Made the trip to Cooper Lake and put-in a bit after 8am. The wind was blowing from the north so I thought I would use my energy from breakfast/coffee to row up to the NW side of the lake where the Cooper River feeds in. It wasn't hot fishing for the first hour as I tried casting spinners and using some bait. I then decided to get some exercise and tied on a green woolly bugger with a bit of red flash and troll my way around the top half of the lake. I immediately started landing fish, small to medium-size stockers, and didn't tie another knot all day. Landed my first kokanee as well which was a bit of a surprise in the somewhat shallow water. I did see some very large trout about midday, lurking and darting about in about four feet of water, but didn't get any takers. I lost count of how many were landed, more than ten and less than twenty. A little warning: The boat launch when I was taking out was a zoo. Lots of watercraft traffic, vehicles trying to load in a very small space, gawkers, and a couple people fishing. I have mixed feelings as I'm coming in from a long, sunny day and have to paddle over someone's bobber and wish they would make launches a no-fishing area. I've had the same experiences at many lakes around the state, most of them with plenty of shoreline access for people to choose to fish from.

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