Found this triploid in a local Pierce County lake. I was out learning and playing with the new depth finder and electric trolling motor for my sled. Drug spoons and spinners around for a couple hours with no luck. Marked a lot of fish, though. I'm headed back to the launch and I see a couple of swirls off a little channel. I sat and watched a couple more in the same spot, then saw about 4 mayfly adults fly over the boat; most likely callibaetis given it was noonish. So I rigged up my 5wt, tied on a Pheasant Tail emerger, and slid quietly into the channel. Four casts later, I'm into this fish. Dang, bigger than I thought, gotta dig out the stocker net. It actually took me into the weeds for a couple seconds, thought it was a goner, but with patience he came out. Made some good runs, cleared the water by two feet just to show off, then politely slid into the net.
What's really satisfying about this particular fish is I targeted it individually by putting together various pieces of the puzzle: the swirls, the presence of mayflies, the time of day and year signifying most likely Baetis, the fly choice... all resulted in a hookup. It feels good when everything adds up to the right answer.
What's really satisfying about this particular fish is I targeted it individually by putting together various pieces of the puzzle: the swirls, the presence of mayflies, the time of day and year signifying most likely Baetis, the fly choice... all resulted in a hookup. It feels good when everything adds up to the right answer.