Joe Coakley
I just returned from a 4 day fishing trip to Winthrop. I was camped at Big Twin Resort which just opened up a week ago. It was almost empty! The wind and rain made conditions challenging but the BIG SURPRISE was the quality of the fishing. We all caught multiple fish at 18″ and a few at 20″. Nothing smaller than 13″. The one common trait was the girth on these fish and the quality of the fight! Fishing my Steve Fosie/Kyler Ries 4 wt. bamboo rod was a blast. We had another boat in our group that fished the same area of Big Twin for 3 days and never moved more than 100 feet, landing well into double digits for fish landed on chronomids. I spent most of my time trolling and had great success with an Olive Hale Bopp or an olive Six pack fly (both available at Avid Angler in Lake Forest Park or Pacific Fly Fishing in Mill Creek). What I learned at Big Twin is they did an extra plant last year and that winter kill was minimal, allowing these fish to grow! Grow they did! Other intel: I did not get to fish Buzzard Lake but heard the fish were even bigger than Big Twin. Fish at Davis Lake were smaller and wind was also a challenge. I did not fish any other lakes other than Big Twin as it was the best fishing I have ever experienced there in probably a dozen trips over the past 15 years.
One other suggestion: if the wind is nasty chronomid fishing offers a nice respite. Size 18 Green chronomid or black with red wire and wings also worked in size 16 and smaller.
