Chopaka, Chapoka, It's Chopaka

Chapoka, Chopaka......  it's Chopaka!!!!  There is a story behind this but we will just go beyond it.

What a great trip last week...  A good part of the group headed up early Sunday morning and by the time we got there it was noon and a few folks had already left leaving some good open spots to set up camp.  Finding a flat spot on the slopes of the lakefront is a difficult thing to do especially when you are looking for a spot to put up a 15X20 wall tent.  We found the best spot available and it even allowed for our friend Jeff to have his camper and Bill to have his Suburban right with the group.  Sunday was all about getting camp set and getting all of our gear organized for the week.

Ok I need to back up, we all did well getting up to the lake and for those that have been there you know there is a bit of a hill you have to climb.  In the past two years, two of our group have lost transmissions trying to pull RV's up to the site.  I did have a bit of a near miss in that my drift boat trailer bounced off the ball as we traveled up the steep rocky hillside.

Not a big deal we just made a nice groove in the road....  Tightened things up and off we went.  Good thing, otherwise brother Dale might have had a new Hyde hood ornament.  The picture below is the hill that you have to go up to get to the lake.  It is long and steep and gets oiled with transmission fluid fairly often!!!  The tow truck drivers over here know exactly where it is at!!!

By the way this is the hill that eats transmissions up!!!  It continues to climb out of the picture!!!

Camp was set when a few other folks from the Plain Fly Tyers group started to show up.  Tom Bartlett, Rene, and Rollie Smitten were next.  Then we found out that Jim Passage had blown the front seal in his transmission so a few folks helped him get things organized and towed the trailer he was trying to bring up back to Tonasket where his truck was to be fixed.  No one fished that first night, it was pretty windy and we all were tired from getting things organized.  We had a French Dip and French Fry meal that evening and warmed up a Homefires Bakery Marion Berry Pie for dessert.  Life was good.  

The next morning we had a nice breakfast and the gang headed out for some fishing.  I headed down to Tonasket to help my friend Jim out with moving his trailer to Spectacle Lake so that he could come up and fish with us while his truck was being repaired.  We got him set up and then we headed up to Chopaka and got some good fishing in for the afternoon.  There had been a Mayfly hatch the day before while we were setting up camp so we expected the same the following day.  There was a short one which made for some great dry fly action.  Also the HippieD White Bead Headed leech like pattern was on fire.  Bill Moffat said he quit counting how many fish he caught (somehow I don't believe he was not counting!!!).  Buggers and leech patterns were working really well down deep.  Every day there was a damsel hatch and it was fun just to step back and watch the animal life take advantage of it.  Ducks, fish and even dragon flies were in for the meal.  Here are a couple of shots of damsel's going through the process of coming out of the water onto the reeds and flying away.

Damsel having come up out of the water in a larva form and drying it's wings

Wings dried ready to fly

These are the left over larva casings and they were all over the reeds around the lake,.

Most everyone had a good day of fishing Monday and we all mixed it up with some dry fly fishing along with nymph.  Here are a few of the guys fishing.

Tomme Towne

Cowboy T (Tim) and Bill

Is that Graham Nash or Rene?  It's Rene

Jeff Peace Man

Jeff with a nice fish on....  

Vern with a nice fish caught on a white HippieD

Still Fighting

A smile and a nice fish to the boat...Great job Vern

Bro Dale fishing the dry fly up against the woods...Maybe an egg pattern on intermediate line!!!  It worked

The pontoon boats came in all colors, shapes and sizes

Peace man is one of the most experienced guys on the lake.. been fishing there for years!!!

Cowboy T takin' a break....  must have caught 20 by now!!!

Doug and Rio out for an evening float....

Now this is a group...  Jeff, Tomme, me as the oarsman and Tim as the boat Director... he is good at that...  

We had many good meals, the second night Cowboy T introduced many of us to Red Beans and Rice and Tomme BBQ'd up some ribs to go with.  Jeff had smoked some great meats which we added to many of the meals.  A spicy Sausage, Brats and then his most famous Beef Brisket which is killer!!!  Red beans and rice clearly had that nice spicy flair to it.  Bro Dale did up some great spaghetti sauce that we did with penne noodles and some bread.  The last night Bill and the gang all helped to put a great meal together.  Prime Rib Steaks, Cowboy beans and grilled bread over the BBQ.  It was amazing.  Must I not forget, Jeff also supplied the ice cream most nights.  I think there was a peach mixture, cookie dough, cinnamon bun, and a couple more.  And there were cookies coming out the ears!!!  Here is a picture of dinner that last evening.  There is Jeff, Dale, Me at the head, Cowboy T, Dick Nicklas, Tomme and the guy standing up is from the camp next door.

Prime Steaks, cowboy beans, sauteed mushrooms and grilled bread oh and some wine

There we go, now we have Bill in the picture but again Rich Archer eluded the shot!!!!

Now there is a lot of time during the morning and day to tell tall stories or close to lies around the campfire.  It is the one thing that brings the guys together in the morning and in the evening.  Here are a couple of shots of people just hanging out....

Doug, Tomme, Me, Dale and Tom Bartlett just telling a few lies

Tomme, Tim, Me, Vern, Dale, and Doug eating some ice cream

One of the things I really like about the lake is the wildlife.  There are some great ducks and sometimes a few loons.  One morning we saw a cow moose and a smaller calf across the lake from us.  When I went fishing that morning I went over to where we had seen them and the reeds were pulled up and eaten.  Here are a few pictures of some of the ducks we saw....

A Male Golden Eye

A female golden eye

This noisy Cout was eating damsels as they came up the reeds

This guy wanted me to quit bugging him

Another Male Golden Eye

Mama Golden Eye with the ducklings below hanging on the stump

Two Blue Bills hanging in the reeds

The Blue Bills do a great little dance when they are around the females

Check my bill out!!!

Thinking this is what most people call a Rock Chuck....  mountain marmot

With a whistle this little guy stood up to check me out....

Well another trip to Chopaka Lake ends with a lot of memories and stories to tell.  I remember one day we were out and several of us had taken our rain gear just in case.  Well the clouds rolled in and the sky's darkened and it rained the kind of rain that makes a splash on the water.  Then it hailed for several minutes.  It all passed and the sun came out.  The amazing thing is that the best hatch of the time there occured and we caught some great fish.  Here is what it looked like outside

A storm moves in

Sunset the last evening...  finale

The people who did not make it into pictures but were up at the lake are Rollie Schmitten, Jim McKenna, Kris Pendleton, Mike Payne and Jim Passage.

What a great trip....  thanks to all that helped with setting up camp and making food.  Until next time, tight lines......