Good Day at Beehive

Nope.  Not the classic beehive hairdo of the 60's or the Beehive State of Utah (which I hope to put some damage on in July), but Beehive Lake up out of Wenatchee.

Sorry for no photos.  I forgot the camera on the nightstand.  That's OK.  The fish just got 50% larger as a result!

I arrived at the lake around 5:00 pm.  It was fairly crowded with people, but only a few people were out in float tubes or boats.  I started with a chironomid set up, had a take down on the first cast and then nothing for about 15 minutes.  My ADD kicked in at that point, so I switched to a black bugger behind a clear camo line.  I immediately started catching fish.  Fortunately with more action that the bait fishermen from the bank!

After kicking around and catching them on the bugger, I switched back to the chironomids.  I LIKE watching the bobber go down!  Still no action on the chironomid.  I think the recently planted guys still didn't know what bugs look like, since the green strike indicator got more action than anything else!

After another 15-20 minutes of no chironomid action, I went back to the bugger and continued regular consistent action.  I left around 7 having landed around 30 and having missed a bunch more on short strikes.  All were small in the 7-12 inch range.  Wait, without a camera.... in the 12-18 inch range!  ;)  The action was fast on the bugger and non-existent on chironomids.

I'll have to get back once the fish learn what natural food looks like.  

Monster Lost...

A quick trip after work to a lake north of Pasco where Kirk and I had found a bunch of triploids around this time last year. It was 7 pm by the time we hiked in, just about the time when the rainbows started rising in the arm of the lake the previous year. Calm, warm, mostly overcast, perfect except the bows decided to be somewhere else this year. One other angler in a float tube said the water temp was 70°F, and the one trout he had caught was deep at the other end of the lake. Oh well, there were bass cruising the shallows; some very, very large. Out with the spinning rod and a perch rapala. Lesson for the day - there is a reason those bass fisherman on TV use 20 lb or 30 lb test line...

About the third spot I stopped along the shore, I pushed my way through the reeds to the edge of the water, cast to the left about 5 ft from shore. The line caught a little in the reeds, so the rapala sat there floating for a moment while I pulled the line free from the end of a reed. I reeled the line tight and immediately felt resistance, then really good resistance that started moving towards me. At first I thought stick or weeds, then I started to feel the back and forth of the fish swimming. I had a fish on! A pretty solid one at that as it continued to swim straight towards me. It came right in front of me about 12 ft out and passed by in its full glory. It was a huge largemouth! We had seen one earlier cruising that Kirk said was probably about 18" and 3 lbs. This was probably 6" longer than that and much, much fatter. After giving me the full-on side view, it decided it was hooked, turned, and ran steadily back where it came from. With 6 lb test that was several years old, I couldn't do much to try to hold it back. I also remembered this was a small spool on the old Mitchell 303, so I was starting to see the bottom of the spool when the fish stopped. The line was against the reeds as the behemoth had headed into some short reeds almost on the shore. Nothing to do but hop into the thigh deep soft muck adjacent to the reeds and slowly work towards where the fish was sitting, hoping it was still there. Keeping the line tight with my rod in the right hand, hanging onto reeds with the left, I made my way through the muck. I found my line tangled in some reeds, and as I reached down to get the line off, the fish splashed nearby into some more reeds a few feet away. Still on. Off the first reeds, on to the second tangle. Pulled the line off of those, but it was now pointed straight into another small clump nearby. A couple steps towards them, another big splash, and off went the fish, leaving the rapala on the reeds. Wow! Might not be a trout, but pretty cool. It could be fun to actually try and catch those things. With new, 20 lb test line. And a decent reel. And maybe a little skill rather than blind luck.

We fished a little more, not too concerned about the occasional distant rumble of thunder until we climbed out from the lake to where we could see the southern sky and a scary-looking wall of black. Kirk said we should be good, as storms generally move SW to NE. I told him I watched the weather the previous night, and the weather pattern had the storms tracking straight S to N, or directly towards us. We had 1 1/2 miles back to the car, so maybe we could beat it. About halfway to the car, multiple bolts flashed across the southern horizon. Then Kirk curled up in a ball on the trail and started crying softly. OK, he didn't actually do that, but he is seriously terrified of lightning. Seriously. Like he probably goes and climbs in his kids' bed with them when a storm comes through so they can comfort him. The storm appeared to me to be tracking a little east, but that wasn't consolation for Kirk. As the bolts got closer and the thunder louder, I gave him the keys so he could run ahead the last 1/4 mile to get to the car. The storm did track just a couple miles to the east, or it would have been right over us at the end. A fun evening, a monster lost, and some weather excitement to go along with it. Oh, and a new fishing strategy learned - if you are out with Kirk and he is crowding you a little, just pull out your phone, set off the flash, point to a nearby cloud and say, "Did you see that bolt?" You will then have the hole all to yourself...

