|
Friday the 13th
Superstitious? Not me! I was looking forward to getting back on
the boat with hopes of catching a big brown. My brother Monte from WA was joining me for a trip to Crescent Lake.We were meeting
long time friend Dave Clausen and his wife Diana. We arrived at the lake around 3:30 PM and launched the boat. We went to
the resort for an early dinner so we could fish until dark. We fished 4 hours Friday night with our only hook up being on
the bottom. One nice rock was brought to the boat. We were back on the water Saturday morning around 4:45 AM. Our first strike
of the day came around 6:15 AM. The rod bent over real good. Monte pulled the rod out of the holder and the fight was on.
After a couple of nice runs he brought it to the net. I scooped it up and put it in the live well. It was then brought out
and weighed. The hookjaw weighed in at 9.5 pounds and measured 28.5 inches. A Great start to the morning! After a short photo
shoot he was released unharmed.
| Monte gets the first fish of the trip! |
|
|
| A great looking, 9.5 lb male german brown with Diamond Peak in the Background! |
During the day there
were quite a few boats on the water that were fishing a kokanee tournament. We steered clear of them but by doing so I think
our chances at a big lake trout were reduced. The only lakers I saw on the graph were very deep and stuck to the bottom.
The evening bite began just about 12 hours from the morning bite. Dave
brought a healthy fish under 20 inches to the boat to get the evening going. A bout an hour later my rod was hit and bent
over almost touching the water. Monte grabbed my rod to set the hook and in the process of handing it to me some slack was
given and the fish came off. That would be the last opportunity of the day. We had only boated two fish but the trip seemed
a success already. 4:30 AM Sunday morning we were back
on the water. We didn't waste any time getting to the area where the fish seemed most active. Within feet of where the rod
had been bent over the night before it was slammed again. I played a nice little game of give and take with head shaker. Another
nice hookjaw, I put him in the live well and we put our lines out right away. Just a few hundred feet later another fish on.
Dave reeled in a nice looking female. We put her in the live well and decided both fish should be weighed, pictures taken
then release the fish. The hookjaw weighed in at 5.5 pounds and the female was right at the 3 pound mark.
| Bret with a brown trout over the 5 lb mark! |
|
|
| This 5.5 lb Hookjaw was Caught in almost the same spot as Monte's 9.5 lber. Awesome |
| Dave Clausen and Bret Martin, Friends and Fishing! |
|
|
| Dave with a 3lber and Bret Martin with a 5.5 lber. Double Whammy!!! C&R'd after the photo! |
We fished until just after noon then let Dave off the boat and said our
goodbyes and had a little lunch. Monte and I fished the afternoon targeting large lakers to no avail. As evening rolled around
the wind began to pick up and snow started coming down sideways. Really?! Snow sideways in the middle of May? The wind was
bouncing us to the point we headed to Tranquil Cove and Tandy Bay were we fished out the evening without a strike.
| Fishing the Cascades in May, Gotta Love it!!! |
|
|
Monday when the alarm went off at 4:30 AM the wind was still bouncing
the docks at the resort and I found it very easy to roll over and go back to sleep, must be getting old. When we got out on
the water it was past the bite time from the 2 previous days and we fished until after noon without a bite. Even though we
only landed 4 fish it was a great time and the fish were quality fish.
- Bret Martin
| Crescent Lake with a little Chop on the Water |
|
|
| Beautiful!! |
|
