Waneta Lake 6/5
Spent the full-day here guiding Mark I. for muskies, mainly on the fly-rod. The launch was packed when we met here just before 9 am. Given that (pure-strain) musky season had just opened on June 1st., I guess we shouldn’t have been too surprised, but it was a weekday. We also had great conditions being a day away from the new moon, overcast skies and a good wind that really blew strongly at times. Mark cast his butt off as usual. Unfortunately he never raised a fish on the flies. He gave some gear (I just bring a very basic spoon set-up – 2 outfits/2 spoons when out here with Mark) a good shot for maybe 3 hours, with no grabs either.
The fish certainly saw a lot of lures today; people were all over the lake hitting a lot of the same areas both trolling and casting. A lot of guys were throwing some big musky baits. When we got back I talked to one angler who was an old acquaintance of mine and a friend of a mutual client/friend. He and his buddy each nabbed a decent fish today on gear. They also caught a couple on opening day last Saturday. One guy coming in when we launched didn’t catch anything today trolling, but nabbed a 46″er yesterday, so some nice fish are being caught for diligent anglers. Water temp was around 73. Lake level was decent. Clarity was good. Plenty of weed growth is up too.