Saturday afternoon and this morning (3 hours each) I was back on Pass Lake. Both days produced some nice fish. Winter fishing has the advantage of fewer anglers, though today there were six or seven boats out by the time I left. Several were fishing chironomids and were having some luck. A report from an angler I met Saturday (he'd been fishing since daylight) was that chironomids were knocking them dead Saturday morning.

I stayed with my booby fly and caught three fish each outing. Saturday was a beautifully calm time that allowed for more precise control of the retrieve than today did, and I came away with two brown trout of 21 inches. They were taken deep on a slow retrieve, and both took while the fly was paused for a few seconds. I cast to the bank and retrieve, but the takes predominate in deeper water, perhaps 20-30 feet from shore. My sense is that the fish are either following the fly for quite a while before taking or are holding in the deeper water.

Today was all rainbows 17- to 19-inchers, all on my booby fly. I did try several other patterns (white baitfish, black leach, classic muddler) without success, but that may not mean much. We all tend to catch fish on the fly we think we'll catch fish on, and that's my olive booby right now.

Both days I caught a fish while trolling fast from west to east across the north end of the lake. These fish are invariably smaller rainbows (12-14 inches), reminding me, again, that fish behavior in not uniform, and it's worth mixing things up when times get slow.

In addition to the other anglers, I shared the lake with lots of Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers and a pair of beavers. I'm sorry I don't have any photos.