Didn't arrive until at least 10am. Several folks were preparing to leave with limits of these planters, some quite hefty. Several of them vowed to be there tomorrow at 5am. It has been 70 to 80 degrees last 2 days and was warm and sunny, around 75F. I don't know the water temp, but with all the sun, I would have fished deeper if I could.

The one I caught was small, on a red hook with 2 orange power-eggs and a 1.5 in piece of worm. This on 2 ft leader under a sliding weight.

This was my first outing of the season and first visit to Martha Lake. We were headed to Log Boom Park and stopped at Angler's Choice for licenses on the way. The friendly folks there recommended Martha Lake for good fishing lately. Thanks to them for the tip. We'll be back. Earlier. It's great for those times when there isn't time (to put the boat in the water).

I fished Martha on Saturday and came back today for some more fun.

I fished by myself today for about 2.5 hours. I launched my 10' Aluminum Jon Boat about 15 after 3pm. I started trolling right away from the launch. I typically like to troll inline spinners for trout but after seeing countless boats throwing spinners, wedding rings, with tons of flashers, I decided to be different and present the trout without something a bit different.

On Saturday I caught 1 on a Rapala Scatter Rap which is a brand new and truly revolutionary crankbait. If you haven't heard of it, YouTube it and you will be amazed. It's not a gimmick at all and I can tell you that it really does everything they say it does. I then caught 4 more on a Koppers Live Target Bluegill Crankbait.

I was using my 7' M Abu Garcia Veritas Winch Crankbait Rod paired with my Daiwa Exceller Crankbait reel that was spooled with 10 lb Big Game monofilament. Great set up that casts far, smooth, and gets the job done well!

Today, I caught 2 within the first 20 minutes by trolling the same Bluegill Crankbait. I then switched to a F7 Rapala Original Floater. This lure ended up catching me 8 more! I got 10 to the boat today but had several short strikes and about half a dozen that jumped and spit the hooks before getting to the boat. So overall it was a very fun day with lots of action!

On the downside, I snapped one of my favorite rods by setting the hook on a trout. I snapped my 7" MH Powell Diesel Glass Crankbait Rod. If I had to make a guess about how this happened, I would say that the rod was damaged/cracked at that particular spot and I was not aware of it. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed and angry at the same time. Goodbye $80.

The weather was mostly cloudy with winds that were on and off. Towards the end the winds picked up a bit and started to blow me around in my super light jon boat. So that is when I decided to head back to the launch after having some fun.

All fish were released alive and healthy.

The launch area was pretty much a zoo. But I got ucky and was able to unload and load without having to wait.

Get out there and have some fun!

I really do think I've lost my touch for catching trout after all these years. Maybe it's just because the last time I was really into trout fishing was the very beginning of the Powerbait era, and it was something trout hadn't seen before. I again got skunked after showing up to fish about 6pm and staying til 8pm. I tried chartreuse Power Eggs, orange glitter Gulp eggs, sherbert Turbo Dough, orange Extra Scent dough, and pink glitter Extra Scent dough. I even tried the new Roe scented Powerbait trout dip. I did get one bite but it got snagged up in the weeds/milfoil and got off. I think I may be running too short a leader. When trouting on the eastside a 3' leader with a small gold wire treble with dough and a #12 egg hook halfway down with floating eggs was the hot setup. Now it seems people are just running a size 6 or 8 baitholder with 2 or 3 eggs on it. Maybe it's just me. who knows. The guys out trolling were coming back with between 3 fish to a limit on average.

I took my inflatable boat out to Martha Lake near Mill Creek today to try to catch my first fish of the year (it was not my first trip of the year) before heading on vacation for the rest of May. I have heard many stories of the great Largemouth Bass the inhabit the lake so I started with those. Unfortunately, my boat was getting blown around quite a bit and it was hard to hit my spots, but I didn't see any evidence there were fish under or near them yet anyway. I moved on to trolling for trout with moderate success. I lost a pretty decent sized Rainbow at the boat near the middle of the lake in the late afternoon. After that it was pretty quiet until almost sundown when I moved towards the end of the lake with the boat launch and public park. I finally landed my first fish of the year and lost one more off the boat (came unhooked as I was lifting it in and literally bounced off my inflatable) before I headed in at sunset. Not a particularly great day, fishing wise, but the weather was unbeatable and just being out in the lake was great.

A plain nickel dodger with a brass wedding ring spinner was the better performing lure long lined across the top.

Stayed for 1hr. Caught a chunky, not a lunker mind you, but a healthy...probably 1/2pound Largemouth Bass.

From the larger fishing dock, casting a Rapala, F09 Yellow Perch south toward the lily pads. Casted as close to the edge of the lily pads as possible. Some casts went 3-5feet into the lilies. The cadence followed was; Cast as close to edge as possible ( ok to get into lillies ), Let sit for 20-30secs. Light pops in, over, and around the lillies. Wait another 5-10secs. Another light pop. Wait another 5-10secs. As soon as it popped out of the lillies I begin a gentle pop/yank/reel approach. As it was about 10feet from the lillies, I got the hit.

Note that 20% of the time, I had got into the lillies and hung up. The lure was recovered, but it made for less effective cast. Many times, I was able to pop the lure just enough to carry itself over the lillies into the next hole without a hang up.

I use a 5'6" Medium Action Ugly Stick. Cheap pole, but the best pole I've owned in years.
An Quantum 4-8lb line reel...cheapo reel, but effective.
8lb Stern 100% Flourocarbon. The any lake, any river line.
#14 barrel swivel, or another swival of that weight. Used to keep line from twisting.