by The Troutist, June 04, 2011

This column is dedicated to those adventurous few and my Thurston County readers. This lake is one of my top picks and has always been very good to me when it comes to trout angling. The 5 MPH speed limit not only makes it enjoyable but relaxing at the same time. This is a perfect lake for small 12’ aluminum boats powered by electric or small combustion engines. Float tubers, pontoon boats, and row boats all get along here. Although the lake is surrounded by development for the most part the trees along the lake have been left alone. Something I wish more western Washington lakes could boast about.

I recently had the opportunity to introduce and work this lake with my good friend Andy Walgamott. Now Andy is not just another guy with a mug meant for radio, he is also the editor of Northwest Sportsman Magazine. Like me, Andy cherishes the time he gets to spend on the water and truly enjoys what Washington’s outdoor world has to offer. Not to mention getting away from the daily grind and the rat race in general. Andy and I were set to meet at 7am on the 26th and as usual just because I set a time and date I was late. It seems I over slept by 30 minutes, add traffic, originally headed to the wrong lake, throw in a couple of school busses and presto I’m 45 minutes late.

Andy knew I was a man of my word and if I said I’d be there, I’d be there. When I arrived the first thing I spotted was Andy armed with a large green trash bag picking up garbage left by previous visitors. Kudos to Andy for being a responsible outdoorsman and angler, we prepped the boat, our rods, reels, and were on the water at 8:30 am. We spent the first hour trying a little different method as we broke the lake down but only had a few tugs here and there, not what we were looking for. My thoughts were if all else fails go to a proven method and that’s just what we did. Andy picked out an olive flash #6 Woolly Bugger, and I pulled out my favorite olive bugger and we tied them on to our full sink fly line. We no sooner let them into the water and Andy had his first hook-up of the day a nice spunky 12-inch rainbow.

After a few of these Andy’s rod went cold and I had the hot hand, after releasing a few and adding a couple of 12-inchers to the stringer, Andy pulled out an olive bugger. After that it seemed like we were taking turns with hook-ups. Now according to the weather forecast we were supposed to get a few showers with winds at 5-10 mph. I have never been a big believer in forecasts and this was to be no different, at times the wind blew so hard it brought my boat to a standstill. Now being an old pro I know that at times there are places on a lake you can work out of the wind, the problem was every time we would find a spot the wind would change directions and quickly find us. This was starting to become a real challenge and beginning to wear me out.

My goal was to send Andy home with enough trout to give his ever growing family and in-laws a fresh trout dinner. I spun the boat around back into the wind once more when all of a sudden my rod bent half way into the water, I set the hook and the battle was on. Now not only was I fighting this trout but also the wind and doing my best to control the boat. Realizing that wasn’t going to happen, I cut the motor and started stripping line in to catch up with the trout. The wind was blowing so hard it was quickly taking me back into the fish, I would engage the motor every now and again but it was too late the trout was under the boat.

I soon realized he was wrapped around the shaft of my portable fish finder and I was hoping he wouldn’t break my 6 lb test leader. We got that taken care of and then he found the prop by some miracle he untangled himself. After a few more runs Andy got the net on him, and what a beauty 22 ½ inches long and 3 lbs 15 ounces. We noticed half of his tail was gone, figured in all the excitement he got it caught in the prop when I would engage the engine.

We hooked and released a few more after that and called it a day. This lake is located in the Yelm, Baldhills region and I would recommend you check it out. So until next time may your next trout be your trophy mount.


The Troutist-“Uncle Wes” Malmberg

Column Courtesy Outdoors Northwest

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