My first visit to Rattlesnake for the year. I haven't fished this lake much, and my results definitely reflect that. Conditions weren't bad -- Clear sky, a little breezy. The water is a little colored but not significantly, and the water temp was 47 degrees. This is the first time I've ever really covered the lake, and I was surprised at how shallow it is. Most of my time on the lake is normally spent with a fly rod, working the stump farm on the south end.

I got the only strike of my day just off the boat launch, so I still had the reel free-spooling and predictably missed the hook-set. After that, I saw very few fish on the sonar, and experienced no action whatsoever. I tried several different rigs, including one dodger and fly setup that works beautifully in another lake.

After trolling for a while. I headed to the south end and switched to a fly rod. Again, no takers either on top or under the surface. I didn't see any fish rising anywhere.

I did see one other person land a couple of small trout from an anchored position in about 40 feet of water. It looked like he was staring at a sonar and dropping a chronomid straight down on them. I wasn't equipped to try that, so have no idea whether it would have materially changed my otherwise dismal luck. The only other person I saw fishing today reported one or two strikes, but no hook-ups, and nothing rising. He was kicking his small pontoon, and trolling a fly.

I can't wait for the other lakes in the area to open...

---