Spring breakin (new fish record)

Amy took all the kids to St.George for their spring break.  Since I'm still relatively new to my job, I"m trying to limit my days off, so I stayed home.  Not a lot on my agenda but first order of business is fishing.
I decided to break in the fishing year with a trip to Diamond Fork Thursday night.  I get to my spot around 5:30 without another person in sight.  I decide to go with the green Psycho Prince Nymph and a red beadhead WD40 dropper.  I hit the first seam I see and get a bite but my rusty reflexes are a little too late and I miss the the strike.  That is the only action I will see for the rest of the evening, it was discouraging.
I decided on a change of venue for Friday, so I head to the Provo.  I drive to the spot just below the camp ground before the Deer Creek dam.  I'm greeted with 5 cars in the parking lot but I decide to head down anyway.  I make my way to a favorite deep run with a BWO emerger and an olive scud dropper.  I know this run has fish in it but they do not like what I'm offering.  I notice a fairly bigger fish rising and just sipping bugs off the surface.  I change my setup to a BWO dry fly and move my way over to the rising fish.  On the second cast I land this fighter for my first fish of the year:

First fish of the year.

I continued to clean out the run with 3 more fish, smaller than the first one.  I decide to call it a night.

I decided to head back to Diamond Fork on Saturday, knowing the Provo will be a popular place with the nicer weather in the forecast.  I start with the same set up as a couple of nights ago (Psycho Prince Nymph and WD40).  No action in the first 30mins.  I snag my line and break off my current setup.  I decide to take the opportunity and change it up.  I put on a Crystal Flashback Scud and a beadhead Prince Nymph.  I decide to double back and try my previous holes I just fished.  First cast in and my yellow strike indicator dives down fast....fish on.  A small 12 inch brown, first fish landed on Diamond Fork this year.  I hit the same run and almost the exact same fish landed.  I move up to the next run and land 3 more, roughly the same size.  Then as I'm about to move on my strike indicator disappears quickly and to my surprise, I land this meaty brown:

Healthy Diamond Fork brown

I love the contrast in colors between the two fish from different rivers.  I fished most of the day and land around 15 (Diamond Fork record) on the same setup, they went back and forth on each fly, it was a great day.

Good Fishday...

It was a beautiful Good Friday Fishday, leaving town with a Sausage, Egg, and Chesse McGriddle in hand after dropping Mel off at school (#8 for those who don't frequent McD's for breakfast). And the good luck of the #8 meal paid off again today.

Blue sky to the west of the clouds overhead promised good weather, as long as the forecast for relatively light winds held true. I was headed for Dusty Lake, one of my favorite springtime visits, hidden between tall, basalt cliffs in an ancient flood channel. Arriving to an empty parking lot, I gathered my gear, shouldered my float tube, and started down the trail, a pretty and fun hike well worth the time even without the fishing. Without a breath of wind, the mirror smooth lake lay beckoning below.

Dusty Lake, one of my happy places

Arriving at the lake, no fish were to be seen in the shallows where they sometimes congregate in the spring, so I launched the tube and kicked out into the cold water, appreciating again the new float tube that allows me to sit out of the water. Fishing two of my newly tied chewy chironomids, I promptly missed a take down immediately off the launch, then shortly thereafter landed a nice 15" rainbow that was spawning unusual eggs.

Now we know what happens to Power Eggs that get swallowed by the fish

The fish had broken someone off who was fishing illegally in the lake with Power Eggs. The line and swivel were still hanging out the fish's mouth, while a loop of line with two Power Eggs was hanging out the tail end. The hook was somewhere still inside. I cut both ends of the line off to maybe help the fish survive a little longer. It fought well and didn't seem to be bothered by the line passing through it.

After the initial action, there was nothing more on chironos near the launch, so I headed across the lake to the point where Kirk and I had found a lot of fish last spring. On the way, I had five good strikes trolling an olive leech with the sinking line, but no hookups. I finally hooked one as I made a turn near the shore. Tried the chironos off the point, about 11 feet down, but nary a bump. Then I saw the mirror smooth water chop up to the west, and shortly thereafter, the wind was upon me. Not too strong, but enough that it pushed you along at a pretty good clip, making chironomid fishing difficult. So back to the leech to troll to the more protected east bay. Alternating between chironmids and trolling I managed to land another 4 fish, most decent at 13" to 15". Some were silver bright, others beautifully colored like this one.

