Hi Andy, First things first. The small, unnamed eastern Washington lake did not have any sort of discernable food activity last Friday, at least that we could determine. My partners tried big dries (hoppers, terrestrials), chironomids (under an indicator along the reeds to the SE shore), and scuds. Nothing. Nada.
What did work was anything olive (BH wooly buggers, leeches, bird's nests, damsel & dragon nymphs, etc.), black (marabou and bunny leeches) and an odd assortment of smaller (size 8 - 12) nymphs such as prince, PTs and GRHEs. We brought 13 fish to hand in 6 hours of fishing, pretty slow at only about one fish per 1-1/2 fisherman hours. All were cookie cutter triploids from 16 to 22 inches except for a single 15 inch brown. Judging from the conversations I overheard from others, fishing was slow (by comparison with earlier in the year) across the board. Everyone seemed to agree that the fish were more adept at the head shake than before. I LDR'd perhaps twice as many as I landed. Wonder if smarter fish are a function of more angling pressure? Your comment about the Wenatchee club was interesting. Aside from the two Oregon plated cars I mentioned, I didn't pay much attention to where the others were from. In the past when there were just a few other fishers on the water, everyone seemed to be from the Seattle area except for an old timer named Earl who lives 'just down the road' and has been fishing there forever. Not sure how many subscribers are on the list at present. Perhaps Sean Ransom could cobble up a script to ping the database and provide that information periodically. I'd also be interested in learning about subscriber turnover. I know several old timers have left (Jere, Les J. and others), but my sense is that there are far more newcomers who've replaced them. I'd also be interested in learning about how newcomers found out about the list. Aside from winter anadromous fishing, fishing should be slowing down soon. Perhaps this might be a good time to gather photos and stories about the year's fisning trips and make a push to update the web site? Kent Lufkin >Kent, > >Thanks for the report on the "small, unnamed lake in eastern wa." I had been >planning on going back this fall, thinking that it might be a nice change of >pace. It is good to know in advance that I should not be expecting any >solitude from the occasion. I do have one question as it was going to be my >principle reason for the late fall return - was there any water boatman >activity while you were there? With all of that shallow water I thought the >potential was there for a good boatman fall after the cold weather arrived. > >As a point of information on the way that I got there in the Spring - it was >not through word of mouth, but through data mining a number of sources (I >was feeling very proud of myself for having found it...) The day I arrived >coincided with the day the word got out - as a Wenatchee fishing club >apparently announced it at a Saturday evening meeting. That Sunday morning >the parking lot was full and from a few conversations on the water and at >the ramp the majority of the people were there from the Wenatchee area and >because of that reference at the meeting. I did find an individual that had >been fishing the lake for the previous several days/weekends and prior to >that morning he had not seen more than 3 other anglers on the water. The >lesson, it does not take much word of mouth for a spot to become discovered. >The question - does that mean that it should not have been discovered and >that the state funded rotenone and restocking program should have benefited >only a few instead of many? > >To follow-up the discussion that Patrick started: what is the >"responsibility" of the participants on this list to contribute >reports/information to the list-serve, instead of merely lurking and soaking >up the knowledge of others? Even veiled references, such as Kent's, can be >very useful to other members, but any such reference also bares the risk of >"unleashing the unwashed masses." It is a fine line to walk. To the lurkers: >I hope that you realize that you too need to step up to the plate >occasionally, or eventually the list will degrade down to the point where no >"useful" information is ever swapped for fear that there will be no >reciprocation. To the newbies: there are occasionally questions on the list >that would be best answered by searching the archives first. And to all: >tight lines! > >Andy > >PS Kent out of curiosity, how many subscribers does the list currently have >and is there an easy way to compare that number with the number of unique >posters during a given period? > > >From: "Kent Lufkin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Friday, November 02, 2001 10:39 AM >Subject: Re: where have all the reports gone? > > > > Richard, > > > > Your example is dead-on. Same thing happened to me this year. Heard > > about a small, unnamed lake in eastern Washington that had received a > > dose of rotenone late last year followed by plants of browns and > > triploids in the spring. The guys who told me about it swore me to > > secrecy, so I didn't post anything for that reason, although I did > > tell a couple of my regular fishing buddies. > > > > The first couple times I went there, the fishing was even better than > > I could have imagined. The muscular triploids regularly pulled me > > into my backing and put a week-long grin on my face. But the best > > part was that at most there were only 2 or 3 other guys there. > > > > Well I went back last Friday to find the small parking area filled > > with cars, trucks and RVs, including 2 from Oregon, and over 20 > > flyfishers on the water. Looked like opening weekend at Lake Lenice > > except the little lake is only about a third that size. I ducked > > backcasts all day long and even watched two guys get their lines > > tangled up, just like combat fishing at Hoodsport or the Kenai. > > > > Looks like I wasn't the only person those guys had told. > > > > Kent Lufkin > > > > > > >By example, a friend of mine and I took a prominent List person to a > > >prime fishing spot last year, shared with him the techniques > > >required for that spot, species, and time of year, swore him to > > >secrecy, and guess what? I know of several List members, with whom > > >he regularly fishes, who now 'just happen' to know the same spot and > > >technique. This spot can only accommodate 2, maybe 3 persons at one > > >time. It's a bummer to go to 'your' fishing spot to find it filled > > >with folks who are friends of someone else with whom you 'shared' > > >the spot. > > > > > >And, as far as posting that type of information on the List, I think > > >it's the rule, rather the exception, that there tends to be a herd > > >effect to certain fishing spots after someone posts a favorable > > >fishing report. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just the way it is. > > > >
