Anglin with Anglen — 1974
JULY 11, 1974
Monday evening the wife and I went to Smith lake to eat our lunch and catch a few trout. It looked quite rainy in the north, but I just ignored that. We unloaded the boat and started across the lake. While we were crossing, the wind switched from the south to the north we just had time to get back to the car.
We had our lunch in the car, and it sure did rain for awhile. This is the only time I’ve let the rain chase me off the lake this year.
I was up early Tuesday and on Brush Lake. It had rained up there also. I picked up eight trout while I was eating my breakfast and I just knew I’d get the other two trolling, so I went to bass fishing, picked up twelve, started trolling carey special fly and while I had several strikes on it I never caught another trout.
Went back to my plastic worm and picked up three more bass on the way to the dock. These bass are just the right size for eating. The biggest I’ve taken out of there this year was two and a half pounds.
Thursday I was on Dawson Lake at 4 a.m. I was interested primarily in crappies, and they were sure interested in the white lead head jig I was using, I got to dish pans full of them, quit and went bass fishing.
Here I wasn’t so lucky, did get two about a pound and a half a piece. My crappies were all mostly small. I did have some of them 10 inches long but a lot of them ran six inches.
Went back to Brush Lake Saturday morning, fished for trout and boy, those trout hadn’t read any of my clippings. I fished about an hour and didn’t even get a bite, switched to nightcrawlers and went bass fishing and had real good luck, caught 18, but didn’t get any on the plastic worm, which is unusual.
The army worms are so thick up there this year they have completely defoliated all the leaf trees clear around the lake and all along the road. I never saw anything like it before. They were falling off the trees and into the water and the bass I caught were full of them.
Wife and I made another try at Smith Lake Saturday evening and for two hours we didn’t get a bite. They were picking up a few out in the center of the lake trolling Jackloyds. About 7 p.m. we got a little action and came off the lake with seven.
Scuttlebutt: most of the high lakes are still frozen. Some good catches of eastern brook are coming out of Round Prairie and Mission creek, so the streams must be getting down so you can fish them. All the bass lakes are producing good fish.
I see we’re getting a new Lawyer Magistrate. What we need is one that knows what the maximum penalty is instead of one that dismisses all the cases. Boundary County and Lewiston have the poorest punishment record for game violations of any other place in the state.
Just got a report the Roman Nose Lakes are open. The road up Ruby Creek is open to the pass and the rest of the lake should open up pretty fast now.
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Editor’s note: 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 as space allows reprint Anglen’s columns solely for their pleasure and historical significance. Any typos, we leave as is. Readers are reminded that this column was written decades ago and conditions, including state fish and game regulations, have changed.