Day 27, Stafford Lake, Again
I did go out to Stafford lake for the second day in a row. It was another beautiful flight out there and the lake was again gorgeous to spend time on. I chose to land in the same way I had the day before, it puts me relatively close to the sandbar that is my destination on the lake and it allows me to set up for a glassy water landing with the shoreline relatively close by and with a nice go around option in case I decide not to land at the last moment. Here is a video of the second day landing and taking off, I know it is very similar to the first day but I just can’t resist because it is so beautiful.
I did set myself up with the anchor in a shallow spot on the shoreline and tied to the plane in such a way that the wind would cause the plane to tack away from shore holding itself safely out from the trees where the fish were mostly located on my sonar fish finder. However, I had to have the anchor placed in such a way that if the winds changed and I needed to get out of that spot I could easily pull it off the shoreline and not have to cut it to taxi away from the shore and trees, (I still did have a knife in reach just in case).
The fishing was difficult. I kept catching the trout that were under 16 inches and no Dolly Varden or larger trout. I tried every type of lure, several types of bait and a whole bunch of different fly fishing including things that looked like nymphs, leeches, minnows and spiders in all different colors and sizes. I even tried some larger salmon lures after I saw a 14 inch trout trying to attack the 6 inch trout that I was reeling in. Sometimes the larger fish have very specific feeding habits regarding exactly when and what they eat and in my middle of the day fishing, I just couldn’t duplicate it. Then in the early afternoon the winds picked up enough that the anchor pulled loose and it was time for me to head back to Courtenay.
I took my time on the way back and explored some different lakes along the way but the afternoon winds were whipping up and I chose to just land back at Courtenay.