Nicely colored Dusty rainbow

Hits trolling the leech seemed to stop when the bright sun came out, perhaps sending the fish deeper than my line would sink, and chironomid fishing was difficult with the wind, so I decided it was time to call it a day. As I prepared to shoulder my tube, I decided to take one last look in the shallows off the point, where I saw a solitary fish cruising. That was enough for me. What harm has ever come from a few more casts (well, at least no harm until you get home late again...)? The shore has become overgrown with brush, so I waded out above my belly button, false cast parallel to shore, then angled the final cast out as sharply as I could into the wind to get the fly into the deeper water. I had an olive leech on top, black snow-cone chewy on the bottom, about 7 feet to the top fly. Almost immediately, I had a take-down and a nice fish to hand, on the leech. Then pretty steady action for the next 45 minutes, with 5 more fish to hand, all on the chewy. Then the wind died down and so did the fishing, so it was really time to go now.

Back at the car, not too late in the afternoon, there was now a decision to make. Head home, or check out one of the wasteways that in a few more days would become rushing torrents until irrigation season ends next fall. There was one where Tom had caught a rainbow last fall when it was still running pretty high, but I hadn't found a fish then. Stream 129 was beckoning, and was kind of on my way home (which means, in the same state...). Guess which choice won?

Prime, Eastern Washington trout water! Stream 129

My friend Kirk claims that I have a very loose definition of the word "stream" but when you live in the desert, you can't be as selective as when you live next to mountains full of streams like where he grew up. If water is moving downhill and has trout, it is a stream. And this one met both those criteria. Olive leech and #12 psycho found six silver, identically-sized 11" rainbows here, probably first year fish from last years' plant of fingerlings.

Well trained fish poses for the picture. Say "Cheese!"

I have yet to find brown or brook trout which are also planted in some of the wasteways, but rainbows will work. It was a fun little stop to net stream 129 (even if it is rather straight). I fished up in some likely water but found nothing. Coming back to the starting place, looking at the culvert, I just knew there had to be...

Beautiful, 19" rainbow

Yes, culverts attract big fish! This beautifully colored, 19" rainbow took the leech, then basically swam in to shore. The 11" fish fought harder. Judging by the looseness of the belly, I'd say that it may have recently finished spawning, which could explain the lack of fight.

Needs to work a bit on the abs after lounging about all winter...

A great finish to a beautiful Good Fishday. I packed up and headed for home (after a few more casts, of course), wondering if Tom had found any trout streams in Italy, waiting for Rob to catch a trout in Peru on a fly rather than with his hands. I'm happy to stay at home, especially in the spring.

Christening the New Boat...

Finally opening my Christmas present

OK, so it is kind of small and has no motor, but it is a big step up from the old Caddis donut float tube I have used for years. It was nice having my bottom out of the cold water while fishing today. Which leads to the real reason for the post, no product endorsements here.

With my every-other-Friday-off work schedule, I get to spin the WhatToDo Wheel quite often, and today, just like every other time I have spun it, it directed me to go fishing. Who can argue with that?

I love this thing!

In preparation, I spent a little time this week tying up some of Tom's chewy chironomid patterns. These things look really good wet and in the water! Also tried a couple balanced leeches. The second one turned out pretty good, but is not available for a photo anymore...

Tom's awesome chewy chironomid pattern

Good dad that I am, I sacrificed an hour of fishing, leaving after sunup to drop Melinda off at school, so she wouldn't have to ride the bus. After a quick stop for the #8, I was on my way to Lake Lenice with my new boat (I think it needs a name). Arrived in the lot about 8:30, with only two other vehicles. My fishing buddy Kirk Morris was here last Saturday and was greeted by more than a dozen campers and who knows how many cars. Another nice thing about Fridays off. By 9 am I was on the water, dragging an olive leech on a sinking line on my way across the lake to the shoal by the island directly across from the launch. Nothing. Once at the island, I started with the balanced leech under the indicator, about 10 feet down, as Kirk had much more success with the leech than with chironomids. Nothing. The water was almost flat, and fish were swirling on the surface and swallows were swirling in the air. You know what that means. 

