Anglin with Anglen — July 25, 1974
I just finished a good week and almost got my six days in one week of fishing, but I played out Saturday and did not make it. I have wanted to fish six days a week just once for the last ten years and have not done it yet.
We were on Perkins Monday and only got two small eastern brook. We did see two big bass in there, but I don’t think bass will ever get far enough ahead of those sunfish to be good fishing. Crappie might do it as they feed almost continuously summer and winter, and they have made the fishing in Dawson Lake. All the crappie I get out of Dawson are jammed full of small perch, and there is even some real good perch coming out of Dawson now. But it would take a lot of crappie to even make a dent in those sunfish in Perkins.
It was real warm on Perkins and I was surprised at the lack of ducks on that lake, as it usually raises a lot of them.
Tuesday I was on Herman lake and I got thirteen bass up to three pounds. Boy it was cold though. We had 44 degrees here in town, and I know it was colder up there. This is a nice resort and well cared for. They have boats to rent and a nice beach for swimming.
Wednesday I was on Sinclair early, and it was raining as usual. I have made four trips up there this year, and I have fished in the rain three times. I did get a nice limit of trout on salmon eggs, I also got stuck good and tight. Now I know better than to back all the way down to the lake but I just knew I could get out of there this time. But I didn’t. I put my chains on and tore them up, then walked over to the road and a pickup came along and pulled me out. I can no longer say I have never had a set of chains on my pickup in 25 years of driving. Thursday morning I was on Smith lake and got thoroughly skunked. I never even got one bite from a trout. I did real good on bullheads though, which I did not want. A few bass in this lake would help to keep the bullheads under control, as the bass feed almost exclusively on bullheads if they can get them.
Smith lake has been fished real hard all summer. The lightning storm woke me up at 3 a.m. Friday and as I had a fishing date for four, I stayed up. I picked up a bunch of nightcrawlers and when it let up raining I went to Dawson lake. It was a real warm muggy day and I just did not know whether the fish would bite or not after the rain. I did pick up ten crappie and a two pound bass, so was quite satisfied. I wanted to go out to McArthur, but that is going to have to wait until another day.
I see by the Spokesman Review that there is a new set of bonding for game violations. Where the minimum had been $25 for fishing violations, it is now $50. Big game violations are now $300.
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Editor’s note: For 27 years, beginning Feb. 8, 1973, Ralph Anglen of Bonners Ferry wrote an outdoor column for the local paper that was widely read and used as a source of fishing and hunting information. It was called “Anglin’ with Anglen,” and was the real deal, the genuine item, written by someone whose socks were wet, whose toes were cold and who pulled no punches. We will continue as space allows to reprint Anglen’s column solely for its pleasure and historical significance. Any typos, we leave as is. Readers are reminded that this column was written almost 50 years ago and conditions, including state fish and game regulations, have changed.