On Friday, two of us fished all day, and a third angler fished the afternoon. The third angler was skunked, as I was in the morning. I took 4 fish in the afternoon to 21" on a small beadhead wooly bugger with rust brown body and dark brown tail. The standout (as usual) was Mitch Matsumoto who took 23 rainbows up to 24". Most of Mitch's fish were caught by working the edges with a size 8 medium olive punk perch (a seal bugger variant), and a half dozen of the fish were caught on a size 8 olive/black wooly worm. Mitch casts within a couple feet of the tulles or tree overhangs on the banks. He starts stripping shortly after the cast with variations of one, two, or three strips, with definite pauses in between (for example: strip - strip - pause - strip - pause -strip - strip - strip - pause). Most of his fish were caught close to the edges.

On the second day, Mitch had 6 trout on the olive/black wooly worm before leaving at about noon. Mark Pierce took some fish using a size 18 beadhead midge, black with gold rib. He fished it 8 feet under an indicator in the inlet current. David Klepper (guide for Yosemite Sierra Fly Fishing) had 9 fish and lost a dozen fish that either broke off or got off. David's method was to indicator fish with the fly 9-10 feet below the indicator. His unique fly choice was a black wooly bugger with a purple tail, tied on a 1/16 oz jig hook. His catches in the morning were in the inlet current, and his afternoon catches were near the edges on the southwest side of the lake. When there was no wind on the water, David would twitch his indicator every few seconds to impart movement on the fly.

On the third day, I was the only one who remained to fish. I spent the morning to early afternoon working the banks with Mitch's method. But there was little wind and the fish just didn't seem to be there. My guess is that the fish will not be in the shallows if there isn't a little chop on the water. Also in these conditions, if your presentation is not absolutely delicate, the fish will be spooked.

In the afternoon, I focused on drop offs adjacent to flats. There are some nice flats 3-5 feet deep in the southwestern part of the lake. The trout would occasionally move into the flats to feed during callibaetis and midge hatches, but with little wind, I think they were primarily hanging out near the drop offs with good weed growth (8-12 feet deep). I took 5 fish in a couple of hours and lost a few others when I started focusing on these areas. My fly was a size 10 beadhead seal bugger with olive/rust body and dark olive tail (bought from the fly box at the property). For those with limited casting skills, I would recommend kick trolling in these drop off areas. I hooked a couple of fish that way, but most of my fishing was casting and striping, using variations of two, three, or four strips with definite pauses between.

Accommodations were great as usual; the lake house has a warm feel to it, big kitchen and great views. We dined at 50's Roadhouse Friday night and had a great catered dinner on Saturday night, followed by poker.