bowbonehead

With the amount of estrogen present in the Bow maybe the trout have changed their preference of color..... or maybe its the fly fishers who have changed..... I have found that a lot of the older patterns working just fine as they are seldom used.... give a light spruce fly a try one day you might be surprised.....

TG-4 but buy a pelican case for it for extra protection....not that it needs it but it will help with flotation and the 1020 fits it perfectly

Good to see you fishing Hoot Hours.... when its cool and quiet..... beware the moors...

Agreed on the local retailer bit but go to one that sells the product ie Sunglasses..... if I have an issue with my Honda outboard I won't take it to the Honda west car dealership....just saying

Not wanting to cause a stink as to interweb shopping but warranty service would be a good reason to buy local ..... then as a customer you will get better service and may not have to pay shipping charges as they may replace from their own inventory.....just saying from experience regarding such issues... its hard to blame a local shop for their reluctance.... on the other hand by helping out they might gain a customer...... most sunglasses are sold by optical shops now a days although flyshops still sell them not many winter shops carry them anymore surprised to hear A-bomb does other than goggles

Better to have hooked and lost.... than to have not hooked at all..... William the Fisher

This would be a time to keep'em wet ie...in the water with less handling.....

What are you doing..... fishing a lake and in a motorized boat of all things will wonders never cease

Surprisingly enough I observed cutties still paired up and in the spawn mode on the weekend..... everything seems a little behind this year....maybe not a bad thing....

Rob.....I'm not sure being a Fish Monger qualifies you for the position..... but good to see some more Tax dollars spent where they have been sadly lacking for a few eons

Whoa Rob you pulled out those stock photos again..... lol.... watch out for Grizzzz

If you are there for a bit and have a boat and trailer try getting up to rushing river also a great place for big eyes. Some friends of mine still own a couple of lodges on LOTW ..... fabulous area I sure miss it..... sucks to get old and have responsibilities..... I get invites to come down every year but have a hard time finding the time

Sounds like you are fishing Shoal Lake which is total catch and release and the reason they are the size they are. Type 6 full sink and clousers, zonkers, etc..... will do the job. If you are out there early ie for opener you can find them in much shallower water..... still own a piece of land out there and spent all my youth fishing the area although mostly for smallies on the fly

Probably Mosquito Lake....LOL

Well I am glad you made it home safe that can be a long drive..... lets grab the Dr and get out soon....

Looks like where I was pondering going Rob... I was thinking there might have been some winter-kill.... see any sign of it

This might be a reason to break down and buy a cell phone and maybe upgrade from the silk line...... sorry I was daydreaming again

Cool to see this , the area downstream fished well a couple of weeks ago surprised to see how quickly the ice has gone but another float will have to wait as I hope to be fishing for tailers on the flats by Friday

Boy you catch all the nice ones Rob

More of a subtle hint and hope

Always thought this area was a taboo or off limits at this time of year to allow the spawners a rest before their journey upstream

I think the characteristics are really a matter of whether this is a naturally occurring cross although rare of a male brookie and a female laker or in the case of a hatchery induced backcross of a male splake and a female lake trout which would show more laker characteristics being 75% laker and 25% brook trout which is commonly used for stocking purposes as splake tend to grow much quicker than either of their parents. At the end of the day a cool looking fish as is the Tiger trout which I have yet to catch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjNaGVMHqe0 Look familiar

I still say its a large splake as they get this coloration with size and it has the same markings on its upper sides of a laker ..... just my opinion.... and I too have caught a few including similar looking fish

Not in a very long time, I believe they tried re-introduce them once but I have seen mink downstream on numerous occasions in the last few years