[Jay Burman]

I've been fishing RSL quite a bit this year due to the fact that it's nearby and I've become increasingly reluctant to travel east. The C & R regs have really made this local fishing opportunity more attractive to me. That being said the fishing has been rather slow.
The water level is the highest I've seen in the last 25 years reaching withing 20 ft or so of the road and covering much of the grass on the banks. At the deepest the lake now exceeds 55 ft in depth and the water temp is at about 56 degrees. Most of the fish are at about 25'-35' depth. The fish finder shows lots of good sized fish but the few i've managed to catch are pretty small but they appear to be well fed.
I am curious to hear insights from any other RSL fishers. I'd like to know whats worked for you. I'd also like to know what the fish eat in RSL. There doesn't appear to be a lot of insect activity or forage fish yet the fish seem well fed and judging by the reaction to my offerings don't seem particularly hungry. So far I've had enjoyed some meager results with small Woolley Buggers, Damsel Nymphs, and a Prince Nymph. They've sneered at everything else in my arsenal. I'll keep trying.
Your input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[scottflycst]

I haven't been to RSL yet this year but usually hit it a handful of times each season. During the warm weather months the fish do tend to hang deep during the middle of the day. The better times to chase them is early and late or on cloudy days when they're higher in the water column. RSL usually fishes pretty well in the evenings, the fish come up for the insects. Had lots of good eves on that lake. Not surprising about the water level with all the late snow we had this year. RS does have some bug activity, however with the cool/wet spring were having the hatches will be late and sporadic.
Good mayfly and midge action should be upon those waters soon if not now. I've caught several holdovers there 18" and over thru the years so RS can grow good sized fish, reckon time will tell to what extent. Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[Jim Hewitt]

I fished RSL yesterday for the last two hours of light and got skunked which is a first for me at that lake. I had a couple of bites but was unable to get them on the hook. At first I tried trolling an olive WB....no luck. Next I tried the surface with a stimulator and then a parachute adams....no luck but a couple of bumps. There was a lot of insect activity and a few fish coming to the surface but nothing for me.

 

[Tim Lockhart]

I'm more interested to see it 2 seasons from now.

 

[Jay Burman]

You have my deepest symapathy. I fished there Tuesday and only landed 1 little Rainbow. I think it has to do with the water being so high and so cold. The fish must be responding by being less active. There seems to be large numbers of fish in the lake according to my "Fishin' Buddy" fish finder and I have great optimism for later this season and for future seasons due to the C&R regs. But right it's nothing but frustration.

 

[MERDOG95]

Hey Jay: how is that fish finder working for you and is it worth the money? Sorry Im new to the area so where is RSL?

 

[Jay Burman]

Merdog95,
My "Fishin' Buddy" Fish Finder is the most useful accessory that I have ever purchased for still water fishing. Fishing without it is like fishing in the dark. It provides me with invaluable information such as water temp, depth, underwater structure and the lake bottom composition. It also shows where the fish are thus preventing me from spending too much time fishing where there are no fish. The fish appear as Small, Medium and Large icons on a small screen. The fish finder itself weighs about 3-4 Lbs and takes up very little room. I have fashioned a mounting bracket on the side of my pontoon boat that allows me to view the screen while I row and slow down when the fish are present. I do love my gadgets. It cost about $200.00 and is worth every cent. It uses 6 Double "A" batteries which last about 20 Hours of fishing. Let me know if you need any help mounting it on your 'toon I can send you some photo's

 

[Jay Burman]

Merdog95,
RSL (Rattlesnake Lake) is located 2.5 Mi South of I-90 at North Bend Exit 32. Easy to find. See you on the water.

 

[Sportsman]

Work was cancelled on me at 5:30 this morning, so even with a dropping barometer[ to me that means the Snake is going to be off] I headed up there. I haven't fished it much this year and years past 20- 30 fish days weren't uncommon. This year it's been no bettter than 1/2 of that, all but one day was with a dropping barometer and for some reason I think it affects that lake more than others. Weather was crappy....rain and wind and then just wind. Fished hard for 3 hours, 6 fish to hand, although 4 were trips, one 18" holdover and all caught deep[ Rio Deep 6 line]. Simi seal leeches, just about all I've used for the last few years: dark rust and then dark green, but speed was the key and very difficult to get right in the wind. The lake is as high as I've ever seen it...and then some...they even moved the porta-potti to the other side of the road.

 

[fish49st8]

I have never had good success when the lake ballons up in volume. Also most of the fish you catch are those little 10" stockers. Although with the C&R rules maybe those stockers will grow up to 16". RSL also get some serious amount of poachers.

My first fly of choice is black woolly bugger on sink tip with slow strips.

Second fly of choice is a calibeatis nymph.

Combine the two to maximize results.

Although I do enjoy watching the local osprey pick fish out of the water.

 

[Sportsman]

Fished it Sunday with my brother in law. Got there at 6:00, but dinked around until about 7:00. A couple guys hit the lake before us, I'm not sure how they did. Weather was great as was the fishing: used the same pattern as my earlier post, just changed the colors on the leeches I tied up the night before. Landed a little over 20 between us, all trips except 2 and those were caught on Aqualux lines as we headed out. When the wind picked up, Jim's Rio Deep 7 was the ticket as my Type 6 was only getting down 20-25'. We got a few nice holdovers between us, I got a couple that were over 18", but Jim landed an absolute pig...barely shy of 20" and well over 2 1/2 pounds. Every fish was fighting mad and gave a good accounting of themselves.

