The season starts and I donate to a good cause

The blog has suffered the past month as I continue to focus my energy on the YouTube channel (in addition to my real job and family). The channel continues to grow with subscriptions closing in on 80 and the views closing in on 20,000. I am expanding my social media channels with Twitter  and Pinterest accounts. The Facebook account also needs more work and that is another goal for the year.

Giving a little to the Native Fish Society 
      Feeling philanthropic for a great cause, and looking for more content for the blog and YouTube channel, I donated a 1/2 day kayak fishing trip to the Native Fish Society Banquet and Auction. The theme is Homewaters Reflect Hopes and is promoted as the largest wild fish fundraiser/party in the universe. The auction is in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, April 13. This year’s auction features a dinner by Food in Bloom Catering, beer by GoodLife Brewing, and wine from Lange Estate Winery, Yamhill Valley Vinyards and Z’ivo Wines. Registration tickets are currently on sale for $100. To register for Homewaters Reflect Hopes online click on the NFS link above or call the Oregon City office at 503.496.0807.

Starting the season at Henry Hagg Lake 
Hagg Lake Opening Day - click here to see the video
       On the fishing front, I spent the first two weekends in March fishing Henry Hagg Reservoir. The opening day started with some serious disappointment with the first two hours of fishing resulting in no fish - and only one decent bite. I was using the Hobie Revolution 13 with the Eagle Cuda 300 fish finder, the switch fly rod with a Rio T8 head, and I had marked several fish. I was even using my go-to woolly bugger. I had read earlier that 18,000 trout were stocked in the lake and I was beginning to wonder if my fishing abilities were as cold as that spring day. Taking advantage of the Hobie pedals, I trolled backwards from the first area, across the lake and to a point that had proven productive the previous year. This effort was rewarded with only an 8 inch trout. My last effort was to try the mouth of a stream in hopes of picking up at least one more fish.
      On the way over I spotted a couple kayak anglers working a stretch of water hard and I waved as I cruised by. The water clarity remained good as I pedaled up towards the stream and the temperature even increased slightly. It was close to 11 a.m. by the time I was fishing this area. I made one pass and marked nothing on the finder. I turned the kayak around and trolled back through the water and hooked into a nice rainbow that peeled line and fought hard. As I got the fish to the boat, I realized I forgot the net. I boated the fish carefully and let it go after a brief thought of keeping it for the smoker. The day was looking up. In the next 45 minutes I hooked two more, both in the 16-18 inch range. One broke off next to the boat and the other I ended up keeping because I squeezed it a little hard bringing it onto the boat. I had changed over to the standard 5 weight and was using 4-pound test leader and a dark red and a black leach pattern. By this time it was getting close to noon and time to head home. On the way back I talked with the kayak anglers and discovered they were regulars on the NorthwestKayakangers website. They also shared that ODFW had put some larger trout in the lake in January and they had picked up a few as well.
Hagg Lake the following weekend - click here to see the video
       Taking advantage of a good thing when I can, I went back the next weekend. Unfortunately the fishing was slower but the trout I landed was nearly 20 inches and provide a great fight. I am not sure when I will return to Hagg this season, but it helped start 2013 off on the right foot. Click on the photo captions to see the videos.
        Stay tuned. I expect a fun season with new adventures.

Michole
Go farther. Catch more. 

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