With bull trout fishing winding down for me, I really looked forward to getting out for some brown trout action. Tom Staley and I ventured up to a little lake we like to fish and got into some top line action during the afternoon. With all I had to do in the morning, we didn't even get on the water until after 1:00 p.m.. We were both hungry so I set out some lines and we trolled down wind and ate our Sub-Way sandwiches. Unfortunately, the wind was a little over the forecast and was a good 20 m.p.h. plus. When we got down to the far end, we changed plans and got onto some top line trolling.

After a couple of dinkers, Tom hooked up on what felt like a nice brown. When we finally got the hen near the boat, we could see why she felt better than her size, she had missed the lure on the charge and was hooked in the back.....they always feel double the weight when you hook them this way. She was really snaky and would have gone 4.5-5 LB. for her 23 in. length if she had wintered better. She probably only went 3-3.5 LB. She was the biggest brown of the day. We did manage several more smaller browns that were a lot healthier and these little bullets were probably only 16-18 but weighed 2.5 LB. Quite a contrast. All the fish came top line trolling and I think we ended up boating (9) and Tom took home several to bake or smoke. It was just great to get back out after some browns. Probably get out on Wickiup after the crowds go home, next week some time. Look for some brown trout reports to be coming in......especially when our ice-outs occur and we can get into some of the higher lakes.

Tight Lines,
Rick