Dan,

Wanted to send in a quick report on my fishing excursion with the original founder of Trophy Trout Hunter, Jimmy Lewis, from this past weekend. Jimmy and I made the trek over a snow covered Willamette Pass last Friday night in hopes of that elusive brown trout. We got to the Crescent Lake resort around 7:30 and launched the boat over a ramp filled with 2 to 3 inches of fresh powder. I ran the boat over to the main dock and tied off before we checked in with our yurt reservations. The staff was very friendly and helpful in loading down our gear on an ATV Mule that drove across the dam to our yurt. Once there, Jimmy and I unloaded our gear in the yurt and started a fire in the wood-stove. Even though the wood-stove was a little small, it heated the entire room within an hours time. This felt so good on a23 degree evening, and after a couple of beers we called it a night.

Saturday morning came early, and I was greeted with 2 to 3 more inches of fresh powder snow in my open 15 foot Alaskan Smokercraft. The 15 HP Merc started quickly with a choke, and I let her warm up while exchanging introductions with fellow Trophy Trout Hunter Felix Arami and his good fishing buddy Jim on the dock. They had arrived earlier than Jimmy and I, and had fished a full day on Friday. It was sure nice getting to shake hands with Felix after swapping emails back and forth over the years. He let me know they caught a couple browns on Friday, and missed a few too with one being a really good hit. Felix and Jim took off for the morning prime, and shortly thereafter, Jimmy and I ventured out. We worked the usual spots down Simax, then to Boy Scout Camp, and finally Tandy Bay without a single strike. It was a tough morning, so Jimmy and I agreed to head back to the yurt at noon to make some lunch.

After an hour lunch break, we got back out on the water and gave the Lakers some time. We down-rigged using the same lures, locations, and tactics that Joe (Fish-on-Bend) and Mike Scott (Klamanite) have been using recently in their clinic of slaying the monster mackinaw.

Whether we didn't give it enough time, or the Lakers just weren't cooperating, we got no action from them. Jimmy and I switched back to flat-lining for the browns and within a half hour one hungry brown made our weekend. Around 3:30 p.m. in a sweet stretch of water we've recently discovered on the lake, Jimmy's fishing rod SLAMMED hard to the weight of a nice fish! "Fish on, Buddy!" Jimmy hollered. With his rod at my back, I said "Really?" I couldn't hardly believe it after fruitless hours without even a bite. As I turned around, Jimmy's rod was loaded and he was battling what looked like a nice fish. I reeled in my gear as fast as possible, and stood ready. As the line came in 100, 75, 50, 25 feet the fish stayed deep and we both knew this was the sign of a veteran fish. About the same time, Jimmy and I yelled "That's a good one, get the Net!" The fish was about 15 feet below the boat and we could see through the crystal clear water that this was a nice hookjaw brown. I retrieved the net and stood ready just as the big buck laid on his side by the boat's gun-wall. I saw this was my split second opportunity and I scooped the male into the net. Immediately he started thrashing and splashing, but it was too late. I had him. Jimmy did a great job working the fish, and we quickly high fived in celebration. "Nice fish, buddy" I hollered. As soon as I had him in the net, the lure came out and so did a 6-8" half-digested kokanee!

This guy was on the feed. He was a really nice and thick 23 inch long buck that weighed in at 6+ pounds. As you can see from the picture, he was all battle-scarred from what looked like line wraps (that didn't happen during this fight) and spawning.

Just a cool looking hookjaw!

Jimmy and I thought the rest of the evening could be pretty special, but unfortunately that was it for not only the evening, but also for the trip. We got skunked on Sunday. A few other boats were out on the lake Sunday too, and we only heard of one other boat catching a single dink brown. The other boats we knew were targeting macks. Joe (Fish-on-Bend) put four macks in his boat with the biggest being 17lbs. Mike Scott (Klamanite) and Bret Martin had the same success as Jimmy and I on Sunday, while trying for the lakers.