Merwin "2015 "

[walleye]

Our 3 lines were in the water on Sat about 9 am & we trolled for 45 minutes when the pole , that we were flat lining , started bobbing up and down . Bingo , one in the cooler . In the next 4 hrs another 10 fish were landed once we found where they were at . It was not far from the dock . Mike and I kept making an oval shaped circle over the area with our two other lines that were attached to down riggers at 10-15 ' . The Kokanee came in flurries with two doubles and a triple and then nothing for awhile . The flat lined pole caught more than half the fish . Arrow flashers in the gold and silver moon glow wings , along with pink and white hoochies , tipped with tuna soaked corn did the trick for all the fish . The weather was very comfortable for early January with a 2-3 mile an hr wind at times and zero at others . I look forward to going up again , possibility next weekend .

 

[kokanee_slayer]

Nice Work and thanks for the report!!

 

[Crownroyal]

Thanks a ton!

 

[Mudinchev]

Stellar Start to the Year!

We don't visit KKF as much as we should threw out the year but I see that someone has started a Merwin thread for the year so I thought we would join in. January 1st, other than being a bit cold you couldn't ask for a a better day, we finished with 19. And yesterday we took some new friends out who are just learning the lake and had another really good day, there were some slow times but when the fish wanted to play they REALLY wanted to play! thumbsup Usually when it was raining the hardest was when they were biting the best, we were trying to keep everything 15' and up.

 

[chief]

Nice job guys good to see a post for the new year!!

 

[carlz]

Looks like I need to crawl up the learning curve. Went to Merwin yesterday, trolled 4 hrs, two fish, depths at 15 feet with the fish showing at 17 - 20 feet. weather was mixed bag of showers and sun, water temps of 43 degrees. We were running as slow as my 9.9 kicker would idle, doing the zig zag pattern. flasher and small UV hootchies. If any one can help me figure out what went wrong I would appreciate it. On the other hand, of the boats we saw, did not see any nets going down. One item of note, just about dusk, they started working the surface like nobody's business all over the lake. Not so much jumping, but it looked like the way porpose schools swoop and jump through the water. The lake was like glass, and you could see schools doing this all over the lake. On the other hand, glorious day not being at work.

 

[Mudinchev]

Cameron is putting this on at Bob's this Thursday, this should be a good one for those that want to learn. We will be hanging around as well.

I had to work yesterday but my son Shawn AKA Wild Child went out with him yesterday and they limited the boat with 50 101ok101.

 

[bob r]

Looks like I need to crawl up the learning curve. Went to Merwin yesterday, trolled 4 hrs, two fish, depths at 15 feet with the fish showing at 17 - 20 feet. weather was mixed bag of showers and sun, water temps of 43 degrees. We were running as slow as my 9.9 kicker would idle, doing the zig zag pattern. flasher and small UV hootchies. If any one can help me figure out what went wrong I would appreciate it. On the other hand, of the boats we saw, did not see any nets going down. One item of note, just about dusk, they started working the surface like nobody's business all over the lake. Not so much jumping, but it looked like the way porpose schools swoop and jump through the water. The lake was like glass, and you could see schools doing this all over the lake. On the other hand, glorious day not being at work.

Without more info it's diff. to say, but the fact that you haven't said anything about speed you actually were trolling other then "we were running as slow as my 9.9 would idle" leads me to believe you are not monitoring speed, 1.25 to 1.5 m.p.h. will usually put some fish in boat, but we have all had days when nothing worked. I've only fished Merwin a 1/2 dozen times (we live 4 to 5 hours away) and tough to get there with winds keeping small boats off water a lot of the time. bob r P.S. post below yours is a great place to start

 

[SuperD]

With a high fish limit of quality fish, Merwin catches my attention every time I see a show or read reports like these. I'd love to make a trek there some day.

 

[Mudinchev]

With a high fish limit of quality fish, Merwin catches my attention every time I see a show or read reports like these. I'd love to make a trek there some day.

If you ever decide to make the drive let us know!! thumbsup

 

[carlz]

With a high fish limit of quality fish, Merwin catches my attention every time I see a show or read reports like these. I'd love to make a trek there some day.

If you decide to come up, let me know, I live 30 min from Merwin, and have plenty of space for parking camper and boat.

Carl

 

[SuperD]

I'm going to put you guys in my phone and take you up on it. This year's trips are pretty much planned but I'm excited to come see what Merwin has to offer.

 

[DLM]

I'm going to put you guys in my phone and take you up on it. This year's trips are pretty much planned but I'm excited to come see what Merwin has to offer.

Don't make the drive without including a stop at Wickiup.....I can show you where to get hung up the quickest..

 

[Mudinchev]

Wow what a BEAUTIFUL DAY!

We had a few hours Sunday morning 25th. We had to pull the plug about 11:30 to make it to Shawn's soccer game on time but with weather like this and the fishing being EXTREMELY good I couldn't resit going! Not that we needed an excuse but my parents were also in town so my Dad got to go with us as well. It was pretty much still a surface bite but we did pick up a few down to 15 feet.

 

[washingtonlakes]

It's so interesting that the kokanee on Merwin are at the top of the water column this time of year and the koks on Lake Chelan are down 60-240 feet.

 

[Mudinchev]

It is interesting for sure! Each lake or reservoir seems to have different characteristics. We have not fished Chelan (YET!) but your statement makes me wonder about what the water temps are doing at those depths. In the places we checked Merwin there was less than 1/2 a degree change from the surface to 80' right now. We mark a lot of fish deeper but they seem to be dormant or plain just don't want to play so its not like ALL the fish are up high, just the ones that want to play. Why are they there and what is the difference? It cant be temps (or at least I don't think so anyway). Is it food? They eat/grow year round so maybe it has something to do with where the abundance of available food is.

We did a quick Pre-Superbowl trip yesterday, I was hoping for a little more action than we had but still overall it was a good morning. When we were in them it was all hands on deck but you would loose track of them just as fast as you found them. Its an interesting early fishery right now, it seems to change day to day, just have to keep at it and keep learning.

 

[westy661]

How is Merwin now? I heard ramps are closed because the water level is super low
I'm thinking of taking my kayak on sunday so really can launch anywhere

 

[carlz]

How is Merwin now? I heard ramps are closed because the water level is super low
I'm thinking of taking my kayak on sunday so really can launch anywhere

Merwin is open. Water at 4 ft below full pool.

 

[Mudinchev]

How is Merwin now? I heard ramps are closed because the water level is super low
I'm thinking of taking my kayak on sunday so really can launch anywhere

Here is a link to the water levels: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=pqr&sid=PQR&pil=RVM

Today it shows 9 ft below full which is PLENTY to launch at Speelyai, when it starts getting down to the 225-227 ft range it can get challenging for some boats. For those venturing up this weekend be prepared for a crowd, fishing has been decent. With the Spring Chinook not in yet and the nice weather forecast I have a feeling it will be rather crowded at the ramp.

 

[carlz]

Here is a link to the water levels: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=pqr&sid=PQR&pil=RVM

Today it shows 9 ft below full which is PLENTY to launch at Speelyai, when it starts getting down to the 225-227 ft range it can get challenging for some boats. For those venturing up this weekend be prepared for a crowd, fishing has been decent. With the Spring Chinook not in yet and the nice weather forecast I have a feeling it will be rather crowded at the ramp.

sorry about incorrect info, it was my estimate based on looking at high water marks when on the lake