In my dreams, I imagined I would search this eight-mile long lake for the lunkers. After all, the state record Lahontan Cutthroat came from these waters at over 18 pounds back in the 90's. But it was not to be.
Still, being able to land a 24-inch Cutthroat was a lot of fun and I went away satisfied. This early in the year, I had to blindly and patiently search in 10-15 feet of water but it paid off and I caught several nice fish each day I was there.
The Colville Indian Reservation is a great place to get away and going solo on a week-long, cross-state road trip seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I enjoyed the silence that April affords in the high desert and noted that I was the ONLY person on the entire lake. The call of wild birds and the occasional car or plane way off in the distance provided the only other sounds besides the light wind and the gentle splash of my pontoon boat oars dipping into the water.
Sometimes you just have to get away. I hadn't had any vacation time for over six months so this felt needed and right.
Below is the 24-inch bad boy on the beach...
