Arrived at Green Lake about 6:30 AM, headed for 65th St. pier on the eastside. Cloudy, temp at the outset was 53 degrees, steady breeze from the southwest... water temp off the pier at 10' was 56 degrees. Lines in the water by 6:45. Started with chartreuse/green (lemon/lime) Power Eggs on both rigs, 3' leader and 4' leader. Ten minutes in, hard hit and fish on! Three or four leaps out of the water (the planted Steelhead tend to jump far more than the regular stocked Rainbows), feisty fish, several runs before bringing to the net... beautiful 14" Rainbow (Steelhead). Ten minutes later, rod doubled over, almost pulled off the pier... long runs, no jumps until almost at the net, but violent headshakes and bulldog runs tell me this is a big fish. Finally able to net a beautiful holdover/triploid of 17". Upon cleaning, found two hooks and two colors of PE (not mine) in it's stomach! Fishing was hot the first hour, landed five fish by 8:00... took three hours more to complete my ten fish limit. Final count, two fish of 12 1/2", two of 14", one at 17" and the rest at 13". At about 8:00, the skies opened and the rains came down, hard! The bite slowed dramatically... tried various PE colors, leader lengths and presentations during the lull... had some hits, but no hook-ups. All fish but the last came on the chartreuse/green PE... two on leader of 4', seven on leader of 3'. Had at least a dozen more fish on but could not bring them all the way to the net. May be using too small a hook (size 6) for these larger fish!? Had promised myself to catch the last while spin-casting, so about 11:00 I tied on a Mepps #1 Aglia with a fl. orange blade and had my final fish by 11:15. Did not see many fishermen braving the elephants... er, elements this morning. Was joined by one other fisherman on the pier shortly before I left, saw no other fish caught from my viewpoint. Did see a hatchery truck arrive on the south shoreline about 10:00, no doubt to dump in the scheduled 4,000 additional trout for this week.
Lot more avian activity on the lake, had fun watching large flock of Red Breasted Mergansers fishing near the shoreline for small LMB... when one of the ducks would snag one, it was immediately chased by a half dozen more until it could swallow the fish. Also saw the Hooded Merganser, Gadwall, Mallards and Norther Shoveler. Cormorants seem to be having much more difficulty in catching the planted Steelhead this year. By this time last year I was seeing hundreds of these birds on the water, this year, only a few dozen.
What an enjoyable way to spend a morning! Enjoying the forces of nature, the wind and the rain... (good rain gear and warm clothing enhances the enjoyment to be assured!)... smoking a bowl full of my favorite pipe tobacco... time for meditation and praying... and some exquisite Rainbow trout to share with family and friends... life is very, very good for me... I am truly blessed!! PTL!

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