Smalma
Well-known member
Probably made my last trip to Stevens yesterday - time to chase other fish. Had a great season! From late April through mid-July I usually fished two or three times a week giving me a chance to track the fishery, compare notes with other anglers (both successful and those less so). I love solving fishing puzzles and this season provided plenty that challenges all season long. Some random thoughts
My season became in January with my first kokanee of the year and the first ever in January. Fishing was typically all winter/spring - that is very spotty. Days with no bites and others with a fish or two.
Typically by mid-April fishing picks up with multiple fish every trip and by the last week of April or the first week of May limits pretty common. With fewer fish and the cool weather this year the consistent did not really get into gear until mid-May. From that point through yesterday morning trips generally produced limit catches. The afternoon fishing was typically slower though 4 ot 8 fish per angler was the norm.
There definitely were fewer but larger fish than the past few years and the fishing seem to be very changeable. The hot lure/color/depth seemed to be in a more or less constant state of flux and it really paid off to experiment to get dailed in on the presentation of the day.
It was pretty common for a set-up that was hot as heck for a couple weeks to suddenly go dead and hardly produce a fish while another completely different lure would suddenly be the hot set-up. As I said many more larger fish in the 14/15 inch range with a nice mix of even larger fish though I never broke the offical 17 inch barrier. From late May on a 10 fish limit would always have 4 to 8 of those larger fish leading to some pretty heavy "bags' of fish.
While Stevens traditionally provides consistent fishing with wedding ring sprinners and hoochies this season it often paid to fish with something less traditional. That is not to say WR and hoochies did not have their moments (they did!), just that most of the time something other was a more productive option. Over the course of theseason caught fish on a variety of wedding rings spinners (different colors, blades, sizes, etc), a number of different hoochies, 5 different color apex lure, Wee Tad plugs, a number of different spin-n-glows, and some other odd ball stuff.
On the whole it seems that a presentation with erratic action often would trigger strikes while the more traditional WR and hoochies would go fishless.
Through the season caught fish everywhere from the surface down as deep as 92 feet. Once the first of June rolled around the best fishing seemed to be deeper than in past years. In addition my portion of larger fish in my catch was better with the deeper fish even though a shallower bite may have produced more fish. My last couple trips I had fairly consistent bites in that 70 to 85 foot range (pretty unusual for me).
In spite of the doom and gloom about fewer fish I found the fishing very interesting and really enjoyed the larger fish. I would take a repeat of 2012 in 2013 in a heart beat.
For both those still chasing kokanee and for those of us chasing salmon and other critters wishes for good times and tight lines.
Curt
My season became in January with my first kokanee of the year and the first ever in January. Fishing was typically all winter/spring - that is very spotty. Days with no bites and others with a fish or two.
Typically by mid-April fishing picks up with multiple fish every trip and by the last week of April or the first week of May limits pretty common. With fewer fish and the cool weather this year the consistent did not really get into gear until mid-May. From that point through yesterday morning trips generally produced limit catches. The afternoon fishing was typically slower though 4 ot 8 fish per angler was the norm.
There definitely were fewer but larger fish than the past few years and the fishing seem to be very changeable. The hot lure/color/depth seemed to be in a more or less constant state of flux and it really paid off to experiment to get dailed in on the presentation of the day.
It was pretty common for a set-up that was hot as heck for a couple weeks to suddenly go dead and hardly produce a fish while another completely different lure would suddenly be the hot set-up. As I said many more larger fish in the 14/15 inch range with a nice mix of even larger fish though I never broke the offical 17 inch barrier. From late May on a 10 fish limit would always have 4 to 8 of those larger fish leading to some pretty heavy "bags' of fish.
While Stevens traditionally provides consistent fishing with wedding ring sprinners and hoochies this season it often paid to fish with something less traditional. That is not to say WR and hoochies did not have their moments (they did!), just that most of the time something other was a more productive option. Over the course of theseason caught fish on a variety of wedding rings spinners (different colors, blades, sizes, etc), a number of different hoochies, 5 different color apex lure, Wee Tad plugs, a number of different spin-n-glows, and some other odd ball stuff.
On the whole it seems that a presentation with erratic action often would trigger strikes while the more traditional WR and hoochies would go fishless.
Through the season caught fish everywhere from the surface down as deep as 92 feet. Once the first of June rolled around the best fishing seemed to be deeper than in past years. In addition my portion of larger fish in my catch was better with the deeper fish even though a shallower bite may have produced more fish. My last couple trips I had fairly consistent bites in that 70 to 85 foot range (pretty unusual for me).
In spite of the doom and gloom about fewer fish I found the fishing very interesting and really enjoyed the larger fish. I would take a repeat of 2012 in 2013 in a heart beat.
For both those still chasing kokanee and for those of us chasing salmon and other critters wishes for good times and tight lines.
Curt
