May 24-26, 2008

According to the Washington State Stocking Report for this year, 7,000 catchable rainbows are scheduled for planting in April and/or May with an additional 37,000-plus fingerlings also, which is more than in previous years. Unfortunately, the loons, ospreys, and other predacious birds seem to be reaping the benefits of these plantings more than the fishermen. In the three days I was there, I caught and released around 50 fish, but not as much as in 2002 when the plantings were fewer in number. Moreover, there were quite a few shore fishermen who went home without a fish, which didn’t seem to be a problem in 2002.

The water temperature was 57-58 degrees. It was cloudy to overcast with occasional rain on Friday and Saturday. It stormed for three hours in the afternoon on Sunday. Monday was the most temperate day because it didn’t rain. The wind switched from east to west to east more than a few times during the day.

Most of the rainbows were 12-13 inches in length, although quite a few 14-inchers were caught. I caught a handful of 15-16-inch fish and one trophy 17-inch rainbow. I say trophy because it was so fat and full of scuds that it looked more like a Largemouth Bass than a Rainbow. Since I had put in some time already on this lake in 2002, I started off with the olive Denny (Rickards) (http://www.flyfishingstillwaters.com/flys.asp) Stillwater Nymph (#12, 2XL), which represents a scud and/or damsel fly, and found no good reason to leave it as it was dependable enough to bring in a fish at least every 20 minutes on average. I used an intermediate Cortland Camo line on a weight 5 rod, ten feet of leader, and three feet of 5X fluorocarbon tippet. This combination of line, leader, tippet, and fly spell real disaster for the fish, which seem incapable of resisting it. I also tried chironomid fishing a foot or so off the bottom—the fish were on the bottom this trip—in ten to fifteen feet of water but without a strike, using a floating line with strike/depth indicator.

Fortunately, a yellow port-a-potty is now available for public use. And the pair of eagles still nests on the southeast shore of the lake. Of all the lakes I’ve fished, I’ve rarely seen such a productive habitat for growing quality trout as Sidley. The lake is so full of feed for trout that they can grow fat and big in a relatively quick amount of time. I hope that WDFW will put some thought and effort into developing this lake into the quality fishery it can be.

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