We thought we'd take a break from our normal weekend hike circus and do something easy and straightforward .....

Hahahahaha.

This lake actually proved rather elusive. The normal approach is to drive up toward Lake Chaplain, park, and hike. But down by the turn to the dam or whatever it is on the pipeline road .... blocked off with no trespassing signs! After much Google mapping and searching hiking forums, we formulated a plan and set forth.

So it's me, the force of nature, Mr. B, and he's supposed to be bringing a buddy. We meet at the Monroe park and ride as usual. The force of nature invoked womanly privilege so she's late to meet up with me, so we're late to the park and ride. Turns out wasn't a big deal, as Mr. B's buddy was waken up by Mr. B when he called at 6 to confirm haha. He said he'd be there in 40 minutes. So we hit Fred Meyer for some snacks, leave a phone message for the buddy, and off we go.

Apparently the hiking forum was out of date, as there was a DNR gate right at the base of the logging road. No problem. Backpacks on, and off we go. Straight up hill. I know her tricks, but Mr. B isn't paying attention and doesn't say anything as the force of nature moves to lead the hike. At her usual speed - death march. Smirking to myself I fall into line.

Well, to his credit, Mr. B made it a solid 15-20 minutes before swallowing his pride and calling for a rest break. It looked like he was going to pass out so I think it was wise on his part to do so, even though showing no weakness is one of our primary rules! After a bit of a rest, off we go on the rest of the hike, which eventually mostly flattens out so no more rest breaks are needed.

We get to the lake, and as advertised there is a dock there, out in the middle of nowhere, built by the ... Snohomish Sportsman Club or something like that. Mr. B had found this the one other time he came to this lake. Last time he had fished all over the lake, on a super hot summer day, and only found fish on the bottom at maximum cast range from the dock. Well, this was November 22, so we did deploy some worms on the bottom. However I've learned that the first thing I should do if Mr. B says something wont work, is to just do that. So I deploy my trusty perch pattern Castmaster. I guess it's more shallow than it looks, as after only a couple of casts the spoon bumps the bottom. So I cast again, and on retrieve AGAIN bump bottom, and then 2 seconds later fish on! Those sneaky buggers! It wasn't bottom after all, those bumps were a fish! And I get the mutant in the picture! You'd think that such a deformity would be a problem, but nope, he's about 10 inches and managed to hook himself on the Castmaster, so clearly isn't having trouble eating. Looking annoyed that yet again I do what he says wont work and right away catch a fish, Mr. B starts casting also. Not long after, super awesome to watch, right as I pull the Castmaster out of the water, a really solid fish goes Jaws on it, but misses. It is so fun to see them come out of the water after the lure. Shortly thereafter, another bump, then fish on! A nice 12 inch cutt. This is all super weird to me, as I expect a fish to bump a metal lure and then clearly recognize it's not food. Well, these fish certainly are not. So Mr. B still hasn't gotten a bite, either on his worm on bottom or casting whatever he's casting. So he inflates his raft and is about to set out.

Partly because he's a good guy, underneath his A-hole facade, and partly to just REALLY rub it in I cut my castmaster off and hand it to him. "Here, take this, this should help" I say, barely able to hide a smirk. Not looking pleased, he takes the castmaster and off he goes.

I switch from the quarter ounce perch castmaster to the 3/8ths. Mr B was who told me to buy castmasters cuz they're awesome, so of course I have a backup haha!

Mr. B is off in his raft, I catch another and this one is a beast. It's diving where the others I dragged straight to the surface. It runs for under the dock and I turn it. It runs for the open and I get it settled down. Well, Mr. B isn't here to net this one, so I decide to just pull it down the dock and up on shore.

BAD IDEA.

I take two steps, and with the new line tension it shakes the Castmaster. I sigh. Our 3 fishing trip prizes are First, which I had, and also most and biggest. Biggest just swam away.

So I keep casting, and not too long after, another fish on! Having learned my lesson, I ask the force of nature to net the fish. She reaches down, and instead of scooping the fish, smacks it right in the face with the rim of the net. It shakes loose and falls away. The force of nature, at a towering five foot three, looks at me, shrugs, and says "I can't reach the water". Sigh.

At this point I was pretty sure I had 3 bites on the worm on bottom, but nothing solid. No hookups, and no coming back for seconds. It starts to drizzle. Mr. B has almost gone all the way around the lake. Then it starts to really rain. Mr. B is paddling toward the dock, barely moving. It looks like he's riding pretty low in the water. He starts yelling about his raft leaking air so his paddling isn't moving him very fast. The force of nature and I, being highly mature, point and laugh. He eventually paddles up to the dock and gets out. He makes a few comments that can't be repeated on this all ages forum haha.

Well, he goes back to worm on bottom, and suddenly the fish cut him a break. He's using a 3 ounce weight to get his worm out there extra deep and it seems to be working. But with that much weight it's hard to tell what's going on. I think I see movement and glance at his pole. Did it just wiggle? I can't tell. I tell him, he reels up, and .... fish on! Haha, about 8-9 inches, so couldn't even feel it against the weight. Time passes and in similar circumstances, he catches another about the same size. I'm annoyed at this point. I had 3 bites on the worm, none of which actually latched on. Mr. B had 2 bites on the worm, both of which hooked themselves with him not even paying attention! Where is the fairness!?

At one point we heard a noise that sounded like bicycle brakes, and low and behold these two guys show up. We chat to them a bit,they tell us about their experience fishing the lake (made quite a few visits over the years), and they tell us about a book they'd read about Snohomish county fishing which had told the history of the lake. They head off to the other side of the lake and start fishing there.

So Mr. B decides he wants to cook trout on the shore. He and the force of nature work on that project for quite a while. Everything is wet. Like ... really wet. From the night before and the morning. We're wet from being rained on.

At some point the ... whatever counts as a ranger out there in the watershed area shows up. We talk to him for a bit. He says he's been on patrol for 11 years. Tells us the main road is closed due to logging and MIGHT be open around JUNE 2015. Before the DNR starts logging a month or two after that and it recloses! So much for fishing Lake Ida any time soon! He tells us about other little lakes in the area, then off he goes.

Eventually, despite the steady rain, Mr. B and the force of nature sort out the trout cooking and we eat the 4 trout, in a downpour.

We keep fishing, a few more hits here and there. Mr. B catches ANOTHER on his worm with no effort on his part, and this one takes biggest. It's a nice one. 13 inches give or take. We keep fishing, throwing lures, worm on bottom, few more hits here and there, Mr. B has one go Jaws on his lure right before we leave, then we take advantage of a lull in the rain, pack all our wet gear, and head out. We make it back to the cars just as it gets dark.

Overall, it was a fun, varied adventure. We went somewhere new, we got super wet and cold, then we warmed up, we caught interesting looking cutts with various methods, then we ate them, Mr. B didn't sink his raft before he got back to the dock, and I took home fish #5, which turned out to be the best tasting cutt I have ever eaten. Picture #2 shows my dinner, contrasted with the white of the paper towel. It was amazing.

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