Lake Samish

[Mharri333]

This is my first post on this forum. It has been killing me to be a lurker... So I thought I would post about my last couple fishing trips.

I fish Lake Samish often and usually have one other person with me. The past two weekends we have been able to limit each day on the water. The weekend before that we caught fewer fish but they were larger. (the biggest being 18 inches) Memorial day weekend was wet but the fishing was solid. We generally start at 5 am and have had our limits by 8 to 10 am in the morning. Sometimes we stick a little longer trying to pick up a bigger fish but depends on what the plan is for the rest of the day.

Two weeks ago we were stacking downriggers at 15 and 30 feet. On the other side of the boat we offset by 5 feet either way to keep from tangling in the turns and a have better lure spread. Memorial day weekend we were a little deeper. I would say that we were from about 20 feet to 55 feet. The largest coming from the 50's. For the most part, the best producers were red wedding rings and red/green combo wedding rings. They are usually behind a 50/50 or a hammered chrome dodger. If things get slow I will sometimes throw on a pink hoochie (which has not been that great yet this year) or an orange assassin behind an orange dodger. The orange rigs have netted the biggest fish this year and the assassin killed them at Chelan three weeks ago. As far as bait offerings, I am pretty consistent. I like to use a gulp maggot on one hook and a piece of corn on the other. The best scent has been Mike's Krill. I just bought Krill/Anis and had equal results.

We have lost several fish like everyone else but have managed to make up for them. Last year we found that the mouths got a little tougher later in the year and we lost fewer fish.

I have learned a lot about catching kokes over the past 2-3 years. It is always a challenge but always a lot of fun. I appreciate the posts as they have given me lots of ideas and things to try. If you have any questions let me know. I am also interested to hear if anyone ever does well at Lake Whatcom. I have not fished it yet this year.

Good luck, be safe!

 

[lowe1648mt]

It's a big lake and deep. I haven't fished it this year, but the fish are harder to find than on Samish. They also are smaller. I always launch on the South end and fish from the bible camps island to the trestles on the opposite side of the lake. They are where you find them?

 

[Smalma]

Whatcom has a huge hatchery program located at the SE (upper) end of the lake. That hatchery has been active for more than a century and is the source of most of the kokanee populations in country. The annual release back to Whatcom is typically in the 5 million range. The typical egg take there is in the 8 to 10 million eggs (out of returning run of 50,000 to 100,00/year) with those not needed to for the Whatcom program going to other lakes in the State. As Lowe1648mt mentioned the Whatcom fish are smallish though relatively old (the spawners are mostly 4 to 6 years old; average about 5 years).

Like kokanee populations in larger lakes the Whatcom kokanee use different parts of the lake seasonal. Whatcom is comprised of 3 basins separated by shallow sills. The north basin (at Bellingham) is smallest and shallowest of the three. The combination of it being near the outlet and shallower it tends to warms up earlier than the rest of the lake. As a result much of the kokanee population early in the season ends up in that basin. About this time of year those schools of begin moving up lake. This time of year I would suggest start at the north end of the lake and move south as needed as the fish work their towards the hatchery with the area off South Bay and the hatchery the focus of the fishing during the late season.

Curt

 

[lowe1648mt]

Thank you curt. always good info from you.

 

[Mharri333]

Thanks for the info. I have fished Whatcom but only ended up with smaller fish. (glad it wasn't just me) I enjoy fishing the lake but don't like to hassle with the recreational boats at the ramp. I prefer to fish at Samish. Better class of fisherman and bigger fish. Last fall we pulled some really nice koke out of Samish. I am sure I will be there (Samish) this weekend early again. I am in a white Lund. If you see me out there say hi. I am always interested to see how others are doing and what they are catching them on. I certainly don't mind sharing info if I happen to be in the fish.

New electronics this year have helped out immensely.

 

[lowe1648mt]

Back to Samish today. I got there and had my boat in the water by 6:00 AM. The rain started just as I put my boat in. I headed across the lake and a little North. I tried different lures and Sling blades at first. Then I
went back to a Bloody Mary with a sling blade in chrome and with red tape. The other pole had a Green Ice spinner and a multi colored uv sling blade.
I caught a couple of Koks in the range of 10" or 11" I also caught 3 or 4 squaw fish. then there were the usual drive byes and a couple of long distance releases. The last fish of the day was a 16 1/4 " cutthroat. Nice fish, but it didn't put up as much fight as the Koks. It quite raining about that time and the wind came up. As I had an appointment elsewhere, I called it quits. Water temp at 58*. Fish were more scattered than a couple of days ago. Depth was 15'( cutthroat) to 50 ' (squaw fish). Koks In small schools where ever you find them. Bait was Purple died corn with herring scent. 3 hours on the lake and only 3 fish to take home. Still More fun than working.

 

[Mharri333]

The fish are definitely starting to spread out a bit. Hopefully the weather holds for the weekend. I will be there tomorrow morning at 5 to give it another shot. Thanks for the report.

