East Lake has become a place that my beloved wife, Anna, and I have become quite fond of.  So much in fact, that want it to be a part of our young family’s tradition.  This year would be the 2^nd annual trip to East Lake for our little family.  This year, we extended the invitation to my parents and siblings that they could join us if they wanted to.  My parents ended up taking us up on the offer.  As East Lake is a great destination for trophy brown trout fishing, it’s an even better place for family “get-togethers”.  That would be the main focus of this trip.

We arrived at the Goldeneye Cabin on Thursday afternoon with my trusty “Sea Nymph” in tow.  After a very windy and exciting one-person boat launch by yours truly, I moored the boat and awaited for my parents to arrive.  With my wife being nearly 8 months pregnant, there was a heavy reliance on me to watch over our very energetic 2+ year old son, Jackson.  I gladly indulged in the time especially after a trying last year with my work.   Any time away from work spent with my son and wife was worth partaking.

The first evening, my dad and I fished for just a couple hours on more of a “Scouting” trip.  I knew the typical spots for this time of year, but after discussing with East Lake’s guide that he’d landed (3) 10+ lb browns in the past 10 days (the longest being 34 inches), I was pumped that maybe this could be the trip.  The fish were lighting up the graph with a very well established thermocline, but they were lock-jawed.  With ony one drive-by and a few weeds, my dad and I left the lake that evening with a skunk.  

The next morning was cold, even for 6500 feet during the late summer.  27 degrees!!!!  I was more expecting low 40’s.   My dad got the chill off the boat in the first 5 minutes with a chunky 20 incher that I’d venture to guess was in the 3 lb range.  After about a ½ hour or so, my dad’s rod goes off in the downrigger.   He said “This is a lot more substantial than the last one.”  ALRIGHT!  Staying deep, Headshaking.  All the signs you want.  I get the first glimpse with my head lamp and see a nice golden flash that has some depth to it.  After a bit of a top-water splash-about, the fish settled down and I netted him.  I told my dad “Hey, this may be a PR fish for you!”  He didn’t think so as it appeared to be rather short.  What I couldn’t get over was how stocky this fish was built.   I weighed the fish in my rubber net, “10 lbs 10 oz” I exclaimed.  Take off 4 lbs for the net, “6 lbs 10 oz, Dad.  It’s your new PR Best Brown!”  Then we measured the fish.  It was only 22 inches!!!  Just a little piglet.  After some pics, I shot an underwater video of the release (it’s a little dark, but it’s before 6 AM so…it happens ;-) ).

We fished for another hour, marking fish all over but no takers.   I was scouting an area that I hadn’t tried yet on the trip when I received a very heavy, intentional tug on my rod.  I pulled the rod out of the holder and set the hook, met with an instantaneous head-shake.  “FISH ON, DAD!  FISH ON!”  This fish held it’s ground for the first 30 seconds or so.   Then, I could start to feel the tension lightening up.  “It’s swimming at the boat and staying deep.”  Both very good signs for a large brown.  But I was not about to be fooled.  Becoming more and more seasoned with every brown I’ve been blessed to fight, I kept the pressure on him.     He was directly under the boat, but I wasn’t even to my mono yet as we had drifted into over 100 feet of water.    I played him cautiously as I knew this could be a good one.  I kept telling myself “Let him make the moves and just react.  Let him play himself out, you’ll get him.  Be PATIENT!”  Finally, I saw a very long and large gold streak flash 20’ beneath the surface.  “DAD!  It’s a good one.  It’s a really good one!”   I could tell that my hookset was good, but wasn’t great.  If this ol’ boy started rolling on me on the surface, he could very likely throw the hook.   Dad held back like a pro with the net.   He waited patiently until he knew for sure this fish was going to be done fighting.  After a minute, the hookjaw laid on his side and dad scooped him.  He was ours!!!

I couldn’t get over the size of the head on this fish.  It reminded me of (2) hookjaws from East Lake that my fellow trophy trout hunters and friends Vincent Biccoca and Mike Scott had caught.  An alligator-like head and jaw.   I told my dad “I don’t know dad, this could be getting close to being the one.”  I weighed the fish and was happy, but a little disappointed “12 lbs, 1 oz.”  …..”Dad, it’s only 8 lbs 1 oz.”  Dad was surprised as I was and responded so with a “No way. Really?”  We weighed it (2) more times with the same result.   I said “Well, it’s only an 8 lber.”  My dad then splashed a cold-water bucket of reality in my face saying  “Brian, that’s an 8 lb brown!!!  That’s a DAMN NICE FISH!”  It then sank in, and Dad was right.  It was an awesome fish.  The male brown taped out at exactly 27 inches.  He released slowly back to the depths with a hypnotic tail kick that faded in the green darkness.

17 lbs of brown trout in 2 hours of fishing and only 3 fish.  That’s a good average!  Beaming with confidence, we went back in for the morning to some well-deserved breakfast.  Little did we know, these were going to be the best fish for the entire trip.   My dad and I went out a couple more times, and we landed 3 dinks in the 14 to 16 inch range.   However, one of my best moments of the whole trip was bringing back a 15 incher in the live-well for my son to see.  I went inside our cabin, slapped on his shoes and brought him to the boat.  I told him he was going to see “a fishy”!  Jackson  was ALL about that!  I opened up the livewell so I could grab the fish.  Well, Jackson decided I was too slow and went in after the fish himself.  As I posed with the fish, Jackson was glowing, wanting to hold the fish like Dad, petting the fish, and giggling.    After a few pictures, I explained to him that we weren’t going to keep this one and let him back to the lake to get bigger so we can catch him later.   As I let him go, the sun glistened on the brown trout’s back with my son waving at him “Bye Bye Fishy.  See you soon!”   I tell you, I was the proudest dad on the planet at that moment!

My two goals (regarding fishing) for the weekend were 1) get my dad his personal best brown and 2) get Jackson his first fish.  I’d like to say when I took my wife and Jackson on the boat that we were fishing.   But, it was more corralling my son (my pregnant-wife is not the most agile right now) to keep him from falling off the boat, turning the boat into another boat, releasing the downrigger brake, throwing the dock bumpers into the drink.  It was baby-sitting with a fishing lure being drug around, not fishing!  But it was still fun  and the most important thing is I was spending time with my family in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  That’s what it’s all about.

We fished 9.5 total hours, with 6 browns to the boat and 2 over 5lbs (6lbs 10 oz and 8lbs 1 oz).   For very little time on the water, we were very blessed with the fish we caught.  The best lures for us  were Bomber Long A’s, Rapala F-13’s, and Lymans.   We tried a variety of finishes, but the best for us were rainbow patterned (at least that’s what our big fish came on).   I do know the kokanee fishery is exploding at East Lake now in terms of size and quantity.  In speaking with the guide Mike, he was averaging 16” kokanee.  He showed me the pictures and for East Lake, those are big.  I remember catching a couple 2 years ago that were 16” just for giggles and some of the patrons were freaking out about how big they were.  Now that’s what they’re averaging.   A lot of this may be attributed to the last 3 years of tui-chubs being netted and removed from the lake, giving less pressure for food that the game-fish (such as rainbows and kokanees) can now feed upon.

I can’t express enough how great the accommodations were.  Dave and Kathy are always great hosts, but you can just sense that this place keeps getting better and better every year.  Maybe I’m biased?  Maybe I’m just coming to really enjoy the times there with my family, but if you have the means, I highly recommend one of their cabins.   They even now are boasting a few lake-side camp-sites which were all full where we used to store our boat trailers.  All and all, a great family trip.  Can’t wait until next year!

Best to all,

Brian (aka Bwild)