Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service
Took the boat up to Blackman's to see what I might be able to find. Arrived about 6:30 AM, lines in the water by 7:00. Overcast, but mild, temp at outset was 58 degrees... water temp at 5' in middle of the lake was 72 degrees. Started out with f5 perchscale flatfish on one rig, fl red smile blade/weddingring & nightcrawler on the second. Got hits consistently on the nightcrawler, but couldn't buy a hook-up... just feeding the fish! Nada on the flatfish, so changed up to several other spoons, spinners... finally tied on a Phoebe's Fighting Fish, in silver... Bingo! C&R three in the 12" range (one a Cutthroat) in first 1/2 hour... (didn't want to limit out too soon... limit is 3 at Balckman's, remember!) About 9:30, had a huge hit on the Phoebe's, peeled line off the reel and finally got the fish to the net... about 18" trip... when netting, the treble hook snagged on the net rim and popped the fish off... had to swim out of the net to get free! By 10:00 the sun was out in it's fury, temp soared and fishing slowed. Still had hits on the nightcrawler... tried everything to get the fish to stick, but they kept stealing the worm. About 1:30, another hit on the Phoebe's and was able to land a beautiful Rainbow of 12 1/2", kept for dinner. About 2:30, huge hit on the 'crawler... peeled line off the reel, big headshakes... stayed deep, never came to the surface... after a couple of minutes gaining and losing line, hook popped off... never saw the fish.
Fished the Phoebe's without weight, just trolling the surface. Had 1/2 oz weight on the WR, which was problematical, as the lake is full of vegetation... venturing anywhere close to shore meant bringing up a pound of salad! As the sun rose higher, a strong westerly wind came up, making trolling more and more difficult, trying to maintain speed and direction.
Three or four boats on the lake all day, saw four other fish landed, including one nice trip by a young boy fishing from a small pram with his dad. Boat and motor performed flawlessly... launch really shallow... had to wade out to get boat back on trailer! Just a great day on the water! PTL!
Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service