Out came the chironos, tiny purple on top, black chewy in the middle, red brassie on the bottom. Casting towards the reeds, had a couple little twitches of the indicator, but no takes. After quite a few casts, it finally went down and I hooked a solid fish. Definitely a carryover. It stayed down, had several good runs, and would not tire out. Several times I had it close, only to have it take off for another run. Not a good thing when you have a 15-ft leader that tends to catch on the guides at the leader not. About the third time as I was bringing it up to net it, it made another run, the knot caught on the guide, and the fish and red brassie were gone. That would be the nicest fish of the day. Lots of fish all around, but very little action for the next hour and a half. No more interest in chironomids, so I tried the balanced leech. After a number of casts, had a good take down and a bad knot and the fly was gone. No interest in the second leech, or a little black one. Back to chironomids, broke another one off on the hit, one other takedown, but that was it. Then the wind came up a little bit. Two hours, three fish broken off, one other takedown. Tried trolling the leech again, heading west towards the shoal and back. Not a bump. 

Almost noon now, back at the island where I began, the swallows were still darting to and fro just above surface of the lake, so I decided to give the chironomids one more try before heading for home. Fishing 12 feet down to the bottom fly, Tom's chewy on the bottom, red brassie on top. I just west of the point of the island right across from the launch, fishing out towards the deeper water. Suddenly, it was like a different lake. Within a couple minutes,I hooked a bright bow on a solid takedown that ran straight at me with three leaps clear out of the water, throwing the hook on the third leap. Positioned myself back to the same spot, and a few minutes later hooked another that performed similar acrobatics. This one I got to hand, and officially christened the boat with fish slime. Fat, healthy fish!

Nice fat rainbow

For the next hour, I had takedowns about every five minutes, preference for the Tom's chewy was about 2 to 1. By 1 pm, I had five fish to hand and about that many takedowns. Then things dropped off. By 1:30 I was ready to leave, so I dropped the sinking line in for the kick back to the launch, and within 10 yards had another cookie-cutter bow, a nice end to the day. Totals for the day: 6 rainbows to hand, all fat 13" to 15", 4 broken off, and maybe another 5 fought and lost. A few takedowns missed. With most of the action packed into one hour, it made for a few slow hours and one really fun one. That's fishing. My boat is looking forward to the next trip in two weeks to Dusty...

Fishin' on the Mission

From Elder Brian Merrill's missionary blog:

For p-day today, we went fishing on the property of a member that's in the middle of the forest.... we had to wake up at 5:30 to walk there, but it was SWEET!

Nothin beats fishing in the rain

HUGE spider

O grande pescador..... I'm not as into fishing as the rest of the Merrill boys, but it's in my blood.... I caught the most, and I'm proud to say I also caught more than Tom did ;)

Typical Day at the Ford

Here we are in the middle of the midwinter fishing blues, rivers are high, lakes are frozen, but Dad called and reminded me of the one place that is always fishable - Rocky Ford Creek. Melinda was dying to see cousins, so we drove up together Friday night so Dad and I could get an early start. Of course Dad wanted to wait until the sun was up and temps were above freezing, but my experience is the colder and darker the better (and the fewer people). So we left at 6:30, hit McDs for the #8, but Dad got something else, and you know what that means....

Arriving at the Ford about 8 am, we found four cars in the lower lot! Those people were just leaving from below the bridge, so we started above the bridge. Nothing on stripped, olive simi-leech. Moved down below the bridge where Tom and I had killed them dead drifting leeches last time. Nothing. Moved up to the reeds above the bridge, and I started seeing action. About 6 wakes on 8 casts, including two landed like the one below.

17" rainbow

Then dead again. Switched to a new fly, the skully bugger, a big ugly black thing with rubber legs. 

Skully Bugger, a good-looking fly that was well received

It was well received. After tying it on, I saw a trout suspended right in front of me. I dropped the bugger in and watched as the trout moved right up to it, then sucked it in. Sight fishing buggers! With some more interest and another fish on that one, I went up where Dad was at the big rock above the reeds and gave him a skully bugger to tie on and suggested he move down a bit where there was quite a bit of action from fish swirling. Soon after, he had this nice rainbow to hand.

Dad and a nice rainbow on the Skully Bugger

By now the sun was up, no more ice in the guides, and fishing had slowed down. I went down to the rocky peninsula above the skinny water and caught several dead drifting the simi leech, but they were pretty small (12 in. or so). Back up to the reeds, there were some risers so I tried some small emergers. No luck, although, after tying them on, I dropped them in front of a monster that was suspended right in front of me. He immediately rushed up to the fly, stopped about an inch away, then turned around. Finally tied on a bead, and landed one sight fishing it. The big guy in front of me was also interested, approaching it three times, but never enough interest to suck it in. So ended the day at the Ford. Decent enough for me, but typically slow after the early hours. A chance to be out with Dad. Maybe next time he will order the number 8 so he can see a little more action!