Seems like I never have enough time these days, so I really got a late start at Eagle Lake this year. Oh well, I guess I'll have to make up for it... weather permitting.

October 6- Clear, cool until the sun came up, then warming into a really nice day. Calm mostly, not enough chop to work a jig very well. Went by myself to the jetty and fished by the pipe. I threw a jig without a bobber most of the time, and had a couple of bird hits, but no fish hits that I could identify. Also tried dead sticking a floating rapala and had a surface hit on that, but wasn't sure if it was a bird or not. It was nice watching the sun come up, slowly illuminating the mountain across from me, but the fishing certainly could have been better. The wormers weren't catching any either for the most part. Hopefully the next time I get to go, there will be some different weather. Came home after about 2½ hours of casting. First skunk of the year, (at Eagle Lake), hopefully the last.

October 13- Clear, calm, cold... not the best conditions for fishing at this lake. Actually, cold is good, but clear and calm.. no. Went to the Jetty. Fished a little down from the pipe... about 6 people fishing both sides of the pipe. I threw a dark jig for a while, then switched to a gray jig, but was only able to catch one Grebe. He wasn't too happy about being snagged in the leg, and put up a good fight, but I managed to land him and get him undone. Got a couple of other hits, but they could have been birds. I only stayed a couple of hours, then came home... wormers not doing any good.

October 20- Mostly clear, almost calm, much warmer morning than we have had lately. Full moon. Went by myself to Eagle's Nest, at government point. Got there about 5 minutes before legal fishing time, (0650). There was virtually no chop so I had to move my jig along, but try as I might, they would not hit it. I tried a gray jig, as well as a tri-color. I finally started throwing a small countdown rapala, and had a fish take it right at my feet, about 6 feet of line out from my rod tip. It thrashed around for a short time, and even though I managed to get my reel into back-reel, it came off. That was the only bite I had all morning. There was another guy anchored out in a boat just out from me, and he caught one, apparently using a worm on the bottom. It was so warm that I never got cold at all, very comfortable morning. Left to come home about 9:30.

November 9- Overcast, windy and cold, just the way I like it! Snow on the road going over Eagle Lake summit made the drive a little slower than usual. Went by myself to Eagle's Nest, and fished Government point. There were 2 guys there ahead of me, but there was plenty of room to fish. got there about 6:20, and caught my first fish within the first hour. It was in the 3lb range, so it's going in the smoker. I caught 4 more for a total of 5 within the first 2 hours. Missed quite a few bites also. It stayed windy, and the waves were crashing in, getting me pretty wet, but that bobber going down alot made it nice. Caught all my fish on the same jig, a black, gray and olive combo... the usual. It didn't have very many feathers by the time I went home. Tried some down in the bay too, and had a couple of bites, but didn't stick with it long enough to catch any more. Total fish landed- 8. Pretty good day. Left to come home at 11:00.

November 17- Partly cloudy, some breeze out of the North. Cool, but not too cold, warming in late morning. Went by myself to Government Point, getting there a little after 6:00. Right after I got there, Pete Villa showed up. We fished jigs mostly, but both of us tried rapala's, having no luck with them. I caught my first fish within the first hour. I caught several small ones, but managed to get a couple of larger ones, one about 3 lbs. I caught all of mine on a dark, 3 color jig, a little different than my usual, this one had brown in it. Pete caught 2 fish while I was there, but he stayed a little later than me. I had quite a few bites that I missed. I left to come home at 10:00 after the wind had almost completely died down. Total fish caught today- 7.

November 24- Partly cloudy, clouds increasing in late morning. Light breeze to calm, hardly any chop at all, most of the time flat water. I went by myself to Government Point, getting there a little after 6:00. I caught my first fish shortly after getting there, on a jig. It weighed about 3 lbs so I kept it. Dan White showed up a little later just as I was landing my second fish, which I caught on a small countdown rapala, stop and go retrieve. We could see fish cruising in close, occasionally chasing and catching minnows right up against shore. I tried a floating rapala, dead sticking, and throwing it right in front of them, but they weren't interested. Dan got one on a jig, then a little later when I was getting ready to leave, he got one on a night crawler under a bobber. I left to come home about 10:00, both of us had 2 fish by then.. and that was it. Pretty slow no doubt due to the weather.

