Looking back through some of my photos to see what I was doing in October the past couple of years, there were several taken on Omak Lake. This is a very scenic lake on the Colville Indian Reservation, just eight miles from the town of Omak. It’s eight miles long and over 300 feet deep, and what draws me to the lake is the Lahontan cutthroat that inhabit it. The numbers of these fish that we catch is astounding. Last year Rollie Schmitten and I fished an afternoon, and the following morning and released 94 cutthroat. I fish with two down riggers down deep, and two rods out the back flat lined with a variety of lures or even flies on a sinking line. Last year the cutthroat averaged between 18 and 21 inches, and there is always the possibility of hooking one much larger. The state record for Lahontan cutthroat was caught on Omak by my old friend Dan Beardlsey and weighed 18 pounds, 4 ounces. A Colville Tribal fishing license, Reservation Access Permit and Launch Permit is required to fish here. I figure the cost is well worth it for the quality of fishing available here and on other reservation lakes.