Lyle and Greg: Rock Lake - 5/22
Greg and Lyle made their annual spring pilgrimage to Rock Lake on Thursday. Fishing was good, but not great. We enjoyed consistent action for nice sized brown trout throughout the day using various techniques. We had to "work" for our limits of brown trout ranged from 16 to 19 inches. The fish seemed fatter on average than previous years. The water was stained, especially near the south end of the lake. There was also more algae floating on the lake than I have ever seen. Rock Lake is a fantastic fishery for browns and rainbows, but I would not recommend fishing this lake right now unless you have a knowledge of the dangerous spots on this lake. Serious damage can occur to your boat due to sudden depth changes and rock pillars that reside in seemingly safe water. The dingy water makes this lake even more treacherous.
More details: Lyle and I arrived at the lake around 8AM. We spent the morning casting shallow diving jerk-baits and rattle traps into the shoreline. We had our best success on the shady side of the lake from mid-lake south where the water was not as muddy. We took turns fishing the front of the boat, because the guy on the back of the boat didn't get much action as we slowly drifted the bank casting our baits close to the rocks. Brown/bronze jerk-baits worked the best. By 11AM, we lost our shallow bite as the sun went high in the sky. We switched to trolling gear. Lyle pulled "cow bells" with a fly tipped with Powerbait. I tried a dodger and fly (also tipped with Powerbait). I tinkered with a planer board and Rapala Troll-To (10ft) crankbait that resembled a small brown trout. All of these trolling techniques worked and we filled our limit by 3PM.