Usually I'm a catch and release fisherman, but with my wife, that is
not always an option. Especially around the time that trout season opens.
The two of us took a day trip to Clear Lake for some trout fishing. The lake, south of Wenatchee, is only 5 to 10 acres, is surrounded by forest, and on this weekday was uncrowded. The weather was perfect, in the 70's with a very slight breeze. The fish, recently planted rainbow trout from 7 to 10 inches, were also present in force and jumping all over the lake.
As I started flailing the lake with my barbless hook spinners and spoons, my practical wife Michelle broke out the power bait and had soon landed two trout. One of these immediately found its way on the stringer while the other one was lucky enough to throw the hook as my wife was getting ready to "striing it up" and escape.
With no strikes at all to my credit, I broke down and got out the "orange" power bait as opposed to her "hot pink" flavor. Soon, I too was reeling them in and throwing them on the stringer. Before we knew it, two hours had passed and it was time to head home to the real world, where I cleaned the seven trout that made it on the stringer.
My wife, who ended up with five trout (including the one that missed its end on the stringer) cooked them up and I have to admit, there is a time for eating trout as well as releasing them, because they were very good off the grill!

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