Headed out to nearby Lake Ballinger to check out the 1,700+ trout stocked in the lake about a month ago. Arrived at the lake about 6:30 AM, one fisherman already on the pier and two others fishing off the shoreline just north of the swimming area. Temp at the outset was 49 degrees, water temp was 56 degrees at 12' off the pier... sky was mostly cloudy. Began fishing with a nightcrawler under a float on one rig, Fl. Orange Power Eggs (3' leader) on the other... lines in the water by 6:50. The north end of the pier was already occupied, so I settled in on the south end. I immediately became aware that fish were rising near the northern shoreline... looked like the pools at a U-fish site! The "gentleman" (I use the term loosely!) at the north end of the pier was catching fish and reeled in one before I had cast my lines out. After fifteen minutes, my float began to move laterally, then slipped under the lake's surface. I set the hook and reeled in my first, a nice chunky Rainbow of nearly 12". After about an hour with nothing to show for the PE rig, I changed up to chartreuse PE with a 6' leader... had been getting bites consistently on the 'crawler, but no hook-ups. Ten minutes later the PE rod bent double and I reeled in my second, another chunky 'Bow of about 12".
Meanwhile, the slob (what I've always called those who ignore the fishing laws) at the north end of the pier had landed his fifth trout... his friend who had joined him on the pier immediately took his place. As the first was leaving, I congratulated him on his catch, to which he replied, "Oh, I'll be back a little later, 'cause I only caught three". I told him, "I watched you land five and place them in a bag in your bucket!" (don't know if he had caught fish prior to my arrival?). He said, "No, I let some go". I may be old, but my eyesight is good, and I can still count to five, per my first grade education! Beside, the WDFW regs clearly state that when fishing with bait, the "first five fish caught constitute a limit." Case closed.
The "friend" caught five fish inside of 45 minutes and, to his credit, left. I slid to the northern end of the pier, and in 30 minutes filled out my limit... two more on the 'crawler under the float and one more on the PE. The fish were really stacked up off the northern end of the pier, along the shoreline. In addition, had had at least a dozen bites on the 'crawler and half a dozen more on the PE. Easy pickings.
About 8:30 the skies opened up and a heavy shower fell, sending the dozen or so fishermen (women) scurrying for cover. Saw perhaps a total of 20 to 24 fishermen on the shoreline and later, filling up the pier. Sadly, the Spring fishery brings out the worst of the slobs... saw several carrying their white five gallon buckets up to their cars, only to return and resume fishing in their favorite spots. In addition to the obvious over-fishing their limits, many were "releasing" the smaller fish they happened to catch and I saw a number of these fish floating by on the surface of the lake (at least one became eagle food). Between the slobs and the Cormorants, there probably won't be many fish left in a month or so!
I was pleasantly surprised at the nice size the recently stocked fish were. Most were in the 11" to 12" range, with some smaller (10") mixed in.
Despite the negatives of the ubiquitous slobs, always enjoyable to be able to get out to the local lakes, catch a few trout, watch the waterfowl, eagles and ospreys, and smoke a bowl-full of my favorite pipe tobacco! PTL!

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