Sure, Mason has started to pick on his little sister, Miley, more and more. But my 6-year-old son has mostly been kind and selfless when it comes to his 4-year-old sibling — and to anyone, really.

So after Mason reeled his third shiny, plump rainbow trout into the boat Sunday during our father-and-son outing at East Lake, he was not thinking about HIS next fish.

“Daddy, you need to catch a fish now,” he said quietly.

My heart swelled, and I said, “OK.”

When the rod bent, I yanked it out of the holder, reeled once to make the line taut, then set the hook. The fish thrashed furiously in and out of the water, and once we had it netted, we admired the 17-inch rainbow.

Mason would soon outdo his old man, landing the biggest fish of the day, a healthy 18-inch red-sashed trout.

Lava Lake has always been THE Central Oregon lake to take kids fishing. But if Lava is too crowded or anglers are looking for somewhere else, East Lake is an ideal option for kids. The action can be hot and heavy on East Lake, keeping the little ones entertained during a long day on a boat.

But let’s face it, good fishing is good for the adults as well.

Located at 6,381 feet in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument east of La Pine, East Lake is home to stocked rainbow and brown trout, kokanee and Atlantic salmon. Catching all four species in one day is known among local anglers as the “East Lake Slam.”

We were mostly targeting rainbows Sunday, as fishing guide John Garrison had his pontoon boat anchored near the Cinder Hill Campground boat ramp on the northeast corner of the deep-blue lake. Our rods were rigged with 8-pound test line, some with chartreuse PowerBait and others with a worm and a marshmallow.

Paulina Peak rose in the distance to the southeast, streaks of snow still visible on its north face. Crowds of fly anglers lingered in the shallows on their float tubes as the bugs came out on the water’s surface.

Just when we were all wondering whether we would ever get a bite, Mason’s rod bounced. The rainbow, which performed its acrobatic dance below and above the surface as Mason got it to the boat, brought a huge smile to his face.

Along on the trip was Garrison’s acquaintance, John Elledge III, of Eugene, who said he had never fished much in Central Oregon. Elledge, 39, soon had a beautiful 16-inch rainbow in the boat, and he could not hide his joy.

“That was so amazing,” Elledge said. “That’s the biggest fish I’ve caught, not counting deep-sea fishing. Well, we know they’re here.”

They were indeed. The action continued on the bright, blue-sky day, as temperatures climbed well into the 70s. During breaks in the hooking, reeling, netting and releasing, we watched a juvenile bald eagle swoop around and around in an attempt to grab a fish near the water’s surface. It touched the water a couple of times but never grabbed its prey, finally retiring to its nest in the trees along the shore.

Regulations on East Lake call for the release of all non-adipose fin-clipped rainbow trout and all brown trout longer than 16 inches. The bag limit is five trout per day, only one fish longer than 20 inches.

While the fishing was fine, Elledge wanted to take dinner home to his fiancee. It took a while for him to land a rainbow trout without its adipose fin, but once he did, the fish went directly into the cooler. Soon thereafter, Elledge hooked and reeled in a nice brown trout, which measured just under 16 inches and joined the rainbow trout in the ice chest.

“Now they can be friends in the cooler,” said Mason, drawing laughter.

Most of the fish we caught were rainbows in the 15- to 18-inch range, all fairly hefty and weighing an estimated 1½ to 2 pounds.

“These are very impressive rainbows,” said Garrison, longtime owner of Garrison’s Guide Service in Sunriver. “I like this lake because you can fish different ways: jig, worm and marsh off the bottom, PowerBait, bobber with a piece of worm, it all works. Other lakes, you can’t do that variety.”

We finished the day with 17 fish, six of which Mason had landed. Afterward, Mason and I visited the East Lake Resort cafe for chocolate milkshakes, and we chatted with Bruce Bronson, the new owner of the resort.

Bronson said fishing was “red hot” when the ice melted off the lake in mid-May and has slowed somewhat since then.

“I’d say fishing is spotty good,” Bronson said. “It just kind of depends on timing and location. Most of the fish are still in the shallow end. Worms are the best method, but fly-fishing is improving. Rainbows are really healthy. The biggest brown has been 24 inches.”

Mason and I continued our daylong journey at Newberry Crater, hiking through the Big Obsidian Flow, an impressive lava flow of obsidian and pumice near Paulina Lake. I then drove us to the summit of Paulina Peak, and we gazed at the panoramic views of the caldera and the Cascade Range.

By then, Mason was missing his sister.

“Daddy, I want to go home and see Miley now.”

Next time, she will join us — and Mason no doubt will make sure she gets a fish.

— Reporter: 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com