I have yet to be able to really figure out my local lakes during January and February once the water has hit 40 degrees and lower. Thought today with the decent weather I would hit Cranberry out at Deception Pass. I've had minor success there in the winter for browns pulling flatfish within 20 feet or so from shore in about 10 -12 feet of water, just outside of the weed line where you might think bass might be hiding. Not today. Nothing I was throwing at them even got a strike. During my trips around the lake I noticed just a mass of fish in the deeper part of the lake in front of the campground entrance. After no luck with the browns, I changed one rod out for rainbows, kept a flatfish on the other just in case. In that deeper area, from maybe 18 foot bottom to where it gets to about 35 feet, fish are just flat stacked all up and down the water column. I pulled everything I could think of through that area, at all depths, and just could not get anything interested. Aggravating seeing all those marks and not being able to get one interested.

The local lakes this time of year are always tough, this year though has been really tough. I know it is still about a month off before a few of my favorite lakes start to slowly turn on, but man, at least one fish could have thrown me a bone today. It's a neat lake to fish though, when the fish aren't biting you get a constant airshow from NAS Whidbey.

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