# Grandpa's Lake, MT 7/28-8/1



## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

On June 18, 1958, Grandpa Dodger was fishing at a small lake in southwestern Montana when his trolling motor came loose from his zodiac style raft. He dove into the water after it. The shock of the cold water caused his third heart attack. Grandma Dodger rushed him and 4 kids to the nearest town to get him medical attention. They were told that Grandpa Dodger would be kept for observation for the night, but he was expected to be fine. They returned to the little lake to camp for the night.

Grandpa Dodger died that night. Mr. Dodger, my dad, was three.

The little lake has a proper name that you'd see on maps. But, for us, it has always been Grandpa's lake.

We arrived at about 8:00 and got camp set up. It was great to be back.










We were hoping that we'd have a little time to fish on Thursday, but it wasn't to be. We got the boat in the water and started tying up our lures but we ran out of light.

We retreated to camp for double decker hamburgers. Food always tastes better when you're camping.

Friday morning we were up early, because neither of us could wait any longer to be back at Grandpa's lake. We trolled the length of the lake that morning. Mr. Dodger used a wedding ring while I used a silver hammered croc and a double glow pink RMT hoochie. It was a little slow on Friday morning, which we expected. Fishing is slower in July at Grandpa's lake. Mr. Dodger caught the first one to break the ice.










As we trolled along, Mallie, our dog, would stand up and follow the shade around the boat. When we turned, she would stand up, walk to the new shady spot, lay down, and fall back to sleep. She did that for the whole time we were there. If you happened to be in the shade, she'd come lay on you and fall asleep. Dogs have the life.

We had a little trouble keeping the boat straight on Friday morning because the lake was busy with sail boats and other non-fishing craft. My line got tangled around the downrigger cable, which hasn't happened to me in years. But, fortunately the fish that came to visit was big enough that I could still see the hit. I popped out, untangled my line, and brought a first for me to the surface.










It looked a lot like a rainbow but it had a hooked jaw and red spots on the skin. I thought, wait a minute, those red spots are just blood or lesions or something. Not so. They were actually red spots. I had a brownbow!



















Grandpa's Lake is known for its browns as much as for its consistent rainbows. So a brownbow wasn't out of the realm of reality but I'd never seen one there before. They are a rare fish to come across, but I had one.

We fished the evening in our cove. I tried throwing some spinners. Mr. Dodger tossed out a worm. On the last cast of the evening, Mr. Dodger nailed a nice 19" fish.










We went back to camp for some spaghetti and meatballs.

Saturday morning, we were up and and it again. Mr. Dodger switched over to a jointed frog flatfish and started bringing the fish in hand over fist.





































I caught another one on a jointed (j7) chartreuse rapala.










Saturday night we went back to the cove to cast. The wildlife was out in full force. We saw a deer (the pictures of which did not turn out). There were tons of ospreys everywhere. And we saw an bald eagle flying around as well. No bears this time though. Mr. Dodger got another one on a worm.










He wasn't the only one that was successful in the cove that night. At last light, a big female osprey crashed into about a foot and a half of water. After a big splash, Mama osprey took off with a rainbow trout in her left talon. It's the third time I've ever seen that, and the second time at Grandpa's Lake.

We went back to camp for pork chops in mushroom soup.

Sunday morning, we were back on the water. Mr. Dodger was expecting to throttle me again. He put out his flatfish and started to wait. I tied up a couple of laser rainbow lucky crafts and started trolling the length of the lake. It was beautiful.



















Pretty soon, the lucky rainbow came through. It was on.




























The biggest fish of the trip came a few minutes later. It was a two pound rainbow.










He fought so hard that he straightened a treble on the lucky and straightened the split ring on the other hook!










I found the fish and the right depth, finally. We had another fisherman eagerly watching our catch as we trolled around.










We went in for lunch and it turned out that our day of fishing was done. The rain rolled in while we were having lunch and kept up until Monday morning. It was so nice being at Grandpa's lake that we didn't even mind. The area was so pretty that we couldn't help just enjoying sitting in the camper and looking at the lake.

The final tally was Mr. Dodger 7, Dodger 6. The old man showed me up. He wanted to claim Grandpa's lake family champion but since I've held that title for the last 10 years, I think he'll have to settle for Grandpa's Lake 2011 family champion and he may not even get that if we get back up there in September. 8)

The fishing was slower than it is in June when we normally go. But, many of the people we talked to only caught 2 or 3 over the same period of time. One of the locals called the lake "finnicky." We've never found that. We've always been successful there. But, we have a lot of family history at the lake, probably 80 years worth.