 

[scottflycst]

Thanks for the report Sportsman! RSL gives it up. Fishin's only gonna get better with time.

 

[Greggor]

Fished RSL on Sunday 06:30 - 12:30. Twelve 11 inch bows to hand. Lost one larger fish. I was using small woolley buggers and leaches with moderate success on type 6 full sinking. Switched to what I call a desperation fly, a real change-up, and it worked. Caught most, including the hook-up with the larger fish on a #6 Carey Special with bright green chenille body. The little guys were not intimidated at all, and were just smacking it compared to the small buggers.

The wind was a real bear after about 10:00, and began to take a bit of the pleasure out of it.

 

[Greggor]

Fished RSL on Sunday 06:00 - 12:00. Using a full sinking type 6 line again this week. Brought about a dozen Rainbows to hand.

Seems most of those 11" fish are about 12" now, and I think they may have introduced some smaller fish around 10 inches. I hooked-up with three of those little guys. The largest fish was around 14 inches.

I almost brought my new Redington CT 3 wt for a trial run, but thought the water temperatures might stress the fish at the surface. I was however quite surprised how cool the water remains to the touch (no thermometer).

Most of my hook-ups were between 06:30 - 08:00. Two of the posts to the thread "Trolling Flies" seemed to be helpful. Used a #6 black bugger for its profile and silhouette as the lead fly with #14 bead head as a dropper. Also, pausing once and a while and then stripping seemed to work very well during this time, not sure if it was the action on the flies, or just helpful in bringing them up through the water column.

When things began to slow, I once again looked for a desperation fly. I started trolling a #6 white bunny leach. No hook-ups, but something just slammed that fly. Like nothing else I have ever experienced before at RSL. No other hits though.

The amazing rubber hatch began around 11:00, and it started to become a zoo. For the first time I actually appreciated the wind kicking-up a bit due to the heat, and there seemed to be a second bite happening on my earlier set-up, but the atmosphere was flagging, so I headed home.

 

[JesseC]

I've fished Rattlesnake Lake the last two evenings. First evening I caught 1 fish on a small parachute adams towards dusk. I was using a larger purple haze with a hi-vis PA as a dropper. I missed at least a couple takes while I was sipping a beer or screwing around with my cigar. That was my first time fishing the lake, so I considered it a success not to pull a skunking.

Yesterday evening I did a "little" bit better. I was using a small black lake fly I like (it's looks like a wooley booger and a carey special, but has some sparkle and a long fluff coming out at the base) as the leader and a sculpzilla as the trailer. I was kicking slow and strip strip, stop and wait. The first fish came on the second strip. The second fish hit while the rod was in the holder.

Here's some bad news. The first fish (maybe 11'') had blisters and what looked like small pocks of algae growing on it. It was not healthy. I didn't manage to get a picture of it and released it quickly with the forceps. The second fish was much healthier and was about 12''.

As I made it to the other end of the lake I had gotten bored of trolling, so I thought I'd try to repeat the success of the previous day and switched to dries. There appears to be a couple callibeatis coming off the water, very few and far between. However, there were trout occasionally launching themselves out of the water after something. I had ZERO looks on a small parachute adams, small emerger pattern, small nymph dropper, emerger wet fly dropper, and nothing on a trimmed down slender march brown I tried to match to the calibeatis.

Towards the end of the evening the fish became a bit more aggressive in feeding on the surface. They switched from launching thiemselves out of the water to healthy takes that just splashed water forward a bit. As the evening progressed, I started noticing more subsurface feeding that seemed like slurps or even just bulges.

So - any ideas in terms of what was happening later in the evening when I was striking out? I took some pictures of a bunch of bugs I saw on the water, but managed to forget my camera at home. I'll post a follow-up soon.

 

[Nick Clayton]

It has always been my understanding that fish jumping clear out of the water in a lake are not feeding on the surface, but are jumping for other reasons. What those reasons could be is beyond me. I know one theory on a B.C. lake I used to fish a lot is that they get some sort of insect in their gills and they jump to try to get them out. I dunno. Just what I've read/been told.

 

[JesseC]

It has always been my understanding that fish jumping clear out of the water in a lake are not feeding on the surface, but are jumping for other reasons. What those reasons could be is beyond me. I know one theory on a B.C. lake I used to fish a lot is that they get some sort of insect in their gills and they jump to try to get them out. I dunno. Just what I've read/been told.

Sounds feasible to me - especially considering the parasite ridden first fish that I pulled up. Some of the fish I saw were literally launching out of the water - Shamoo style.

 

[Greggor]

Here's some bad news. The first fish (maybe 11'') had blisters and what looked like small pocks of algae growing on it. It was not healthy. I didn't manage to get a picture of it and released it quickly with the forceps. The second fish was much healthier and was about 12''.

I have brought two of those infected fellows to the boat the last two trips. About 1 out of 30 infected is my small sample size. Each covered with about 20 lesions and/or parasites translucent white in color. I hope they have the capability to recover from this disease. Perhaps later in colder water.

 

[Be Jofus G]

Sick fish shouldn't be a suprise. Remember, this lake was managed as a catch and kill fishery for a looooong time. They dumped an insane number of fish in that place. It sounds about right that the population is going to shrink it's self until it strikes a natural balance. Has any one pulled in any Cutthroat from that lake recently?

 

[Kent Lufkin]

It has always been my understanding that fish jumping clear out of the water . . . are jumping for other reasons.

It's because they don't have middle fingers.

K