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Cooper lake ( Kittitas County) 06/23/18

2K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  Lue Taylor 
#1 · (Edited)
First time fishing this beautiful mountain lake. Water is clean and pure with very obvious drop off's. Wind was off and on later in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. Water temp was 58. Used a Type 6 to probe from bottom up and found that they were about 50 feet from shore and about 10 feet down. Caught many rainbows and 4 browns....1 brown about 13 inches. Multiple flies used that caught fish as depth was the key. Don't think it really mattered as long as your strip was a little faster and in front of them. Winning fly was most definitely a leech pattern in burgundy.....size 10. Great lake for beginners as it would be a great confidence booster. Lots of guys out, but only sinking lines were getting the fish. Cant really believe that this has been in our back yard all this time and I never have fished it. Lot'a more exploring to do in this state. Will definitely go back.

Oh yeah, and just about demolished my front end on a deer that decided to just run out from right to left Westbound not too long after getting on the freeway. We stopped for water which by fate delayed us that 3 seconds from impacting the deer. I locked it up and went behind it fortunately.

Here is a picture looking up the lake and then crossing the Cle Elum river. Beautiful day.

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#2 ·
First time fishing this beautiful mountain lake. Water is clean and pure with very obvious drop off's. Wind was off and on later in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. Water temp was 58. Used a Type 6 to probe from bottom up and found that they were about 50 feet from shore and about 10 feet down. Caught many rainbows and 4 browns....1 brown about 13 inches. Multiple flies used that caught fish as depth was the key. Don't think it really mattered as long as your strip was a little faster and in front of them. Winning fly was most definitely a leech pattern in burgundy.....size 10. Great lake for beginners as it would be a great confidence booster. Lots of guys out, but only sinking lines were getting the fish. Cant really believe that this has been in our back yard all this time and I never have fished it. Lot'a more exploring to do in this state. Will definitely go back.

Oh yeah, and just about demolished my front end on a deer that decided to just run out from right to left Westbound not too long after getting on the freeway. We stopped for water which by fate delayed us that 3 seconds from impacting the deer. I locked it up and went behind it fortunately.

Here is a picture looking up the lake and then crossing the Cle Elum river. Beautiful day.

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Any midges coming off ?
Any one indicator fishing?
Jay
 
#4 ·
Ten feet down is perfect for an indicator. Never fished the lake, but have heard rumors of good browns.
 
#9 ·
Big browns spawn in the fall going up out of Cooper into the river. A decade back I caught a couple of Brookies, a Cut, a Rainbow and a really small brown all on the same day in the River below the lake. Somewhere I have pics from that day - just not digital.
 
#10 ·
Was up there the past two weekends....Type 6 with Black Hail Bop’s got me a few RBT which were small. Saw a huge amount of bugs swarming the water about 3” above it, mainly in the shadow areas of the lake. Not sure on their types as I am a Rookie still. Plenty of fish hitting the surface with more activity in the shallow area just left of the launch. Jumpers in the shallows also. I wanted a Brown so bad but gave up on deeper water and fished the shallows for RBT with my extra rod. Got a stunning 16” Brown near the launch on my way in. Might be the best fish that I have caught in my brief Stillwater campaign. Went back up and only got RBT and used an Intermidate Line this time. Worked the drop offs near the river quite a Bit, but ai Broke my tip section on a 10” RBT (Redington Trout Classic) and was totally bummed as they want $45 for a new tip....half of what the rod is worth used. I guess I am looking for a higher quality 4 wt.
 

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#11 ·
Was up there the past two weekends....Type 6 with Black Hail Bop's got me a few RBT which were small. Saw a huge amount of bugs swarming the water about 3" above it, mainly in the shadow areas of the lake. Not sure on their types as I am a Rookie still. Plenty of fish hitting the surface with more activity in the shallow area just left of the launch. Jumpers in the shallows also. I wanted a Brown so bad but gave up on deeper water and fished the shallows for RBT with my extra rod. Got a stunning 16" Brown near the launch on my way in. Might be the best fish that I have caught in my brief Stillwater campaign. Went back up and only got RBT and used an Intermidate Line this time. Worked the drop offs near the river quite a Bit, but ai Broke my tip section on a 10" RBT (Redington Trout Classic) and was totally bummed as they want $45 for a new tip....half of what the rod is worth used. I guess I am looking for a higher quality 4 wt.
Beautiful brown trout on your extra rod, is that spoon fly?
 
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