Mr. Dodger and I never knew Grandpa. But, I think I know a lot about him based on his choice of fishing lakes. He was a rancher for most of his life in Montana. My Grandma sold apples from their orchard in town on the weekends. When they moved to Salt Lake in 1947, Grandpa got a job as an equipment repairman at Kennecott. But, he still made trips up to his little lake every year.

One of the few things we know about Grandpa is that he loved fishing. And one of the few things he was able to teach us about fishing was that Grandpa's lake is a great place to fish. Even though we never got to fish with him in person, I feel like we get to fish with him every year at Grandpa's lake. I'm sure he didn't realize that his trips to Grandpa's lake would be passed down to his grandsons when he went there. Grandpa's lake is all I've ever known of Grandpa but if the quality of the lake is any representation of the quality of the man, he must have been a good one.


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## FishNaked (Apr 15, 2009)

The story and family history you have at that lake make it all the more memorable...what a fun place for your family...I'd love to listen around the campfire up there and hear the stories. 

Thanks for sharing.


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

Great story, thanks for sharing.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Loved it.


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## saturn_guy (Jan 17, 2009)

I love that lake! I was just there recently, but did not do any where near as well as you did (only 2 pretty bows) I almost didn't recognize the lake though. It didn't have the shades of blue and green I'm used too.


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

Hah I finally saw your mug! It was worth getting up early to see it! Don't worry your secret face is safe with me. Loved the fake beard though! (just kidding) At the very least I will now be able to say hi to ya next time I see you on the water. Always good to put a face to a name too!

Anyways I loved the story of the old man. Sad to see him go though, but at least it was not in the hospital. I know some people hate to hear that, but to die in nature doing what you loved is a "best case senario" of a really bad outcome. What a beautiful place for your grandpa to go. At least you guys don't have negative associations with that place as I am sure some people would never go back. 

Until today I had never heard of a "brown-bow" so way to go! 

Cheers to Grandpa Doger! :O--O:


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

Here's the picture from our trip back in October 2002. It looks like we were in a similar area when we took the pics - kind of fun to compare!!


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

It looks like you had a awesome time those are some great photos thanks for sharing your story. 8)


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Way to go, Dodger! I'm glad Grandpa helped guide your boat to hook you up with so many nice fish. Looks like a trip that will leave you with fond memories for years to come.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

saturn_guy said:


> I love that lake! I was just there recently, but did not do any where near as well as you did (only 2 pretty bows) I almost didn't recognize the lake though. It didn't have the shades of blue and green I'm used too.


Yeah, the pictures I took don't really show the true colors of the lake. My camera skills are fairly lacking though, despite LOAH's best efforts to the contrary.



tye dye twins said:


> Hah I finally saw your mug! It was worth getting up early to see it! Don't worry your secret face is safe with me. Loved the fake beard though! (just kidding) At the very least I will now be able to say hi to ya next time I see you on the water. Always good to put a face to a name too!
> 
> Until today I had never heard of a "brown-bow" so way to go!


I guess photobucket isn't overwriting the uploaded pictures as fast as I posted them. No big deal though. The beard is "fishing camo" and I'm going to keep it until I catch my fish at Flaming Gorge sometime in the next few weeks. I'm looking for them down deep where the fish grow hair. Seems only fitting that I should grow a little extra too.

Brownbows, as I understand it, are fairly rare to come by because Browns spawn in the fall and Rainbows spawn in the spring. More than likely, he was a second generation brownbow that got spawned when another hybrid had his rainbow feelings take him to the spawning stream in the spring. This one had a lot of rainbow in him too, which makes me think it is a second generation, or later, fish. It was a new hybrid for me though, so that was pretty cool.



Grandpa D said:


> Here's the picture from our trip back in October 2002. It looks like we were in a similar area when we took the pics - kind of fun to compare!!


You have the place Grandpa! I think my picture was taken just around the bend from where yours was.

Thanks for the comments, it was really a nice trip. I missed it last year so there was that much more anticipation this year. Grandpa's choices really affected my life, where I was born, etc. He became a Mormon after he moved to Salt Lake because he'd "rather have the home teachers once a month than the missionaries twice a week." That's funny right there.

I think he would be proud that, even though his family has changed so much, we still go to Grandpa's lake every year.


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## netresult (Aug 22, 2008)

Very nice story and report! I learned something new, wasn't aware that "brownbows" existed. Cool fish!


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