It was the last week of September that club’s
secretary, Dale sent out an APB-email to all members saying “Let’s Go Fishin” Anthony
Lake the weekend of October 13th or 14th. We had two YEA replies.
As Saturday the 13th approached the weather forecast made a turn for the worst at the 7100 feet elevation, so there were second thought about fishing the 13th.
As Saturday the 13th approached the weather forecast made a turn for the worst at the 7100 feet elevation, so there were second thought about fishing the 13th.
The weekend of the 13th was cancelled due to 6" of fresh snowfall and cold, that came over the Elkhorns on Wednesday the 10th.
Weather photo reports confirmed 6" of fresh snowfall midweek
Our attention was given to the weekend of the 20th.
Again an APB-email was sent to all club members announcing the change of plans and asking again who wants to go fishing - Anthony Lake. Again there were two replies saying YEA, with a few others saying they could not make the 20th trip.
Knowing there would be residual snow around the lake and that the daytime temperature would not rise above freezing until mid-morning, Brian, Dale and Dale's Buddy were in no hurry to head for the hills on the 20th so as to allow everything above 1000' to thaw out for the day. Many days this time of year the highway crossing over Tollgate can be frosty, rather hazardous.
Reaching the Elkhorn Range we found the weather to be beautiful as forecasted.
The air was clear and there was still a bit of residual snow on the ground around the lake from last week's snowfall.
It was a full sunshine day - shirt sleeve weather - with very few people on the water, and no one was wearing a coat or jacket.
Brian was on the lake first, working the usual Honeyhole, when Dale launched his boat and with his first cast using an intermediate sink line - Fish ON! The first hook-up of the day was immediately given an invitation to dinner, a 14" rainbow - the smallest catch of the day.
The catching was off and on during the midday, but sitting on the lake covered with sunshine, was a most comfortable, enjoyable way to pass the day, very relaxing.
In the bright part of the afternoon Dale had several strikes and two more hookups; a 16" rainbow and a 18" rainbow - Brian was getting no action fishing with a floating line and various flies.
At some point in the mid-afternoon Dale hooked up to a much larger triploid rainbow and battled the fish for several minutes. Using his 2-wt. SPL rod, Dale compared this fight to that of a Grande Ronde River steelhead for time and endurance. A battle to the end... with a long line release of probably a 20"-22" stocked triploid. This year this size fish was not uncommon at Anthony Lake, with the lake having been stocked well with large, fat triploid rainbow trout prior to July 4th .
At this point Dale oared over to check on Brian's action, and learned he had still hooked up to no fish.
Dale went on to catch his creel limit of 5 nice triploid rainbows for the day, while having had 3 other hookups that never made it to his net. It made for a great day of fishing ~ catching Rainbows.
With cold toes we fished the balance of the day until the sun set behind the trees and the air at 7100' elevation began to chill quickly, soon becoming as cold as the water on our feet.
Having packed the boats in the pickup, strapped them down, Dale reminded Brian that we would need to stop before getting on I-84 to tighten the tie down strap.
Coming off the mountain, it was a beautiful evening filled with golden trees all the way back to the valley with its deer ~ elk grazing alfalfa fields. Looking back at the Elkhorns after the sun had set, made a nice polishing touch to finish this day of fishing.
We covered the day's catch with cold mountain lake water to travel well, so when we returned to Milton-Freewater basecamp Dale proceeded to clean the fish caught and gave Brian two to take home for he and his wife's dinner.
The remainder were put in a brine solution to hold until they could find their way to the water-bath smoker on Sunday.
Fat triploid rainbows are almost as nice as summer steelhead, when coming off the smoker.
Anthony Lake is a USFS fee area
Weather photo reports confirmed 6" of fresh snowfall midweek
Again an APB-email was sent to all club members announcing the change of plans and asking again who wants to go fishing - Anthony Lake. Again there were two replies saying YEA, with a few others saying they could not make the 20th trip.
Knowing there would be residual snow around the lake and that the daytime temperature would not rise above freezing until mid-morning, Brian, Dale and Dale's Buddy were in no hurry to head for the hills on the 20th so as to allow everything above 1000' to thaw out for the day. Many days this time of year the highway crossing over Tollgate can be frosty, rather hazardous.
Moon phase was perfect for afternoon catching
 |
| Morning temperature at Stateline - WW / M-F |
The catching was off and on during the midday, but sitting on the lake covered with sunshine, was a most comfortable, enjoyable way to pass the day, very relaxing.
 |
| This weighted BS Spl hooked all of Dale's catches for the day |
At some point in the mid-afternoon Dale hooked up to a much larger triploid rainbow and battled the fish for several minutes. Using his 2-wt. SPL rod, Dale compared this fight to that of a Grande Ronde River steelhead for time and endurance. A battle to the end... with a long line release of probably a 20"-22" stocked triploid. This year this size fish was not uncommon at Anthony Lake, with the lake having been stocked well with large, fat triploid rainbow trout prior to July 4th .
At this point Dale oared over to check on Brian's action, and learned he had still hooked up to no fish.
Dale went on to catch his creel limit of 5 nice triploid rainbows for the day, while having had 3 other hookups that never made it to his net. It made for a great day of fishing ~ catching Rainbows.
Having packed the boats in the pickup, strapped them down, Dale reminded Brian that we would need to stop before getting on I-84 to tighten the tie down strap.
Coming off the mountain, it was a beautiful evening filled with golden trees all the way back to the valley with its deer ~ elk grazing alfalfa fields. Looking back at the Elkhorns after the sun had set, made a nice polishing touch to finish this day of fishing.
The remainder were put in a brine solution to hold until they could find their way to the water-bath smoker on Sunday.
Fat triploid rainbows are almost as nice as summer steelhead, when coming off the smoker.
OH Yeah, just a reminder - when fishing high altitude lakes, be sure you make one or two stops to secure your watercraft as you descend in elevation. Failure to do so may have you finding your floatation craft being blown off of your vehicle and dragged around by the nearest FedEx semi-truck.
 |
| This boat will never float again - dammit. |
Anthony Lake is a USFS fee area
Once in a Lifetime Fee for a Senior Pass
-or-
A Daily Fee for all others
-or-
A Daily Fee for all others
Report by -
Dale McKain
Tight lines and good fishing -
Dale McKain
Tight lines and good fishing -
Walla² Fly Fishers
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