Fourth of July Lake is a lake worth the trip to fish. Lots of potential here; some fellows were fly-fishing, some were trolling, and still others were fishing from the lake edges. On our expedition we pushed our trusty Likki-Tikki shark-mouthed fishing boat into the water before 7:00 AM. The launching point is shallow but makes launching easy. Electric-motored fishing boats: Take Heed if using the launching area... Oars (!!) or electric motors only, please. The surface of the lake was smooth; the only noises were of the waterfowl overhead; their wings whistled as we trolled slowly down the lake from the launch point (Note to self: If you have to GO---I mean GO---better be sure to do it before you take the boat down to the launch! It's a long walk to the restrooms from the lake!) We tried several lures; each one had its own fan club, but we caught but one fish, uninjured, so we let 'im go. This lake lends itself to be fished from the shoreline; it isn't too deep, there is lots of shoreline to use even though it's interesting to get to it! The fishermen there seem to be a friendly lot (Do you know the difference between a fisherman and a jerk? The fisherman will leave his fishing spot better than the way he found it---the jerk leaves his garbage...) The south (southeast?) end of the lake was deeper than the northern end; its surface also included bits of vegetation that made trolling more "interesting". Approximately midpoint in the lake is where we got the most bites. The weather was strange---it was still and cloudy when we put the boat in but still very pleasant temperature-wise. When the sun popped through the clouds, the wind picked up and became COOOOOLD!...and the lake surface became choppy and the fishes' interest in our lures disappeared. Another lake explored; gonna try it again before the season ends!!

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