NickelsWorth
Active member
Finally! I was able to get out on a body of water, catch kokanee, and now be able to provide a report on this forum!
My daughter and I fished Lake Cushman, Saturday, 5/25/13. My first time on the lake, but since we have property 7 miles north of Hoodsport, it is close and fishable. Being I get up at 4:15 am weekdays, and this was a mini vacation, we got out on the water around 8:30 am. Launched at the Skokomish Park launch. It was cloudy, raining, windy of and on, cold, and just plain miserable - but that's the way the fish like it! We only saw two other boats; one leaving when we were launching and a tribal boat hauling out while we were too. Took about 10 minutes and my daughter had her first kokanee of the day. The surface temp of the water was 56 degrees. We found the fish to the east of the ramp, when we got to water deeper than 85 ft, the fish were around 40 feet and above, and basically when the gear went through the schools, we'd get a bump or fish. I don't have down riggers yet, so we were long lining with a 2 oz. banana weight, from 50 to 70 feet back. I set up my daughter with a watermelon, Dick Nite, 4/0 dodger, a pink double glow hoochie about 12 inches back of it, and a gold willow leaf style blade I stole off another lure. (I'll try to post a pic later) I don't have a speedometer, but I was trolling at a tad bit above the idle speed of my 20 HP, 1990 Evindrude....so maybe 1 to 1 1/4 MPH max. They liked it a tad faster than idle speed, but we did catch a few at idle speed. Her rig was the deal, as mine wasn't getting any real action at all. At first I tried a 4 oz. banana weight to just differ in depth to search for fish and a watermelon/copper, Simon Wobbler (a Herzog creation), also with a pink double glow hoochie, but when I saw the fish were in the upper water column I switched up to 2 oz. too. Didn't matter, still nothing on my rig. I even tried a Rocky Mt. Tackle 4.25 UV watermelon, At-Tak sling blade rig and had no real catching action. She finally out-fished me and had her limit so I took her rig and caught the rest of mine. Hey! I am the dad! LOL!! We had both limits by 11 am and were at the Hoodsport Coffee shop by 11:30 am.
No huge fish, just between 6 and 10 inches. Mainly had to keep them all due to the tandem hook rig tearing them up. Caught 9 kokanee and one 14 inch rainbow. Smoked them all. The kokanee, though small, had a beautiful "salmon" colored meat to them - MMMMMM!
This lake is open year round, but there are NO public launches open year round, which is irritating come April when I want to be out there. The Skokomish Park launch opens May 1 and is open 24 hrs to launch, you just have to pay on the way out (or they have a person in the office from 8am to 9 pm to pay), but closes in October. Don't know the deal on the Lake Cushman Resort, but they weren't open in mid April either, and I believe they aren't open until May 1 too. Both cost the same to launch anyway. Being it isn't fishable year round, I think they should make it a ten fish/person limit (or more) as Alder is, to thin out the small ones. I may have to write the WDFW and get their opinion and suggest it.
Word to the wise about the Skokomish Park launch. Make sure your motor is tilted all the way up before launching, as the launch is very shallow. I thank my daughter for seeing this before I tore my outboard off while launching! Or possible have damaged it. Also mind the depth on your way in and make sure to shut off the motor and tilt it up before it hits the bottom. Maybe this is due to the lake level....but I am not familiar with the lake.
I would have taken pics, but the weather was so miserable, we just wanted to get in the truck, crank the heater, and leave. Next time I will take pics......but at least I got a report in the forum! Cool! I really appreciate every one else's reports! They are what have been helping me get set up and choosing rigs for various bodies of water. Thanks!!
My daughter and I fished Lake Cushman, Saturday, 5/25/13. My first time on the lake, but since we have property 7 miles north of Hoodsport, it is close and fishable. Being I get up at 4:15 am weekdays, and this was a mini vacation, we got out on the water around 8:30 am. Launched at the Skokomish Park launch. It was cloudy, raining, windy of and on, cold, and just plain miserable - but that's the way the fish like it! We only saw two other boats; one leaving when we were launching and a tribal boat hauling out while we were too. Took about 10 minutes and my daughter had her first kokanee of the day. The surface temp of the water was 56 degrees. We found the fish to the east of the ramp, when we got to water deeper than 85 ft, the fish were around 40 feet and above, and basically when the gear went through the schools, we'd get a bump or fish. I don't have down riggers yet, so we were long lining with a 2 oz. banana weight, from 50 to 70 feet back. I set up my daughter with a watermelon, Dick Nite, 4/0 dodger, a pink double glow hoochie about 12 inches back of it, and a gold willow leaf style blade I stole off another lure. (I'll try to post a pic later) I don't have a speedometer, but I was trolling at a tad bit above the idle speed of my 20 HP, 1990 Evindrude....so maybe 1 to 1 1/4 MPH max. They liked it a tad faster than idle speed, but we did catch a few at idle speed. Her rig was the deal, as mine wasn't getting any real action at all. At first I tried a 4 oz. banana weight to just differ in depth to search for fish and a watermelon/copper, Simon Wobbler (a Herzog creation), also with a pink double glow hoochie, but when I saw the fish were in the upper water column I switched up to 2 oz. too. Didn't matter, still nothing on my rig. I even tried a Rocky Mt. Tackle 4.25 UV watermelon, At-Tak sling blade rig and had no real catching action. She finally out-fished me and had her limit so I took her rig and caught the rest of mine. Hey! I am the dad! LOL!! We had both limits by 11 am and were at the Hoodsport Coffee shop by 11:30 am.
No huge fish, just between 6 and 10 inches. Mainly had to keep them all due to the tandem hook rig tearing them up. Caught 9 kokanee and one 14 inch rainbow. Smoked them all. The kokanee, though small, had a beautiful "salmon" colored meat to them - MMMMMM!
This lake is open year round, but there are NO public launches open year round, which is irritating come April when I want to be out there. The Skokomish Park launch opens May 1 and is open 24 hrs to launch, you just have to pay on the way out (or they have a person in the office from 8am to 9 pm to pay), but closes in October. Don't know the deal on the Lake Cushman Resort, but they weren't open in mid April either, and I believe they aren't open until May 1 too. Both cost the same to launch anyway. Being it isn't fishable year round, I think they should make it a ten fish/person limit (or more) as Alder is, to thin out the small ones. I may have to write the WDFW and get their opinion and suggest it.
Word to the wise about the Skokomish Park launch. Make sure your motor is tilted all the way up before launching, as the launch is very shallow. I thank my daughter for seeing this before I tore my outboard off while launching! Or possible have damaged it. Also mind the depth on your way in and make sure to shut off the motor and tilt it up before it hits the bottom. Maybe this is due to the lake level....but I am not familiar with the lake.
I would have taken pics, but the weather was so miserable, we just wanted to get in the truck, crank the heater, and leave. Next time I will take pics......but at least I got a report in the forum! Cool! I really appreciate every one else's reports! They are what have been helping me get set up and choosing rigs for various bodies of water. Thanks!!
