It was a bonehead move to go fishing on the first Saturday after the coronavirus fishing shutdown was lifted, but I couldn't help myself - I had been wanting to try this lake for months. I had really high hopes because this lake is a short drive and has a great stocking history lately, but I figured it must get a lot less pressure than Lake Stevens.

I arrived at 5:30 sharp as the sun started to rise. The lot was completely full, three rigs were already in the overflow area, and more folks were showing up behind me. I got in line and managed to launch pretty quickly, heading straight to the deeper north end where I figured Kokanee would hang out on a hot day. Took me longer than expected to get there with only a Minn Kota.

Small trout were surfacing and occasionally getting airborne all morning long, but I really wanted to find a kokanee. I trolled double-hooked mini hoochies and wedding ring spinners with shrimp & garlic scent and corn between about 20 and 60 feet deep on two rods, trying a few speeds and lots of turns, but only ever got one discernible nibble. It seemed like most of the other boats were looking for bass, with only a handful of other trollers.

At around 8:30 I accidentally let go of my level wind with the drag off and got the worst rat's nest I've ever had. Lost about 45 minutes to that disaster. After that I split my chances by keeping one rod rigged for kokanee and the other rigged with a spoon for those small trout near the surface. I watched them jumping over my line and practically bouncing off the boat, but no takers. Should've just stuck my net in the water.

I was planning to leave by 10:30 when the power boats show up, but I really didn't want to go home empty-handed. That's when the wind picked up. Before long it was clear that I needed to head back South, so I made my way back through the skinny channel. I had to navigate pretty carefully around paddleboarders, kayakers, party boats, and the gear of teenage bass fishermen casting from one side of the channel to the other.

The south end wasn't so windy, so I threw a line back out, down to about 30ft. Almost immediately I got my only fight of the day, but I lost it. I trolled that spot back and forth a few more times, but no more bites.

Getting out of that tiny launch was a nightmare. In the time it took me to walk from my boat to the overflow lot, at least three more rigs lined up to launch. In the end I had to walk around to each driver and agree on a lineup to get us out of there. With no place to unload and strap down my boat, I had to go down the road and pull into a local's driveway.

There are obviously plenty of fish in this lake. I might try again on a weekday, preferably with bad weather. But that boat launch is a real turn off, and I wouldn't stay past 10:30 again. The real disappointment is that it isn't a better option than Stevens, which has more kokanee, more room, and a real launch.

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