Finally Got Out This Evening...

[Phil Lilley]

I usually do well in cold weather but this year my body hasn't adjusted. I'm not blaming it on old age... yet. The cold and wind is why I haven't gotten out much lately, that and family in town for the holidays and they won't fish in this weather. Been eating and playing cards - fun times.

The wind finally laid down a bit this evening so I decided to get out. Grabbed my fly rod and a spin rod and headed up lake. As I passed Riverlake, I decided I wasn't going up very far - I was already cold. I stopped at the Riverpointe Ramp and picked up my fly rod, rigged with a pink micro jig and float and started drifting it in the middle of the lake about 7 feet deep. They were running one unit but barely. The stump on Short Creek gravel bar was a foot out of the water. It's a marker for us... if it's showing, we don't dare try to boat to the dam - just not enough water running to do so without taking a big risk of hitting something.

After a couple hundred yards - nothing. Tied on a olive micro - nothing. Shortened up on the depth and move to shallower water - nothing. Good chop on the water, cloud cover, good conditions usually but I wasn't throwing the right thing I guess.

As I drifted closer to Short Creek, I decided to anchor on the upper end of the bar, about where the stump is, and strip something. Perfect current and I like the shallow depth of the water on the gravel bar. There's usually a bunch of rainbows on this bar in the evening. They aren't targeted by many anglers, especially the ones drifting by using bait. It's too shallow, at least with the water they're running today, to throw lures over unless you throw something light and move it fast.

I dropped the anchor above the stump about 10 yards, letting 20 feet of rope out. It held for about 15 minutes, then the wind picked up and I drifted onto the bar itself.

I started with a olive PMS beaded, casting it to the south or shallow side and got chasers on the first throw. The next 6 casts I had multiple swirls at the fly but they just wouldn't commit, grabbing the tail instead. Seemed like big trout too- very aggressive strikes. Finally got a takers but he snapped my only PMS off.

Tied on a #8 black wooly bugger, unweighted, and commenced catching rainbow after rainbow, on the shallow side, on the deep side, behind the boat. Didn't matter. They liked it, and didn't mess around chasing or biting short.

My anchor drug a bit and my motor was stuck on the bottom- that's how shallow it was on the bar. The boat ended up sitting sideways in the current but it was so slow it didn't hurt anything. The wind kept picking up and then dying. Every time it blew, the fish bit better, harder.

I ended up catch and releasing a dozen rainbows from 10 to 14 inches. Lots of fun.

There haven't been many people fishing the past week. It's been pretty good for the most part but I don't have any concrete reports to go by at this time. I know they are catching rainbows off the dock on Gulp Eggs and night crawlers.

[Tito Degiosio]

Cold and windy is the truth the wind has been out of control lately

I'm going out on the Eleven point with brian 2morrow

hope the winds lay low

sounds like you had a good time in the wind anyways

keep a eye out for my post it could get interesting drift boats 1600 CFS sounds like fun

take care Phil