Not So Many Masses

Got an email from Yuki on Monday. He and Marisa fished Silver Lake and both scored limits.

Today, the plan was to take my 6 wt. (long casting ability) and a fly box of Wooly Buggers and hit the lake. Rolled out of the house at 0715, a quick coffee stop at Cooks and up the hill I went.

Now understand, Silver Lake is inherently windy and its usually an "in your face" wind. Today was no exception. When I got to check-in, it was indeed blowing and from the "in your face" direction.  

The purpose of the picture below is two fold. One for you to see how the wind was blowing and two, to see how the water level of the lake has dropped.

A two fold picture

Last time I was here was exactly a month ago and all the rocks you see were underwater. My, how fast the lake drops.

I'm in the parking lot of the Day Use Area, the wind is already blowing hard, and I decide not to drag my fly fishing gear all the way down to the lake because the wind will only get stronger as the day goes on.

Took what gear I  needed and headed for the big rock. 

The big rock

Just as I got there, two guys walked out on it, so I settled for a little cubby.

Cubby

I won't drag this out any longer, I got five (a limit) for the stringer and missed two bites. Fish number 4 hit the bait and when I set the hook, the sinker jammed in the rocks. I had two options, one break the line (I had already lost one that way earlier) or let it sit and see if the fish would pull it out. When I set the rod down there was a big bow in the line and finally the fish pulled it straight. When I started reeling it in, the sinker came lose and a 12" Rainbow was brought to hand.

Not exactly the way I planned to fish, but a good day none the less. And the "Not So Many Masses", the two guys fishing on the big rock and a half dozen kids over on the rocks in the top picture. Nothing like Saturday. 

One other thing I noticed is that apparently people are feeding the Canadian Geese on the lake. As soon as they realized I was sitting there, they came in droves to see what I had to eat. Not good. Rule number one is don't feed the wildlife. Once they depend on it, it'll kill them in the winter. 

July camping trip in the Clipper is happening soon. Won't tell you where (so you can see the pictures when I get back), but I'll give you two words. Navarro River.

Stay tuned.