We are one week away from the 7th Annual Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby and fishing has been pretty good lately. I got the chance this last Wednesday and Thursday nights to do some fishing after work and had a blast. Weather has been phenomenal with upper 70's and 80 degree nights, and fish on the bite. This does bring about one challenge on this popular lake and that is recreational boaters. I don't blame them for wanting to be out and enjoying the lake either, but just be aware and keep a safe eye out so everyone can enjoy the day.
Wednesday: I found myself searching for schooling fish on Wednesday as with was a hot day and high sun. I knew the fish were being pushed down past the thermocline and they should be schooling together. It took a little while of trolling past productive locations before I found that the fish were not there. I had to keep on moving which is a big tip I can share. Don't get caught up in trolling one area. If you are not finding fish, move till you do. I kept moving till I found a nice school on the electronics and it was on. Sending my gear down to 20 and 30 ft once the school was found set up of bites right off the bat in the location. These fish were hot too, popping the clip and running straight for the surface. Almost spending more time out of the water than in. Unfortunately this made my lading ratio on Wednesday a bit sub par. Multiple fish were lost before I finally got one. But what is a good sign this season, and more importantly for the derby is these fish are chunky and putting on some girth. Wednesday night brought a total of 3 landed with 7 lost. Hooking a limits worth was a good start, but I can get better.
The gear break down Wednesday evening was Arrow dodgers in 50/50 and purple/silver with pink glow and blue/gree glow RMT Assassin spinners 20" behind the dodger. All set up on Velocity International Elite and Ninja kokanee rods with Velocity Warrior reels spooled with 10lb izor line.
Bait wise was white shoepeg corn with Krill AN Sporting scent as well as canned tuna and a little touch of pautzke fire cure for coloring and scent.
Thursday: Thursday brought a few challenges to try and overcome; an 80 degree evening with 12mph wind gusts sustained and a full lake of recreational boaters. This meant some waves but more importantly having to always keep an eye on the boats around. I won't lie, it was a struggle for me fishing solo in those conditions. Trying to put lines in (even with the drift sock out) battle the wind and try not to get hit by the jet ski boaters was not easy. But once I got gear in the water I was able to start focusing on the fish. Trolling where I found the fish the night before was bleak and I only saw a couple marks. So I tried trolling cross lake towards the aeration system. About 100yrds from the bouys my back rod started bouncing and fish was on! I tried a new way to fight these fish solo and keeping them out of the surface. I backed off the drag almost all the way and thumbed the fish when it wanted to run. This allowed me to get the fish tired out before coming to the boat. Wouldn't you know it was pretty successful as not only 1-1 but I went 2-2 in no time before getting blown off the lake with the wind. Fishing solo might not be a bad technique using this, will have to try it more to see.
Gear on Thursday had a slight color change, but generally stayed the same. Tried out a new tape pattern Arrow Dodger I made up paired with a custom wedding ring I made with radical glow beads and a smile blade. Same corn and scent worked so didn't change much up there. Fun night to be even with the chaos. With the Derby only 7 days away it is time to dial it in. Fish on and God Bless.
