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!

New WDFW Fishing Regs 2011-2012

The new 2011-2012 regs have been released to the public and I wanted to tell you that you REALLY need to pay a lot of attention to them and ANY waters you may be wanting to fish.

Case in point the Mashel River and Muck Creek are CLOSED - yes, you CANNOT fish them. This is due to a new law they passed last year (maybe the year before and took affect last year). In the May 1, 2011 to April 30, 2012 regs for this season you need to go to page 32, Puget Sound and Strait Rivers - Special Rules. If the MAIN RIVER SYSTEM (such as the Puyallup or Nisqually) is not listed (Puyallup and Nisqually thankfully are), then that river system is CLOSED to fishing period. If the MAIN RIVER SYSTEM is listed (such as Puyallup and Nisqually), then you need to find it's special rules on the following pages (p. 32 - 48). When you look at the special rules for it, such as the Nisqually, if you DO NOT see the tributary listed with the main river system, that tributary is CLOSED. For the Nisqually, on page 43, Muck Creek and Mashel River are NOT listed, therefore they are CLOSED. However, Ohop Creek and Tanawax Creek are listed, therefore they are OPEN. That being said, the exception to the Nisqually is anything above the LaGrande Dam - they are all open.

This is not my interpretation, you can find on the Washington Fly Fishing (WFF) forum the discussion that a few of us had. One of the forum members actually called the WDFW and asked them point blank about the Mashel River. The regs specifically state on p. 31 "The basic rule in these waters is that all rivers, streams, and beaver ponds are closed to fishing unless they are listed in the following tables in the Puget Sound and Strait Rivers section of the pamphlet (see pages 33-48)." Yes, it even includes Beaver Ponds! Why, I do not know...except if they are a pond resulting from damming a river I guess.

Here's the WFF forum discussion link - http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/board/showthread.php/79729-Mashel-River

Yes, I was really bummed to find this out as I had planned to do a special fishing trip to the Mashel to hike in and fish a spot I used to when I was a kid, but now can't. I do understand why, being involved in the Nisqually River Council - Salmon recovery efforts.

So, please read the regs carefully BEFORE you fish! It isn't worth a fine or loss of fishing for life. If you have questions, or complaints, call the WDFW before you fish to validate the river you wish to fish.

Salt Chucking on the Narrows

We had a great day at Narrows Park. Full of casting practice, and one fish released, but not in the hand...........Jerry plays with them too much! But he had two witnesses, so I guess I can believe he caught one. 8^) It was a great tide change to fish and the skies held back the rain. There were definitely fish there, as the bait fish were a hopping! And the seals were present too........not sure that is a good thing, but it is an indicator. Erin got some excellent casting practice on his new rig and us guys closed up the day with some great fellowship at the Tides for dinner. Thank you men for a great day on the water! Thank you God for an awesome day and great men to spend it with! Amen!

Erin working his new rig.

Steve wetting the line.

Shane, Jerry, and Shawn casting to hopeful waters. And where Jerry caught his.

Shane workin' it.

Again, it was an excellent day! And I got to play with my new toy - GoPro HD Hero Naked video camera. Way too much fun! I got to get the head strap mount so I can fish and film at the same time, giving a new POV for the fly fishing experience.

Flies used: Snot Darts (orange), Chum Baby (natural, blue), Ferguson Green and Silver, Sili Shrimp (orange), Clouser Minnow (red).

Thanks again men for a great day!

Cady Lake

We had a great time at the Cady lake OSLCFFM outing on Saturday. Don, Paul, Brad, Jerry and I made the short hop on over to the lake. The weather when we left Tacoma was good; Cloudy and about 50 degrees, no wind. Jerry said to bring rain gear and be prepared for wind. I was a little skeptical, it was perfect fishing weather as we started out. Once we got there the wind was whipping on the lake. We got there about 930 am and got all of the pontoons and float tubes unloaded. Paul was unloaded, rods together, waders on and pontoon loaded all in about 6.7 seconds. He was itching to get on the water. Brad on the other hand put together 4 or 5 rods loaded his pontoon put on his waders and it took about an hour. Jerry, Don and I were somewhere in between.

We had a short devotional and prayer and we hit the water.

I paddled my brand spankin' new pontoon out on the water, it was awesome! I was about half way across the lake and I decided to troll a nymph. I cast the fly and it got caught in my net on the back of my boat. As I was trying to get untangled the wind blew me back to the shore where I started. I started out again and finally made it to the other side of the lake. Fish were rolling and jumping. It seemed like when they started to roll on the surface the rain wasn't far behind. It rained pretty good on and off for the whole day. Paul caught the first fish on a dry fly. I was back at the vehicle getting some of the stuff that I forgot to pack in the boat. I needed my dry line. I fished all around the area and only had one bite on a dry fly, my speed stimulator. It looked awesome in the water. Very buggy. Brad caught the second fish on a dry nymph. After fighting the fish and Paul getting into position for a great picture, Brad decided to do a LDR (Long Distance Release). Oh well. Jerry had a great take and unfortunately missed it. Don, finally got one at the launch on a wooley bugger.

When we were loading the sky's opened up and the rain poured down. We had a great dinner with lots of laughes on the way home.

Fly fishing in my pontoon with 4 other guys in their boats on a small lake has to be one of the funnest times that I have had. You are fishing with 4 guys, but you are also fishing all by yourself. It is a great time to reflect and think about life. You can fish where you want to, but you are still with friends. I got some great casting practice yesterday and don't have any regrets about not catching fish.

Thank you God for giving me the privilege of being with such great friends and brothers fishing, laughing, learning and experiencing Your Great Outdoors.

'till we fish again.