November 28 (Thanksgiving Day)- Clear, calm and cold.. bad conditions for fishing this lake. I know, I said that before... and I'll keep on saying it I guess. Went to Government Point with Paul and Gene, getting there a little after 6:00. Lots of people all over the place. 6 or 7 guys went past us going out to the next point, and the bay area had people all along the shore. Paul hooked the first fish using a jig and bobber combo, but it came off before he landed it. Gene was throwing a needle fish, and he hooked the next one on that. It was small for Eagle Lake, about 1½ lb. I caught the next fish on a jig... just sitting there, no chop, not moving. It was the same size as Gene's. I also got a hit on a rapala, but didn't hook it. Slow fishing, but a beautiful day for just about everything else.

November 29- Clear, calm, cold... starting to sound like a broken record. Went to the usual spot with Gene and Paul. Try as we might, the fish just weren't cooperating. I did manage to catch a small one on a jig, but Paul and Gene got skunked. Gene tried walking down the shore casting a needle fish, and actually hooked 2 fish doing that, but didn't land either one. The fish are in close chasing minnows, so they are feeding, but getting them to bite what we are throwing is another matter. Another great day to be outdoors... as long as you aren't fishing at Eagle Lake.

December 1- Some high clouds but mostly clear, calm and cold. Gene and I went for one last time this year (for him). We went to the same spot. Gene got a fish on a jig that weighed 3 lb, 7 oz. Both of us tried hard for more, but I ended up getting skunked and he only had that one fish when all was said and done. He threw that needle fish some more, and had a hit on it, but again, didn't hook it. We met Pete Villa out there, and he caught one too, about a 2 lb fish. Pete got his on a jig. We had a little wave action coming across the lake, but it didn't help much. Both those guys beat me today, but it again was a real nice day...

December 7- Foggy, calm, cold. Went by myself to the usual spot. Even though I got there early, there were a couple of people there before me. (got there about 6:00) Mostly fished my jig, but I did throw a rapala quite a few times too. I had a couple of pull downs, but missed all but one. Landed that one, about 2 lbs. Things were slow, and after the sun got on the water, I left to try in the bay. I got a bite down there, pulled the bobber under, but missed it too. Left to come home about 9:30. At least I didn't get skunked.

December 28- Overcast, very windy from SW, some light rain showers so not too cold. I tried to go to Eagle's Nest, but only made it to the summit coming up from Willow Creek Valley. I never would have made it there but somebody had plowed a trail coming in from the road to the tunnel. Unfortunately they stopped at the summit, so I had to turn around and ended up going to the tunnel, getting there a little after 7:00. The road going in there has some standing water that is quite deep in places, and due to the snow melt that was happening at a rapid rate, it seemed to be getting deeper. The road bed itself is rocky, so it has a hard bottom, but going directly through some areas that looked like small lakes was a little disconcerting, especially considering that they were so deep. At any rate, the main lake had waves on it that you could body surf on, but the fish were biting. I caught all of my fish on a jig under a bobber, about 4-5 ft. One fish I caught had another jig in it's mouth and was dragging the bobber around with him too, so I gained a jig and weighted bobber from that one. My 3rd fish was a nice one, weighed 5 lbs on my digital scale. I turned it loose. Some of the others were in the 2-3 lb range, and a couple were really little. Great action, missed several, and one came unhooked but I ended up catching 9. Left to come home about 11:00.

December 31- Last fishing day of 2002. Overcast, snow, windy from the west, changing to the NW. Pete Villa and I left to go out to the tunnel, but since there was so much new snow, (about a foot), we decided it might be better to stay on main roads. We headed out to fish the west side of Rocky point, but decided to go over to the Spaulding area instead. Having never fished over there, we drove out till we saw the lake, then looked for the boat ramp. We took a left at the stop sign, and saw a floating dock that some other people were already fishing on, so we went there. Picture The fish were biting, and everyone out there seemed to catch some. That area is pretty shallow, and murky water, so I had my bobber set shallower than usual. We caught them right up next to the dock, some people were just vertical jigging off the dock. Even though the drive out there was pretty bad, (some of the roads hadn't been plowed yet) it turned out to be a really nice last day at Eagle lake. Total caught- Me-5, Pete-4.