Isaak's Ranch

I love fishing for native salmonids and living in Washington State I am lucky to have so many waters nearby were native fish still manage to maintain a hold. However, not everywhere holds native trout and every now and again it is fun to just fish, even if it is for nonnatives. Recently I was able to fish a group of private lakes in Eastern Washington called Isaak's Ranch. While the fish are stocked in these lakes, they act like wild fish as they are put in small and absolutely thrive in the fertile waters. In fact these lakes are so fertile that I swear the trout need to be there just in order to control the excess levels of scuds and other aquatic organisms in the lakes. Between bouts of steelheading, Blake and I led a group of anglers on an expedition to these lakes and we will just say it was amazing!!!

 

Got scuds??? Yes those are all scuds....

The upper lake

While weed growth presented a bit of an obstacle, the fish were feisty, well fed, and still eager to eat. With the abundance of scuds that would coat anyone's legs that waded in to the lake, it wasn't surprising that the fish were pretty well keyed into the little critters. However, buggers worked wonders throughout the day. I think these photos will say everything....

Me with an average to 'smallish' sized Rainbow to get things going

A fat 23" bow the fell for my bugger

My big fish at 24"

Blake with a rainstorm Rainbow...

Ryan with the big fish of the day at 26"

While with any day of fishing there were the slow periods here or there during the day, but for the most part the action was fast and our smallest fish landed was a respectable 17"er with the biggest landed being a fat 26"er. Not to mention the 30" torpedo of a fish that Keith hooked into and did battle with for several minutes before being broken off. Yes I love native trout, but everyone now and again there is something about just going fishing and especially something to getting that big fish fix!