What are your plans for the early opener? I plan to hit Nunally and a few others in the east. Hopefully there will not be ice on the lakes. Last year at Nunally there was just a thin sheet that went out about 6'. it was very fishable but down right cold .But I will be there as I got an itch to fish. :p

I'll probably fish Coldwater Lake starting in March. I've had some good days there in March. I've also had some miserable days there in March, ice, snow, sleet, rain and what seemed like 100mph winds. Come to think of it I've experienced at least two of those things in every month I've fished there, from March thru October. Even so, it's still one of my favorites lakes to fish.

I'll probably hit Lenore in March, provided that the wind isn't too strong. Those Lahontans seem to be a little more active than rainbows early in the year. Fishing a bugger just off the bottom around the islands in the middle of the lake will usually produce some nice 'cutts. The wind can make it seem like the middle of Puget Sound if it's blowing - I last fished Lenore in late November, couldn't stay on the lake in my pontoon boat because of 20 mph winds and blowing sleet. Brrr. But the opportunity to hook into a 5lb+ cutt is just too tempting. :p

Trout Daddy, are the lahatons <sp? coming back well at lenore? I havent fished it since 96.
Yes the wind has allways been a factor there. But then again it can be a problem at most lakes on the east side. ? for you. You dont go around telling the trout you catch and release saying who's your daddy do you?

TM - I've only fished Lenore the last couple of years, but have usually done pretty well. In late November you could see the Lahontans cruising the shorelines in about 6-8 feet of water. Since they're so light-colored, they looked like ghost fish - pretty cool. But you could sight cast pretty well to them too. That's a great feeling when you can see a large cutt take off after your fly that you just chucked in front of him. Yeehah.

As for my nickname, my daughter's name is Brooke. Get it ???? Brooke trout. . . hence, my name.

Good name, What other lakes do you fish? And welcome to this site.

In W.Wa, I fish Pass occasionally, Lone, McMurray, Wilderness (nice browns after dark), and want to try Cady this year. But I prefer to make the trip over to E.Wa if I have time. Over there, I like to fish the Yakima, Lenore, Dry Falls, Aeneas, and a couple of smaller secret lakes. Never been to Chopaka, but from what I hear about the crowds, it's probably enough to keep me away. Every May or June, I will usually head up to BC and fish the Kamloops area for a week or so.

How about you?

Does Grimes open up at the same time. If I can't get a guide for the Quinault in March, still trying, I might head over there for some fun. Only caught two fish on a fly last year, while my son was fishing with powerbait. Edit: No, I wasn't letting him fish at Grimes lake with bait, this was at a local stocked lake.

[ 01-29-2002: Message edited by: Dogfish ]

I fish Nunally alot, Dry falls sometimes(to much wind) another lake that I cant name here, and Aneas ,never been to chopaka(crowds) Ell. And some here on this side. Never heard of wilderness where is that? Havent fished the Yak for acouple years. Some of the werhauser lakes. Pass lake sometimes. Want to hit cady this year also.

Grimes doesn't open up until some time in June. It's a late opener.

Who's this Trout Daddy who lives in my neighborhood?

My brother fished the Yakima this weekend and caught 1, his partner caught 7, I think. Biggest each caught was 23". They floated Near the park in Ellensburg and didn't see another boat on the river.

I'm trying to talk my parents into taking me up to Merril lake. It's fly fishing only and I guess that they take some pretty good bows out of there.

Fishboy5: Don't rush up to Merrill right early in the year. It's a high lake and very slow
to start up in the Spring. I always waited till late May or early June.July good too.

Troutdaddy: I fished Lenora a lot before it crashed. One time years ago I fished it in a
rubber raft. Well it started blowing so hard that the water was lapping over the top
onto my back and I was sitting in 2" before long. I pulled in and dumped it and turned
the raft over and put a big rock on it while I tried to dry out. I looked over and the wind
blew the rock off and my raft started sailing away. I made a run for it and tripped on a rock
and fell flat on my face. Got pretty bloodied up. Only lake that I ever fished that actually
beat me up.The raft blew over a knoll and settled down in a hollow so I didn't have to
walk back.

Fishinfella, I hope you dont get beat up to bad when I out fish you this spring!!!! Ah crap I probably just jinxed myself now! :p

TM when you tie up zonkers, What do you use for the body ? Jim S. :p

JimS opps I mean Old man, I'm having problems with my Zonkers right now. I'm having problems tying the pearl mylar piping to the hook.

ZenL - I'm a lifelong Kirkland resident, live in the Houghton area. I try to fish as much as a hectic schedule will let me. This rainy time of year is pretty tough to endure without gettin' a line wet. Went up to Lone Lake about a month ago, too windy and cold. Caught four bows (all 12"-14") in about 6 hours on a Olive WB with the tail trimmed. Can't wait for March.

FF - sounds like a heck of a time over at Lenore. Last year, I headed out in my pontoon boat in three foot swells (and 20 mph winds) for about 30 minutes. No fish, just a lot of bouncing. So I packed it in and drove over to Dry Falls where it was less windy and the fishin' was a little less strenuous.

Trout Daddy,

What's up? You only just find this board or were you on before with a different name?

ZL - Neither. I just decided to log in and post a reply. Have been following Mike's website for a long time. I check this site most every day. Have occasionally posted the odd fishing report, but never got involved in the reader's forum until recently. Oh, that's not true. One time I reminded a reader that state regs do not allow someone to C&R a fish that's caught on powerbait. I get pretty tired of seeing people with posts where they brag about C&Ring 30 fish caught with powerbait. All I got back from the baitchucking numskull was a slew of insults and him telling me to mind my own business. Whatever. Now, don't all the baitfisherfolks get mad at me, that method is fine, but I just choose not to fish that way. The thing is, most people just don't know that a bait-caught fish counts as part of your daily limit. I think it's OK to inform them of that so the fishing stays productive for everyone. OK, enough of the soapbox.

ZL-I've seen many of your posts in the past, but one thing I've got to ask you is what's up with the Zen thing? Are you doing yoga in your float tube or what? Hey if it works for Stu Jackson (lakers coach) . . . :p I'm not razzing ya, I'm honestly curious where the nickname came from.

Thanks for welcoming me. I intend to be more active in this forum in the future.

Trout Daddy. I've not heard that name in about 30 years, Houghton. I though that area was incorprated into Bellevue or Kirkland. It's not about fishing but it brings back old memories before all the freeways went in. Jim S.