Beyond a Shadow of Trout

This is the second post in a row that I have decided to title with a terrible fish-related pun. The last one was pretty terrible and likely resulted in a 70% loss of readership, but I have lost all touch with dignity at this point. However, when you're typing this in your seventh period IB Theory of Knowledge class you tend to find yourself doing anything to relieve yourself from the soul-crushing boredom and desolation. 

For this trout, death was a welcome relief from the barrage of fish-related puns.

 It's late spring, the peak of hatchery trout stocking season in the Pacific Northwest. Although by the time I sat down to write this the vast majority of the lakes have now been fished out, over the course of the last month or so I've done a lot of hatchery trout fishing. I do a lot of fishing for wild trout, and I sometimes feel silly for being so engrossed in catching those born and raised in captivity, but still find myself targeting hatchery fish quite a bit. It honestly would make more sense if the vast majority of the lakes were stocked in the winter, as the trout would be able to survive and adapt to their environment better before the killing heat of summer. Although dozens of lakes are stocked across the Willamette Valley and even more across the state, there are a few in the general area that I find myself frequenting every spring. There's honestly nothing special about them other than their close proximity to my home.

Commonwealth Lake:

Commonwealth's famous fish-stealing blue heron. This bird is so tame that I didn't even have to use the zoom or magnify the picture of him from my camera.

Commonwealth Lake is one of my favorites in the area for a variety of reasons. For one, the lake is only 10 minutes away from my house and I can easily head here for an afternoon of fishing. In addition, it's situated in a nice park near a relatively well off suburban neighborhood and is therefore a significantly safe place to fish. Trout are stocked several times each spring and they last for longer than those in many other nearby lakes due to the relatively cold and clean water.

The two pictures above pretty much illustrate why hatchery fish are sometimes called "clones"

I've only begun fishing this lake relatively recently, and have found that there are numerous other advantages to fishing here. For instance, there is a relative absence of weeds compared to many other lakes in the area. There are plenty of surface weeds, but the familiar impenetrable choking filth of slime that overgrows everything is rarely witnessed here. Granted, I've never fished this lake in late summer and it is likely that the balmy months of July and August could bring upon the green gunk, but as of mid May it's still relatively fishable.

A limit of trout taken from the lake a few weeks after the most recent stocking. This was also from the morning of my junior prom, three hours before I would have to don a suit and try to hide the residual fish smell. Don't judge me.

Granted, Commonwealth still has its disadvantages. The accessibility and niceness of the location makes the lake extremely popular among a large range of anglers, and this can make the lake very crowded. You'll see diehard trout aficionados intent on honing their trout fishing skills and get some action in the off season, old guys trying to catch dinner, and complete beginners trying to just get one on the board. And then there's me. Not sure which category I belong in.

I honestly might as well just put the same picture every time because these things all look identical.

Like virtually any other lake in the area, there's also a wide variety of warmwater species that can be encountered. I honestly haven't targeted warmwater fish here as much as in many neighboring ponds such as Bethany, but I've still done a reasonable amount of exploring around the lake in search of bass and panfish. This lake is larger than it appears; it's very long and snakes through a densely brushed area alongside the suburban neighborhood. Nearly every shallow cove in the lake houses dozens of small Pumpkinseeds, along with some surprisingly large bluegill. While I admit that they might be still very small, when you catch dozens of three inch fish the occasional five or six incher looks and feels like a complete monster! You also begin to appreciate how truly hard these fish can fight when they grow a little bit larger than the average goldfish.

Sunfish are a pain to identify but I'm pretty sure this one is a pumpkinseed.

This Bluegill looked so much bigger when I was taking the photo.

As did this one.

Commonwealth Lake is a pretty good all-around lake, both for the seasonal hatchery trout and the ever-present slew of warmwater species. I've found myself fishing it more and more lately. However, there still is another lake that I see plenty of in my spare time. It's a lake that I've written about numerous times, but mainly about the excellent warmwater fishing that it offers. However, during the spring it gets stocked several times with trout and can offer excellent fishing.

Bethany Pond: 

 Bethany Pond is the less glamorous cousin of Commonwealth Lake. Although the two bodies of water are roughly the same size, Bethany is a little more rough around the edges. The water is warmer, murkier, and filthier, the shore is muddy and regularly littered with trash, the facilities are atrocious, and the area generally experiences a lot more crime than in most other places. It's definitely not a locale that you would see on any "Top 10 Global Fishing Destinations" lists, or even "Top 10 Beaverton Fishing Destinations" lists (the seafood section at the Safeway is #8). They pulled a body out of here more than once. 

Nothing like a trout that's been sitting dead in the sun for several hours.

But I've spent enough hours trashing Bethany Pond for a lifetime. Despite the smell, it still remains an enjoyable place to fish for trout during the spring stocking season. Being a short ten minutes away from my house, I can easily head over to the lake for a few hours to soak some worms or Powerbait in the hopes of convincing a few pellet heads to bite. I especially enjoy it when they stock the lake later in the spring without prior notice, and I find myself catching trout on rigs that I had set for other species. Hatchery trout are among the least intelligent fish on the planet (which makes the number of times I've been skunked fishing for them even more embarrassing) and I've caught them on rigs as varied as corn, soft plastic bass worms. and even bread.