After a bust of a day last Saturday when three of us got skunked, today looked more like the kind of fishing I remember on this lake. I hooked 17 fish, and landed 12, all of which were released. All but one were nice, healthy, thick 12-13" fish. I fished almost exactly three hours. The weather was bright, sunny, with just a hint of breeze -- awesome. The Girl Scout camp was empty, so I shared the lake with no more than one other boat at a time.

While I caught my first fish within 50 yards of the boat launch, the bulk of the action was confined to a small area in the SW corner of the lake near the Girl Scout canoe dock. I fished a couple of rods with different rigs and different depths, but only one recipe seemed to work consistently, so I switched both rods to that setup, or at least as much alike as I could get them. The only difference between them was the dodger color, and it seemed to have quite an impact.

I was running a half ounce sinker about 14" ahead of a 4.5" Slingblade, and trailing an Olive Willy with a red glass bead head about 20 pulls behind the boat. Trolling speed was 0.90 to 1.15 mph. (30# Minkota on the lowest setting). I get my Olive Willys from Outdoor Emporium in Seattle. I've purchased from other outlets, but haven't had the same results. Some use red thread instead of the bead, and others use beads that lack the crisp sparkle that I get with the ones from OE.

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