by The Troutist, July 18, 2013
As I have stated before “don’t be afraid to experience new lakes.” With the recent heat wave pushing the surface temperature in the smaller lakes into the mid to upper seventies it seemed appropriate to head for larger lakes. I will however admit that the long weekend was probably not the ideal time for this adventure with speedboats, water skiers, and jet-ski’s in full bloom. Mayfield Lake was our destination this past weekend and we figured it was large enough to accommodate all of us.
We arrived a little later than I like (11am) but this was just going to be an exploratory adventure and if we were lucky enough to do battle with a few trout that was just going to be a bonus. Much to our surprise the parking area at the ramp in Mayfield Lake Park was only about half full, bonus! We quickly prepped our boat, launched, picked our flies and smile blades, rigged up and we were off and fishing by 11:30am. As we were pulling away from the dock I noticed the line to launch was backed up with each rig pulling speedboats and jet skis. I was not going to let that intimidate me and I was going to have a positive attitude no matter what.
Heading south towards the log barrier in front of the dam we picked up three in a fifteen minute time period, not a bad start. The surface water temperature was holding steady at 62 degrees, perfect. After that the bite seemed to die off with just real quick strikes but nothing solid. Knowing that this end held trout and figuring out a nice trolling pattern for future outings I headed back north. It was quite amazing that we had only encountered a few speed boats and for the most part they kept their distance from the anglers. This lake is quite deep in spots and I am talking well over 100 feet. Our strategy was going to work the areas where the shore gradually sloped towards the lake where I knew we had a chance to encounter depths in the 20-40 feet. These were depths we could work effectively trolling flies on a full sink fly line upping our odds of hook-ups.
Now I know you are wondering about my logic. Where you see steep hillsides the chances of the water being extremely deep are a lot greater than the gradual slopes. It seems I was correct, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. We zig zagged back and forth across the lake working those gentle slopes with a few light hits here and there but nothing solid. As we trolled by the ramp I noticed the line at the launch was backed up and the tubers, speedboats, and jet skiers were as thick as fleas on a hound dog. I was determined not to get to excited just as long as they kept their distance. Sure I knew I was going to get buzzed once in a while and I was not disappointed, a few jet skiers came within twenty feet and it seemed the speedboats followed suit every now and then.
Brett and I discussed how they probably didn’t have their boater’s education cards, which by the way are required now, or they just didn’t care. I didn’t think people could be that stupid or careless but you know the old saying “when folks are on vacation common sense is not so common.” In our pass through that area we picked up a few trash fish (pike minnows), so we just kept heading north in search of more rainbow trout. With the sun directly over head and the temperature warming up we came across a weed bed and decided to skirt the edges and see if we could coax a few into hitting our flies. The water depth ran between 11 and 15 feet. Over the next few hours we hooked and released another 11 rainbows running in the 11-13 inch range. Satisfied that we had worked a portion of the lake hooking and releasing 14 we decided to call it a day at 4:30pm and we were still alive.
I love the ramp hi-jinks it is always a head scratcher and at times quite amusing. We were pulled up next to the Lewis County Sheriffs boat talking trout fishing with the deputy while waiting for an opening. With our boat out of the water we were getting our stuff stowed away and securing our boat I struck up a conversation with the deputy. My main question was what was the most frequent violation? His reply was “no boater’s education cards, eight out of every ten people stopped did not have one.” He went on to explain that most folks know they are required but are not in too much of a hurry to get them. An $87.00 citation is a great motivator to take care of it. Seems Brett and I were correct in our assumption. After such a successful afternoon adventure we decided to make a return trip for Sunday morning and see if our catch rate would increase. The top producer for the afternoon fishery was a black/olive bugger with a chartreuse blade.
On the water by 7:30am with only two other rigs in the parking lot and overcast skies was starting to put a big grin on my face. We headed north to work the weed beds with the same color combinations as we ended with yesterday and didn’t get a strike. We continued to move north working the same thing and notta. Switching to an olive bugger with a chartreuse blade was the ticket. We were picking up a few and getting constant strikes in deeper water. They were feeding on top and were very aggressive making for a good time. We watched as they would come flying out of the water chasing the hatch, many times within feet of us. After picking up several in this deeper water we shifted our attention to the water in front of the Kinswa State Park. I had received some information that working in 40 feet of water had proven to be a successful.
We modified that a bit making a lazy “S” pattern in 20-40 feet depths. This tactic was very successful as we hooked and released trout after trout all ranging in the 11-13 inch size. These trout put on some great Ariel shows and were very feisty and full of fight making for a very enjoyable morning. As the morning wore on more boats showed up and to my surprise they were all fishing making it a very comfortable and enjoyable. I would say around 11:30am we started seeing the jet skiers and speed boats but once again they gave the anglers a wide berth. We decided to call it a day at 1pm with 22 trout hooked and released. That brought our total to 36, not to bad for our first outings on this lake. Hopefully I will find the time to work the evening fishery sometime this summer.
This is one of those trout fisheries that is overlooked and at one time back in the day this was a very valued fishery on this side of the mountains. Back in the 80’s the trout angling took a nose dive due to the overwhelming numbers of pike minnows eating the fry. Since the introduction of the sterile tiger musky these trash fish have been brought under control and the trout are flourishing under these conditions. There are a few regulations you might want to check on in your WDFW Sport Fishing Rules such as minimum size and only adipose fin clipped rainbows can be retained.
For those of you that want to spend a weekend here you have a few different options, Lake Mayfield Resort & Marina, Mayfield Lake Park, and Kinswa State Park. I have got to tell you I give this fishery two thumbs up and am looking forward to the next time I have the opportunity to chase these trout. As always I have posted the photos of this adventure on my Uncle Wes face book page. So until next time may your next trout be your trophy mount.
The Troutist-“Uncle Wes” Malmberg.
Buy Western Washington Lakes Guide By Wes Malmberg Here
