Starting to Freeze Upstairs
With the steady cold and winter right around the corner, I thought I'd check on some spots along the Energy Loop and also get in a little exploration before Miller Flat Road is impassible.
From the summit, I could see that Fairview Lake is about halfway capped with ice.
First stop was Huntington Reservoir for a fruitless hour with a minnow soaking and casting an assortment of lures. There was some surface activity over deeper water, but nothing within range from shore. Just a quick drop-in, I wasn't about to get the tube out for it.
My next stop was a pond a couple miles south of Miller Flat Reservoir that I'd failed to find the last time I tried. The pond is pretty big, so I thought for sure some fish had gotten in there somehow, over time.
Just off the road, I didn't expect such a steep hike to get there. Once I made it up the hill, I found what I had come for.
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As nice as it looked, yet again, my verdict is fishless. Very shallow and the bottom was visible virtually everywhere. Never saw anything but water bugs. Too bad.
On a whim, I continued further south to harass the remaining fish in Potter's Ponds. The first pond is already icing up on the shady side and in the shallows near the road.
My first fish was a fun catch, as I watched it speed toward my lure for a nip and turn back a couple of times before finally taking it close to shore. While watching it, I noticed that it didn't look like a rainbow and once it was on the line, I could see why.
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Quite the surprise, coming from a place that only shows rainbows in the stocking reports. It was the only one I saw. A couple of other fish came to hand and it was time to go.
Miller Flat Reservoir is really low right now, but I found myself turning onto the newly improved access road to the dam. My time there was short and I never landed anything (none at MF to date), although something big gave me a good tug before shaking out of it. After losing a couple of lures, it was time to hit a spot I'm more familiar with.
Rarely disappointed at Electric Lake, my hopes were high for some pretty cutthroat. Two other people were on the far side whooping with apparent success (and beer), boosting my optimism.
First cast was a minnow about 15 feet out from the near corner. Before I even had my other rod rigged, my minnow line started jumping off the spool and a pretty cutthroat was in my hand.
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Quickly after the first, an even nicer looking specimen had the same fate:
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Casting a rainbow Krocodile didn't produce anything, nor did hanging a worm under a bubble. It was minnow all the way as a tiger came in next. It was good to get into some fish pretty quickly since the sun was headed for the horizon.
The day's fishing was pretty slow, but it was good to finally cross the hidden pond off my mental list and see some new sights. The smaller waters in the area are freezing up, so if anyone is planning a visit, they'd better hurry.
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Happy Fishing, Humans.
