Having remembered my failure at this lake the last time I visited it—now ten years ago—I decided to return for some revenge since I am more experienced than before and thought that should be sufficient to catch some trout.

Water temperature was 62-63 degrees, which is warm for this time of year, I believe. Just a month ago the snow cleared enough from the roads for access to this lake. The lake level has dropped six to eight feet also since ice off, measured by the water lines around the lake. A strong south wind blew most of the days with an air temperature in the high 70’s on Friday and Saturday, with it cooling on Sunday. By Monday morning rain came in over the lake, but I didn’t fish on Monday.

The lake is devoid of scuds and I saw only a couple dozen chironomids hatching. I saw some mayflies by the west inlet hatch at 11:00AM on July 4. I did notice some minnows in the inlets. One triploid rainbow was stuffed with large black ants, feeding against the west shoreline. Although the triploids were relatively fat and healthy, measuring 14 to 18 inches, the brook trout were small and thin by comparison.

The largest brookie was 13 inches. I caught another one measuring 11 inches. The rest were between six and seven inches. If it hadn’t been for the recent plant of triploids, my fishing trip would have been poor indeed. I saw some Russians catching more than their fair share of triploids over 14 inches in a southwestern portion of the lake. I’m not sure they are aware of the one fish limit of a trout over 14 inches because they were keeping all of their fish between the three of them, and I saw them catch about twelve in a couple of hours with bait.

I thought this lake would provide some solitude for my family. I was mistaken. Over one hundred people were at the lake, I would estimate, on Friday and Saturday, with 90 percent of them leaving by Sunday evening. Unfortunately, most of them were loud and drinking too much alcohol. One man was so drunk his boat broke in the middle of the lake and he nearly drowned. Upon being rescued and arriving at the hospital, he was told to join AA. Several of the southern lakeshore campsites also had a lot of trash left behind. I only mention these facts because one should be prepared for what to expect on the holiday weekends.

All but one of my fish were caught within 40 feet from shore. The “shoals” were five to fifteen feet deep, with mostly rocks, logs, and sand on the bottom. I believe some big brook trout are in the lake, but hanging out somewhere deep in the lake where the water is cooler. I caught my fish on an olive size #8 Wooly Bugger and a #10 Marabou Muddler Minnow. Both hooks are 3X long.

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