

The Troutist-“Uncle Wes” Malmberg

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