Pierless

Didn't get a line wet until noon on Sunday. Still, went 9 for 11 for Browns trolling from just east of Maxwell to Hughes. All fish were 2 - 4lbs, but beautiful and unblemished. I probably should have kept one for dinner, but they kept resuscitating well and so they all swam away. Picked the first one up right on shore just west of Maxwell. Black/silver Rapala (11 size, non-jointed). Turned around for another go and took one in about 20fow off the point by Maxwell on another black/silver Rapala, same size. Water temps here were about 51 degrees. The 2nd pass through didn't shake anything up, so I continued west in the shallows. At one point the water was so clear that I thought if I stood on my foredeck I could see the fish. Turns out I didn't need to. I could see them right from the helm being pushed by my planer board and staying in close. Pretty neat. A steady pick developed for a while and it was about 45 minutes without a fish when I noticed the water had dropped to 41 degrees. Oops,... better turn around. By this time a slight breeze was blowing (very slight) and I noticed the water was warmer off shore. The wind must have pushed it off shore. I managed one small brown in the cold water and kept moving east moving in and out to find the warm water again. The bite improved again as the water warmed back up to about 50 degrees around 3 miles west of Maxwell. Funny enough, all the fish came on the unjointed, black/silver Rapalas. I had a clown, fire tiger and a blue T-stick Jr. out there and they didn't seem to want them. I started with just the one black/silver Rapala and put another one out after I caught two fish on the first one. I ditched the clown after a while (I've had good success w/clowns in clear water on bright days) and put on a black/silver in size 13 and it became the hottest lure, so small (9's and 11's) aren't all they are hitting on, yesterday anyway,... It was a great 1st day on the water for the season and though I didn't locate the derby winning brown trout location, the fish were there, plentiful and looking very pretty indeed. - Pierless -

Redneck Yacht, I launched my 26' at the Rt. 14 launch on Saturday afternoon. Plenty of water, if that was the question. No docks though. Getting the "trailer driver" onto the boat after parking the rig could be a trick though,... I didn't have to worry, as the rig driver (read girlfriend) drove the trailer over to my place for me and I picked her up from my dock. I suppose it would be a hassle, but if you had a person in the boat and rode it over to the public docks (in front of Cowboy Bar/37) while the rig driver dropped the trailer in the Rt. 14 parking lot and then parked in town at 37, that could be a way to get the job done, it's just not speedy. Other than that, you could call Arney's, or Krenzer's and see if they'll let you launch from there. During the summer they don't like to have transient ramp users in deference to their dock renters, but this early they might allow you to launch. The public launch docks won't be in for a few more weeks yet I reckon. They put them in pretty much the same time as the 5MPH buoys at the tip of Sand Point and at the channel if you can remember whern that is, I can't. Good Luck, Pierless