I finally got onto one of our Central Oregon lakes this past week. The ramp was open with only a little snow to deal with getting to it. It was a warm, calm day with temps reaching into the 70's. The kind of day you really welcome coming out of winter here in Central Oregon. As I pulled away from the dock, I thought about how good it felt to get out to do what I love the most in my pursuit of trophy trout.....chase after browns! There is no salmonide quite as smart or difficult to catch, especially when they get big, as the salmo trutta.
I got a late start and didn't get launched until after 3:00. It was so flat and calm, I wondered what my prospects for shallow flatling would be like. I was hoping for a slight chop to develop but it wasn't in the cards. I decided to put some plugs on the rigger to start and went to an area that in years past, during the early spring, I have found some concentrations of kokanee balls. They were there! I was swinging around with long setbacks sweeping above and under the distinct pattern of condensed kokanee schools from 20-40 feet. I didn't have a touch until a little after 4:00 when I spotted a little bit larger mark up at 20 feet all by itself. I had the rigger at 35 as I had just come through some balls around 40. I pulled everything up to 14 feet and didn't go another 50 feet when the rod went into the tale tale bounce. Turned out to be an fat 19 in. hen that would have weighed about 2.5 I estimated. You never know if it was the fish you marked in situations like this but it is fun to think so. Since I was by myself and she was nothing to get excited about, I dropped her back to fight another day.
About 20 minutes later as I swung around to head back through some kokes I had marked and saw the rod throbbing again. I popped the release and could tell this one was a little bigger as I worked the fish up from the 35 foot zone I was working. When I got her near the top, I could tell she was long and lean...probably around 23 in. I took a couple of photos of her in the net and dumped her back in the hopes of running into something about twice her size. It wasn't meant to be. The flat line trolling in tight didn't produce a strike. I had one more bounce on the rigger and that was it for the day. It was great to just get out.
I hope to be out next week so check back for a report.......
Tight Lines,
Rick
