Let's Go Fishing - Julibee Lake

Again today the temperature was bordering on HOT in Walla Walla at 94 °F.
Earlier this week club secretary Dale had sent an email to all club members that there would again this weekend be a Dutch-Treat fishing outing going to Jubilee Lake. Only Dale and Barbara replied to the announcement and so comprised today's gathering going to the Jubilee Lake.

Our leave time this week was around 9:00 am with plans to make a brunch stop at the Long Branch Cafe and Saloon in Weston, OR. Dale had been here many times for breakfast, and today was Barbara's first visit. Barbara says she will return.
Always good food and the leftover portions can be boxed up for a meal later in the day.


From Weston we hit Hwy 204 going east, through Tollgate, to Langdon Lake and the intersection with Skyline Rd / NF Road 64. The sign there showed 12 miles to Jubilee Lake. Arriving at Jubilee Lake we found there is a $3.00 day use-parking fee. It was about 11:15 getting to this area.

 
We found a parking space right next to the boat launch, so in short order we put our boats and fishing gear together and headed for the water.  The air temperature here was quite pleasant, not hot and the water surface temperature was cool very pleasant. Here we found quite a few people around the boat launch, on a boat docking pier, and playing in the lake. Only electric (no gasoline) motors allowed on the lake.
Jubilee Lake is 92 acres in size. The elevation of the lake is 4,761 feet.

Boat launch area with toolie beds on the right of this picture

From the boat launch area, Barbara went off to the right to fish the toolies, while Dale headed straight out towards the opposite lake shoreline.

Looking across the lake from the boat launch side.

 

This week it took about 30 minutes of casting practice before we found the hook-ups for our flies. During the afternoon Barbara used a Wolly Bugger, and a Copper John, Dale used an Elkhorn Lake Special, and an AP Emerger.

 
At sunset there was a very nice hatch of dun Callibaetis flies - size #16 - hatching, mating, and dropping their eggs back into the water. This made for some wonderful evening catching on a dry fly.

A nice Rainbow sitting in Barbara's lap

After sunset Barbara switched to an Adams, Dale started using a BWO. 

Working with an Adams - dry fly

Barbara told me that while she had hooked into about 10 nice rainbows, the young man fishing beside her, using hard tackle caught nothing. Maybe someday soon we will see that young man at a Walla² Fly Fishers' meeting, wanting to learn more about catching fish on the fly.

As the sun sinks slowly into the west - Dale's catch rate increases

During our afternoon at Jubilee Lake we ran into quite a few friends from Walla Walla and Milton-Freewater. This is a very busy place on a hot afternoon in the Walla Walla River Valley.

-CLICK- on this map to see it in Google Map mode, and find directions from Jubilee Lake to where you are sitting

Distance to Julibee Lake from south Walla Walla is 47 miles, driving time is about 1¼ -1½ hours.

Summer Diet for stillwater fish

Stillwater Hatches an article by Brian Chan with tips on stillwater fly fishing.
 

Respectfully submitted,
Dale McKain

Tight lines and good fishing.

Walla² Fly Fishers

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Let's Go Fishing - Anthony Lake - to beat this heat wave

As the air temperature was heading for 100.8 °F at 820' elevation under the hot August sun in south Walla Walla today, Barbara, Dick and Dale had to get out of town and get high... on the fly.

We packed up our gear and were moving down the road at 10 am. Heading for The Blue, the Elkhorns Mtns; we took the scenic -wild flower- tour along Hwy 203 to Elgin, OR and then made a stop in La Grande for lunch. 

The El Erradero Restruant sit off the Island City Hwy, just north of I-84. 
A good place to fill-up before heading to the high lakes of the Elkhorn Mtns. 

Arriving at Anthony Lake at 7140 feet elevation, the air temperature was probably in the low 80's this afternoon, the sunshine was bright and the forest fresh air felt good and smelled great.

Barbara and Dale getting pumped up

Barbara and Dick got their stillwater floats pumped up, their gear put together, and hit the water short in short order. 

Dick

Barbara

Dale had a bit of a valve leak on his backpack boat, and had to worked on that for awhile... got it fixed and joined Barbara and Dick without delay. The air temp was most pleasant today, and we expected the catching to be hot.

Dale

The lake felt great, a cool August dip, just right for this above average hot afternoon, that was most everywhere but here.
Anthony Lake is 22 acres in size and the water always is gin clear.

To begin with the catching was quite slow, much slower than Dale remembered it being during past years fishing trips to Anthony Lake. 

 As the direct sun was coming off the lake, our hook-up rate began to pick up with rainbows and brookies paying closer attention to our fly presentations. 

   After awhile most of the human surface activity subsided and not long thereafter the fish begin to show themselves... rings of their rises everywhere and fish in hand, at our feet.

At the end of the day discussing the slow start we experienced with our hookup rate, we concluded that with amount of lake sport-fun surface splashing activities, that may have put the fish down until the lake became fishing calm again. At one point Dale experienced 8 hookups in 10 cast, that is what he remembers as being the Anthony Lake catching experience.

As the sun had long set into the west, everyone came off the lake... with cold hands and a chill from head to tail; but what a wonderful way to beat the heat for a day.

Distance to Anthony Lake from south Walla Walla is 122 miles, driving time is about 2½ hours.

Stillwater Hatches an article by Brian Chan with tips on stillwater fly fishing.
 

Respectfully submitted,
Dale McKain

Tight lines and good fishing.

Walla² Fly Fishers

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