Family outing today with my two oldest - Erin and Peter - and their significant others - Jeff and Kristen. We headed out at the crack of Noon for the afternoon fish. It has been years since I was last at Salish and what a nice layout it is. Good bank access around 3/4 of the lake, restroom, trails, fishing dock and folk seem to be keeping it clean for all to enjoy. And fish to be caught
.
The word upon on arrival was that it was slow. I counted 40 plus around the bank, but it did not feel crowded. Of course, with 5 of us showing up - we are the one's to make a crowd
.
My daughter Erin was full of energy and ready to catch some trout!
As you can see - we had perfect late season weather - I always appreciate no wind and a glassy smooth surface.
Kristen, who almost bailed on the trip, was the first to be bit on some Sherbert Power Bait - her first set no less. Peter noticed the bite and said - "Kristen you are getting a bite" - and no sooner than that the rod was headed for the lake
. Kristen grabbed the rod in the nick of time and her drag screamed as the brooder rainbow made for the exits. The 35 year old Garcia glass trout rod and Mitchell 320 spinning reel of same vintage with 6 lb test was no match. The fish headed for the fence
and Kristen gave chase with words of encouragement from the 5 or so anglers whose lines were now crossed. Perhaps too much coaching and assistance on my part led to the inevitable - the mainline failed against a rock and that was that!
Things settled down. A couple of brooders were landed across the way and a couple of other planters landed by an angler to our right. Jeff kept getting pecked (floating a night crawler off the bottom) and finally put it together for the first fish landed.
His first trout!
Again, things quieted down. Peter was the guinea pig for the afternoon. I grabbed a variety of baits - prawn tails, roe, salmon eggs, marshmellows and scents - not knowing what these brood trout would want having never fished for them before. This looked promising:
After a few different sets to keep a fresh bait out there - bam! Fish on
. This fish cooperated much more than Kristen's and after some anxious moments came to net.
25" length by 16.5" girth - 8 lbs!
Bragging rights was not difficult to call - it has to go to Jeff's chromer
.
Couldn't ask for a better afternoon. Two for 3 on hook-ups with other bites that did not stick. We saw plenty of these brood trout jump and role - so with a little patience they are there for you.
Peter's fish was a dark buck ripe for spawning. The fish cut out fine - with the cold water - flesh very firm - and no odor. (I bled the fish immediately).
Details:
We fished 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm. We fished off the bottom with standard sliding egg sinker rigs. Key to this set up is making sure the bait is floating. I am a big believer in smaller baits! If you are using a size 14 or 16 treble and find yourself using a ton of bait to float the hook AND that is not working for you - try downsizing your bait. I like to use #18 trebles so I can get by with a pea to #10 corky sized bait. More often and not - this will not float the hook, so I use small corkies or puff balls (like in the photo above) to help float the bait high of the bottom. I tie on a piece of rubber band (simple overhand knot pulled tight) as a stopper - so my puff ball does not rest against the hook. The puff balls can be used to hold scent as well. I experiment - if I can get a good float with a small Power Bait with no puff ball - then I keep to the simple.
Another think I am anal about is when I cast I let the line sink before flipping the bail and then reel tight very slowly so as to not move the weight (and presentation) so as to keep from pulling it through the junk and weeds near the bottom. I am also getting better at using fresh bait that has been stored properly. The salmon eggs shown above are probably 3 years old - but always stored in the fridge. For those guessing - yes it is Amerman's rocket red cure.
Enjoy!
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