Almost unlucky Friday the 13th on my way to Blue Lake. From Dayton I usually go up the Patit and down Harstock, as it saves 20 miles and minutes. There were lots of deer on top this morning and one ran and stopped right in front of me. Then down by the last resort the turkeys came up out of the gutter, missed dinner on the windshield by about a foot. The fishing was really good however. There must not have been much pressure this week as the fish were feeding freely. Also, there was little activity from the 3 big otters. The fish are definitely putting on weight now, and the size is going up. They all had midges, muck, and some sparkly cased caddis in them.
Today I played with a bobber rig under a float. I've found a way better hooking percentage comes from using the floating braid over mono, less stretch. I'm also convinced that circle hooks are the way to go. I don't have much noticeable hookup rate difference, but still averaging 4 out 5 in the mouth instead of the gullet. I only use this for fish I want to keep anyway. I fished a worm deeper and a power egg on a dropper under the float, with the worm at about 5' deep. All the fish came on the worm (1/2 a worm).
I've noticed several people lately who keep 5 fish, then keep fishing. I've seen two triploids thrown back, one as his friends mocked him for already having 5 little ones. Five means stop fishing, not start releasing, especially with bait.
I may be paranoid but I used my blue steelhead gloves to get fuel and use the public outhouse. No chances. As the college has gone online for the remainder of the quarter and the beginning of next I may air out the tent and bags and go hide in the woods. The campground wasn't that full, but there was shore ice this morning.
Shout out to Okuma, I broke the tip of this rod within the warranty period and they sent a new one within two weeks. It wasn't expensive, it works great, and fantastic customer service.

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