Skunked at lake stevens

[Gene]

skunked at lake stevens, fished from 20 to 10 feet saw some rise didnt like what I threw at them, beautiful day though water was still a little cold only 44 degrees at the surface. o well... tight lines.

 

[skookum9]

So, what did you throw at them? Troll dodger and beaded spinner? Minnie hootchie? Cast a few jigs? Did you try a couple of different colors? On waters where I fish, 44 degree surface temp is plenty. Were you fishing at first light? Did you see anything on the sonar? Did you see anyone else catching any? Do tell.

 

[Gene]

here it is

I was throwing a red beaded wedding ring with a spinner on it a single wammie its called (im sure you know) with a kokanee killer flasher with about 5 blades on it , on the hook I put a salmon egg with some shrimp smell, the beads were red and thats all i used. i know i know i should have thrown variation but I didnt have anything else, I probably needs some day glow stuff with a flash, there were some fish on the finder, most at 20 feet and thats where I trolled at almost all day, there were some surface sonar action but it could have been bass as there were a few bass fisherman on the water. from what I gathered from passers by no one cought anything(or so they say) LOL. I just need more experiance,wider range of gear. I just need to know what to get I.E glow in the dark , dodgers instead of flashers ? wont get discouraged, having too much fun, just want to catch before I deploy with the navy in may. but i did get my new JJ rod wet... man the way it works with a downrigger is awsome, well worth the money.. o and it was about 7:30 in the morning when i launched, so pretty much first light

 

[SuperD]

Just my opinion and approach but flashers, either inline or ball are a last resort for me. I start with the simplest set up and only add incrementally until I find a response. This early in the season, you'll be shallow so smaller is better. A 4" dodger and a lure of your choice would be my first offering.

 

[Gene]

thanks D

would a wammie work for the lure, i cought a 12 inch koke in stevens about 2 weeks ago on a red bead wammie, thought it would work today....no. how bout glow wammies charged by flash? to charge by flash do they have to be uv only, or will the ones that say glow on them charge bt flash too, and im trying to get some carp spit by pro cure

 

[Gene]

has anyone used the pro cure kokanee special super gel ??

 

[skookum9]

I agree with what SuperD said, start simple and start small. I also would have tried starting near the surface and then work my way down to the 20 ft. I would start without even using the downrigger if my rig weighed enough to run maybe 3 to 5 feet below the surface. I'm not a big fan of glow anything and I'm not a fan of using scents. I don't think that running that shallow should require glow and it would probably be more inclined to spook the fish than to entice them. And it's not that I don't think scents will work it's just that I've found them mostly unnecessary and just as true as getting the right scent can entice the bite more, the wrong scent can discourage the bite. Again, simple and small. I'm not familiar with this lake but I would expect that these fish are probably coming out of their winter stupor. Often times when the water is still good and cold I have found that slower is better, I suspect because of a fishes cold blooded characteristics. And if you don't pick anything up in a resonable period of time, don't be afraid to try the surface jigs. In fact, I would try this approach first because it is probably at its best before the sun hits the water. But it's the same with jigs as it is with trolling when the water is cold, work it slow and easy. Good luck and let us know how you do.

 

[Gene]

I will let you know. thank you

 

[SilverBullets]

has anyone used the pro cure kokanee special super gel ??

That gel is one of my go to scents. Get a couple different colors of those spinners ( green, orange, pink, etc) and some dodgers (the Seps Watermelon is a good one to start with) and use Green Giant White Shoepeg Corn. Soak the corn a few days in advance in kokanee special scent "oil". Also, get yourself a few Apex lures... Orange, Watermelon, Rainbow Trout, Pink, and Kevorkian Purple to start with. I like the 2" size and re-tie with double hooks on 8lb mono. Look at the Apex along side the boat...if it's constantly rolling slow your speed down. You want it to move erratically, with a spin maybe once in a while. Don't overload it with corn, just 1 piece per hook should do it. Use these around 3' in back of the dodger. Troll around 0.9-1.2 mph with spinners, and a bit faster with the Apex's...1.2-1.6mph, and don't hesitate to go a bit deeper in search of biter's. If you don't get a hit within 15 minutes, change the lure, color, or depth. Make plenty of turns and speed changes...most hits occur when the lure action changes.

 

[Gene]

thanks

will probably print this thread for next time... you guys rock!!

 

[SilverBullets]

I've never fished Lake Stevens but used to live right by there. I would consider it a low elevation lake. The kokes might just be a bit deeper there allready. The local tackle shops might be a good source of information for the right depth this time of year. As far as seeing them on the fish finder in the top 15 or so feet, chances are you won't see too many because the sonar beam is narrow up high and the boat spooks them to the side as your trolling. Don't get stuck only trying a specific depth...experiment constantly until you find the sweet spot. Trust the fish finder, but if their not biting where their showing keep adjusting. The most important thing when kokanee fishing is being at the right depth.

 

[MrGrey1]

Hi Guys, I've tried for kokes yesterday at our Allouette lake up here in BC. Yes, I see them on the sounder (Mostly on bottom), but the water is still cold and fish are not that active. I take them mostly still fishing with shrimp and salmon egg. Just #6 hook and deep down to the bottom, then up a touch. But I thing the water needs to warm up more for them to be more active. Now is February and we don't have thermocline layers yet. Trolling din't work at alll for us. Hope it warms up soon. Just my two cents...

 

[skookum9]

MrGrey1, how cold was the water? On the waters I fish I have found that a surface temp of less than 41 or 42 degrees is a pretty solid promise of zero fish in the bag. I do not know if this is true for all waters in all locations but I would suspect this would be a good general rule of thumb. Water at its most dense is 39.4 degrees I believe and it just could be that those fish down on the bottom were seeking the warmest water in the lake. This is just a wild, random guess but, it would be interesting to get some temp reads there throughout the water column.

 

[JWS]

I fished the majority of Sunday on Lake Stevens as well, with the same results. Used the Koke troll with a red wedding ring then switched over to a chartruese Hum Dinger behind a Slingblade, both with not even a hit. I did see a few fish on top, think maybe i'll bring the fly rod next time and slow troll a black bead headed wooly bugger and see how that does... thinking they might have been rainbows.

 

[johnsc6]

stevens

thumped seven sunday between 9 am ans 1 p.m.. using apex behind a canadian wonder @ 14 feet. the deep fish didn't ant to bite for some reason, surface temp was 51-52 deg.

 

[soundbite]

5 sunday between 7am and 9am. 3 Came on the surface line about 140 feet out and 2 came on the rigger 20ft down about 65feet behind the rigger. slower than I thought that it should have been for the amount of fish that I marked.

 

[Gene]

Thanks

what did you catch on ? I think I was fishing to close to my boat. thanks again

Gene