I went fishing at Amber for the first time, and when I launched my tube it was 21 bone-chilling degrees with fog coming off the water. When I finished at 3pm it was 54F. It was all good when I first got there – fish were rising everywhere. I got there around 6:30am and it took me about 20 minutes to get my gear ready. The wind was from the NW most all day at 5 and then switched to the SW at 10-15mph, so it made it a bit breezy in the afternoon with 1 foot waves. As for the fishing, it was pretty darn good for October. I caught and released 3 beautiful rainbow trout between 16-18 inches. I was broken off fishing dries and streamers! There are some gorgeous fish in here that are feisty and fight hard. I used olive seal leaches and maroon seal leeches in size 10 with a red head, no-name damsels (in tan, size 16), brown leeches, various caddis dry imitations and red/black chironomids in size 12. There were 3 hatches coming off, right on the bank opposite the launch area and the fish would come right up to the shore (within 2-3 feet from shore). I’d say about 4 nice fish broke me off on the strike – hasn’t happened like this to me before, so I’m upping my leader strength from 4lbs to 6lbs. I had two come off near my tube, looked about 16” inches respectively. About 5 other boats/tubes/toons were on the lake at any given time, and everyone was very affable and respectful. I will be back in the spring time to give the water-boatman pattern a good working. This is a little gem, but quite wind prone, so wear your PFD and bring strong leaders – there are some big fish in here. It’s a fun place. Hope everyone had a great weekend! The two pictures are of my largest fish and the morning scene (I believe you can make out the fish surface dimple)... Cheers ~ KTK

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