Report - March 03, 2012. Munn Lake, Olympia, WA

We had a great day on Munn Lake March 3. The weather cooperated for the most part - NO RAIN! Yeah! It was overcast, sunny, windy, somewhat chilly, but that is fishing, and it didn't rain....I guess I said that already. 8^) We all were layered up and faired the weather quite well indeed.

There were six of us who sailed the lake. Paul, Brain, Jerry, Brad, and two of Paul's friends......whose names escape me......must be an age thing. Paul's friends met us at the lake, the rest of us carpooled down, trailering the pontoons. I believe we were all on the lake by 9:30 amish. It's an interesting lake indeed. Small and manageable, with a pretty wide range of depth to it. Here's a link to the lake info:

http://www.washingtonlakes.com/LakeInfo.aspx?id=125&t=1

I think we threw everything we had at them, but in the end only two fish were netted, officially "caught", and released by Brad and Paul. One was caught in the shallows by the bulge on the east side of the lake, basically mid way down the lake from the launch. It was caught on a Black Sally chironomid pattern, using an indicator set at about six feet. A beauty of a 15 inch Rainbow, quite dark in color though, but in line with the lake characteristics as it was a dark water lake.

The other Rainbow was along the same size and was caught trolling a wooly bugger down the middle of the lake, but more toward the south end. It escapes me what color the wooly bugger was, but we only used black, olive, and white, so choose from those.

One thing that lake has is a massive chironomid hatch. WOW! Around 10:30 am the little buggers started emerging and hatching off. They were everywhere and an awesome sight; learning and watching what they do close up and in person as they surface, then break out of their shuck, launching into the air to fly off and land on you or the boat. Let's just say God is AWESOME and His creation is amazing! The hatch literally lasted for about two hours, but interestingly enough, no fish were feeding on the surface. And they weren't feeding subsurface either, at least what we had to offer them as a substitute.

Around 1:30 pm a local fellow launched, anchored up about 30 yards due south of the launch, and proceeded to knock 'em dead, schooling all of us. He was very nice and generous enough to have each of us come on over to his watercraft, take one of the flies he was using, and tell us the depth to fish it, etc. A great man; a true sportsman willing to educate and share. He also told us that the lake really doesn't wake up until around 1:30 pm, so getting there early, well, is just not worth it. Good to know for future trips - we can all sleep in!! In respect of his graciousness, I will not reveal the fly pattern, but allow him to share it as he chooses if you happen to be there when he is. You will know if you are.

Afterwards we all went to Hawks Prairie for dinner and then home. A great day, with great friends and Brothers in Christ!