Lake Father's Day

For Father's day, the amazing Vlad Karpinsky from the Trail Blazers club invited me to go fishing with him. The lake we went to is not exactly a secret lake, but since it was his choice I am not going to divulge its real name. Let's call it Lake Father's Day. Enough clues will be dropped so that if you've been there you'll figure it out.

We parked our cars at a yellow gate and walked just over two miles on logging roads to the lake. The way to the lake is unmarked and I never would have found my way there alone.

Vlad stopped numerous times to load up on some of the most bountious salmonberries either of us had ever seen. He finally got me to try some and they were sweet. Save some for the bears, Vlad!

At the launch, Vlad inflated his two Sevylor Trail Boats - one for each of us. I had never tried one before -- I'd seen guys in them and they always looked uncomfortable to me. But you know what? It was VERY comfortable! In most ways it was completely superior to the whole float-tube experience. Drifting along in the trail boat in the sun with a gentle breeze, I actually fell asleep while fishing. Now that's relaxing!

As for the fishing? Well, it was slow. We each had three strikes. I converted two of them into the net. Both were brook trout: one was a gorgeous little guy of about 10" with bright spots. The second was a much larger 14" fish with muted colors. Vlad converted one of his strikes and reeled another brook trout up to his boat. We didn't see any of the 18" rainbows that Vlad had caught there earlier this year but I wasn't really surprised. This lake is low enough that its spring peak season is already over.

I was impressed by the experience of the trail boat. And more importantly, I realized that a 4lb, packable boat opens up so many more alpine lakes. The universe of accessible fish just exploded like a big bang! It is SO EXCITING! In fact, I just ordered my very own Trail Boat using a gift certificate from my in-laws. Thanks, Bill & Kathy.

And Thank YOU, Vlad, for taking me fishing. Happy Father's Day to both of us.