 

[Mharri333]

Fished Samish Saturday morning. Fish were spread out and tougher to find. The bite seemed slower but we limited just after 8 am. Probably would have been slow but we ended up with a triple that kicked things up a notch. Big hitter today was an orange assassin then a red/green wedding ring. Trolled at 1.1 mph. Lost a lot of fish this morning which was kind of nerve racking. All in all a great day on the water. Be there in about 6 hours to try it again

 

[Mharri333]

We fished Samish early this morning. We were at our limit at 7am. Orange was the color knocking them back today. Anything orange was getting hits. most bites were around 35 feet in about 60 feet of water. Biggest was just over 14 inches caught at 40 feet. Better groups of fish today but nothing like 3 weeks ago.

Had a chance to try out the new chamberlain releases today. I didn't use them right off the bat but started after getting a few in the well. Seemed to work just fine. Looking forward to more practice with them

 

[Kokanee Katcher]

Had a chance to try out the new chamberlain releases today. I didn't use them right off the bat but started after getting a few in the well. Seemed to work just fine. Looking forward to more practice with them

I thought that I had the only Chamberlain releases in the state. Haven't used mine yet but glad to hear that they work as advertised.

 

[Mharri333]

I thought that I had the only Chamberlain releases in the state. Haven't used mine yet but glad to hear that they work as advertised.

I took a couple of them and tried to get them to work. You have to adjust the tension for the top line end versus the lure end. After dragging a couple of surfer kokanee around I got the tension right. Last two or three fish had perfect releases. I also didn't lose any of those fish which I thought was interesting. You should definately give them a try.

 

[lowe1648mt]

I fished Lake Samish again today. This time I noticed something new. I arrived a little later than I should have. I missed out on prime time. I didn't get skunked, but it was close. I picked up two Koks and caught 8 or 10 squaw fish.
When I was loading up my boat a crew arrived to set things up for paving the lot. They are also going to add a floating dock.
The other thing I noticed was that there are some sort of worms or such on the fins and tail of the larger Kok. The worms are small and white. There were none on the smaller Kok. Lets see if this picture will jump in hear for me.[ATTACHNFIG]6359._xfImport[/ATTACh]

 

[Mharri333]

I had some of those on my kokes last weekend too. I don't recall seeing any last year but a few this year. I think they are called sea lice. Parasites. Paste the link below into your browser. I think this is what they are.

I find I catch more of the trash fish if I use the red gulp maggots. Pretty much stopped using them because of that.

http://www.upei.ca/~anatphys/Sea_Lice/lep.jpg

 

[Smalma]

They are parasitic copepods; pretty common in many of the State's lakes. Often see them on rainbow trout and even summer steelhead in the rivers. Typically they do not cause the fish significant problems and as external parasites they do not affect the edibility of your kokanee (much like sea lice on salmon in the salt).

Don't often see them on kokanee though the last couple of years they seem much more common; on Stevens where I do most of my kokanee fishing there are some on virtually every kokanee. The reason for them being more common is unknown but could be related to changed conditions in the lakes.

Curt

 

[lowe1648mt]

Again I thank you Curt. Also thank you mHarri333. Good info.

 

[Mharri333]

Anyone fished Samish recently? I didn't get to go last weekend. I might hit it Saturday morning.

 

[Mharri333]

Fished Lake Samish Saturday and today (Sunday) with my fishing buddy neighbor. We were able to limit both days but certainly had to work harder to get it done. We had a couple of nice fish in the bunch but nothing as big as last year yet. Orange was not as hot this week. It did ok on Saturday but not on Sunday. The biggest hit was a red wedding ring (home made with a glow bead or two). The red and green combo worked well also. I also had good luck on Saturday with a yellowish green glow assassin. Although it did not produce on Sunday.

All in all it was a great weekend. A little windy but doable. Still getting to know the Chaimberland releases. A little frustrating at first but better success rate with them.Oh, I also picked up a couple of Lamiglass Kokanee rods. I broke one of my Tica's Saturday and decided to make it a matching set. Loved fishing with them on Sunday. (great recommendation from one of the threads here)...

Hope everyone had a productive Fathers Day!

 

[redfred]

do you feel that the lamiglaqss kokanee jj rod is a better action rod that the tica kokanee rod ? I haven't fished for kokanee for about 20 years, need to start over with all new gear. any tips on gear would be great.
Thanks,
redfred

 

[Mharri333]

Between the two of us we have used 4 Tica rods ( and reels) for the past two seasons. They have worked flawlessly and were inexpensive. We also used those same poles and reels to catch sockeye on Brewster and Baker. I am a big fan. I read the posts on the Lamiglass so I decided to check them out after breaking the Tica. They felt nice so I picked up 2. (they were 20 percent off at Yeagers in Bellingham). I love the feel and the action. The Tica is 52 buck I think. It is a good rod for the price. My neighbor is still using two but is eyeing the Lamiglass now. I don't think you would go wrong either way. It is a matter of 52 bucks vs 100 bucks ( or 80 while on sale). If money is not a factor get the Lamiglass. If it is go with the Tica. It is a great rod. The reel is very good too. Yeagers often does a package deal for the rod and reel if you ask. at the end of the season they do a sale and that's when I bought my last one.

 

[Mharri333]

Well, the neighbor and I fished Samish again on last Saturday morning. We hit it early and ended up with our limits before 8am again. Fish were grouped up on the east side of the lake. Red wedding rings seemed to be the ticket. Biggest fish was 15 inches. Down about 40 feet or so.