Trout from 10 to 16 inches are the norm on East Lake in Oregon as well as Fish Lake in Washington. Here, author David Paul Williams shows a quality East Lake 'bow. Photo by Michael Williams.

This is not a "fill a bucket with lots of fish" method. You may catch only one or two browns, but each one will be in the 5- to 8-pound class.

Sure beats watching golf on television back in the motel!

Rainbows provide steady action for anglers. In September, much of the catch will be the tasty-sized rainbows that were planted in the spring, plus some larger holdover fish.

Boaters troll Wedding Ring spinners or a local favorite called the High Lake Special, which you can buy at The Cove Resort store.

West likes the High Lake Special because it emits more fish-attracting vibrations than a Wedding Ring. To make the rig irresistible, he suggests adding a chunk of worm.

Lure color seems to make a difference in the catch rate. On bright days, West thinks bright lures work best. In the evening or early morning when the sun is off the water, or on those rare overcast days, he'll put on an orange or pink lure.

Flyfishers have discovered Fish Lake and its large rainbow and brown trout. There's something almost primal about hooking, playing and landing a big hooked-nosed brown trout while fishing at water level in a float tube.

Fish Lake is a great place to match angling wits and fly-casting skills with those hard-to-catch browns. You might cast a perch fry streamer pattern all day long in search of that one tug that wipes away the soreness in your casting arm and signals the start of the battle.

Many flyfishers launch their float tubes and pontoon boats from shore, then work the north, south or west shores, using a full-sink line.

If you fish from a floating device at night when powerboats are on the water, wear a personal floatation device and show a light.

In addition to baitfish patterns, the usual assortment of Woolly Buggers in black, brown and olive all catch fish.

The lake grows chironomids, which trout of all sizes eat all year long. The key to chironomid fishing is finding the depth where the fish are feeding, which depth can vary from 25 feet to just a few inches below the surface.

Sometimes the fish will even take adult chironomids off the surface. Make sure to carry a few size 14 and 16 black dry flies as well. According to West, when the fish are high in the water column, flyfishers catch tons of trout on attractor patterns.

Yellow perch are the best-tasting species that comes from Fish Lake. However, Viola said the perch population seems to be at a lower level than in other lakes. He said that big fish probably key in on the perch for forage. Despite that, perch still show up in many a day's bag.

EAST LAKE
Oregon
East Lake sits high in Oregon's Newberry National Volcanic Monument caldera at 6,400 feet. Covered with ice and snow until mid-May, this 1,050-acre lake is nothing short of a fish factory.

Newberry Caldera was formed 500,000 years ago when Newberry Mountain collapsed, leaving a crater 5 miles wide. Subsequent volcanic eruptions built a cinder cone that now separates East and Paulina lakes. Although it's as much as 220 feet deep, roughly half of East Lake is shallows and luxuriant weedbeds.

Many underwater hot springs help produce tons of aquatic insects, which tons of trout feast on.