Once in a great while, its fun to get out to a private Pay-To-Fish place.  Mary Ann and I got the chance to bend our bamboo rods on some larger rainbows a few days ago with a visit to Lake In The Dunes, some private lakes about 2 hours to the east of us.  It’s a great setup, with 5 small desert lakes fed by natural artesian wells on the property.  There is also a great cabin on the property for overnight stays.  It was a brisk 31 degrees when we got there and some portions of the lakes had a light covering of ice from the night below.  But sun was out and the ice cleared off by lunch time.  We found willing fish on just about any streamer/bugger pattern we threw, and also picked up quite a few on chironomids suspended under indicators.  All of the fish we caught were between 16″ and 22″, with a few larger ones lost.  It made for some wonderful winter rainbow fishing.  Here are a few photos of our day:

Dave and Mary Ann at Lake In The Dunes.

A beautiful winter day at Lake In The Dunes

Lake In The Dunes Rainbow

Lake In The Dunes Rainbow