Phantom Lake Bass

Phantom Lake is on the way home, and I've often wondered if it holds fish. By summertime the lily pads are so thick and the brambles so dense it's hard to see how one would actually access the water.

But yesterday I had an hour to spare and decided to try. I drug my float tube to a small clearing on the western edge and began kicking my way through the thicket until I found a little passageway out into the open lake. It was sunny and warm. No one was on the lake as I began casting a 5-weight with a brown Woolly Bugger back toward the lily pads.

There was no sign of fish but I had read several years ago an old post about someone catching bass in this lake. I cast for about 15 minutes with nothing. But then I slowed my retrieve a little and I felt the line tense. At first I thought I'd hooked the lily pad but then it began to quiver and I knew I had something on. Up came a one-pound black bass. I was thrilled to see the lake still had fish.

I switched over to a green popper and quickly had another largemouth, though this one was a little smaller.

By now it was time to get home so I headed back to my little passageway into the brambles and tried there before entering. There was some varied vegetation in this area and I must admit that a perfect cast was not wasted. I saw a boil and then a decent 1.5 pound black jumped out of the water for the popper. It fought pretty well and I snapped this photo below.

June and July have been good for bass. I caught a rock bass in Centralia last weekend in a river there. And I've written about the smallmouth bass I caught in Sammamish.

I am ready to get back to some trout fishing when time permits. I am partial to the beautiful streams where trout live and their more thrilling runs and fights.