Literary accounts of fishouts in the recent past,
to make you sorry you didn't go.
Webber Lake/Milton Lake Fishout - June 6-10
by Betty Rentz
Webber Lake/Milton Lake Fishout - June 6-10
by Betty Rentz
There are big fish in Webber Lake! Norm Bedell got the biggest at 24 inches. Several 20+ inch fish were caught, but mostly they ranged from 15-19 inches-rainbows, browns, and a occasional brookie. The weather was against us-snow Monday and Tuesday (2 inches) and even Wednesday afternoon as we set up camp. The low was 25 degrees Wednesday night, and nearly freezing Thursday night. During the day it was often cold and blowy. The water temperature dropped from 62 to 54 degrees at the beginning of the week and put the hatches down, mercifully even the mosquitoes.
The fishing was overall good, but not as great as we had hoped in terms of numbers. The lake itself is beautiful-if you only looked east and north. The stuff around the lake on the west and south was slightly oakey and funky-a mix of historic (1860) buildings, barns, cabins, and lots of trailers and 5th wheels in between. The lake provides great habitat for fish. In excess of 8000 pounds of fish had been put in the lake in the last three weeks.
All in all, a great trip attended by ten SCFF members. The managers were incredibly welcoming and accommodating, even providing a load of firewood and refunding $300 to the group! Seems we paid too much for camping! We all agreed it was a lake we would go back to. With better weather, who knows?
Only Harry Schoonbaert and I went to Milton Lake-a sweet little lake. Cold, blowy and changeable weather again made for tough fishing for everyone on the lake-except for one 1 1/2 hour period on Saturday afternoon when the fish turned on. Your fishmaster landed ten very spunky browns up to 12 inches, and missed ten others. - Betty Rentz, currently on the road in Wyoming.
O'Connell-Bourdet Bass Fishout
by Cecilia Stipes
The weather was perfect and the 2 bass ponds were in excellent condition. There was no sign of a drought, looking at the fullness of the ponds. Many of the cattail channels were debris-free and open for easier fishing.
Elaine Cook, Bill Seaman, Larry Schork, Dick and myself, Cecilia, got an early start to a long, but good, day of fishing. Elaine got into a bunch of bass immediately in the shallower water, which had warmed already. Bill and I noticed that feeding activity strongly picked up at precisely 10:00 AM, whereas I was catching bigger bass under the willow over-hangings, one after another.
Larry hooked into the largest bass of the day measuring 18 inches in that same area. And, it has to be mentioned that the scenery while driving on the ranch again provided us beautiful panoramic views from the hilltops and many sightings of wildlife: turkeys, deer, coyote, foxes and groups of wild pigs.