Northwest Fishing Reports

New to trolling as we just bought a boat last month. What tips can I get for fishing Merwin in October ?

I have never fished Merwin and I dont do much fresh water trolling (except of walleye), so I am not going to give you any direct advice. Dont tell anyone but, while I think big trout are fun to catch and not completely discusting to eat, I hate kokanee and dont get very excited at catching tiny little fishies ;)

That said, click on ' Lakes' at the top of the forum, then look up Merwin in the Lake index . Once you get there, click on 'Reports'. You can search the reports by month or by species. Read reports for Oct/Nov and you will find what people are catching and many will tell you what gear they are using and say exactly where they caught fish.

You can also look in the article list for articles on kokanee fishing and trout fishing.

I would expect that fall bass fishing will be active on Merwin as well plus Merwin is know for putting out the occasional musky.

Good luck out there and be safe

Most west-side lakes trout should be turning on right now, just not as many fish as you find in the spring. I prefer fall trout fishing as the fish are bigger and taste much better due to feeding on a natural diet since spring. I also find it easier to get into hold-overs as you are not having to filter through tons a recently stocked fish that bite anything that wiggles. Kokes you are coming to an in-between phase of spawners and next years fish. I haven't fished Merwin before, but Kokes will bite all fall/winter, they just aren't as easy pickings as the spring.

Larry's suggestion of searching Merwin reports is spot on.

I fished merwin over a month ago, and the kokes were just beginning spawn. Was a alot of fun once we found active aggressive fish, but not the best table fare. Seems that merwin and swift have a great trout fishery too. Kokanee at merwin is on my next years bucket list for sure.

If you're up for a challenge how about the muskies?

Larry3215 wrote:I have never fished Merwin and I dont do much fresh water trolling (except of walleye), so I am not going to give you any direct advice. Dont tell anyone but, while I think big trout are fun to catch and not completely discusting to eat, I hate kokanee and dont get very excited at catching tiny little fishies ;)

That said, click on ' Lakes' at the top of the forum, then look up Merwin in the Lake index . Once you get there, click on 'Reports'. You can search the reports by month or by species. Read reports for Oct/Nov and you will find what people are catching and many will tell you what gear they are using and say exactly where they caught fish.

You can also look in the article list for articles on kokanee fishing and trout fishing.

I would expect that fall bass fishing will be active on Merwin as well plus Merwin is know for putting out the occasional musky.

Good luck out there and be safe

Thanks Larry!!! Always a pleasure!

SSSSSHHHHHHHH!!! I said dont tell anyone! There are toooo many koke heads on this forum. You will get me in trouble

Larry3215 wrote:...I hate kokanee and dont get very excited at catching tiny little fishies...

Tiny little fishies?

Fishies = any fish under 12" long that allow themselves to get dragged into the boat without protest and are better suited to an aquarium because they are inedible and taste like...... well..... bad stuff.

Fishes = real fish. There is a difference

Sorry to disagree with you larry but I don't judge much on fish size. While I would rather be out chasing big fishes sometimes the little fishies taste way better. Come out to lake Stevens sometime and give it a go. Some big kokanee can come out of their and taste way better than some of the big fishes I have caught before. They are sockeye you know! Maybe that will change your mind on the little fishies. Either way i respect your opinion on that and each his own I guess. Lol

No worries - I started this with my sacrilegious comments trolling you guys

I am mostly teasing - well - some anyway

Thanks for the invite but I am a lost cause when it comes to converting to kokanee. I really dont like them. They are my least favorite salmonid.

I probably shouldnt admit this on this forum, but I dont like eating ANY salmon - sockeye, kings, coho, steelhead, (most) trout - it doesnt matter. I just dont like them. Kind of hard to enjoy catching little ones when you cant stand to eat them. At least the bigger versions put up a good fight! As far as Im concerned, salmon are catch-n-release only.

Lings, walleye, halibut, fresh or salt water bass, burbot, crappie, perch, catfish, sturgeon, even whitefish, are all great eating fish that can be caught around here. I tried fresh tuna one time many many years ago but it was under cooked and I just couldnt bring myself to swallow it, so I dont knwo if its good or not - and dont really care if thats the way its supposed to be served :D

I forgot cabezon! One of the best eating fish around. Right up there with lings in my book.

Lings are one of my favorite as so is halibut but not much of a fan of catfish unless they are channels that I can stomach. Big fan of crappie and especially perch and walleye the problem being perch and crappie fall in the fishies category lol. With the right gear trout and kokanee put way better fights then any burbot, perch of crappie hell even a tiny trout can outfight even a big walleye on the right gear. Now for salmon maybe you haven't had it cooked the right way. Kings are ok but some good smoked coho, sockeye and steelhead can't beat that.

I forgot about smoking. If its done the right way - so it no longer tastes anything like salmon - I can actually stomach it :D It took him two years, but my brother finally learned how to smoke half way decently and made some candied salmon that was edible in small doses. Maybe I should cut him some slack though - Im not the best one to judge if smoked salmon is good or bad ;)

Candied salmon is the best. The only way I smoke them. I use 1 part sugar usually half brown and half white and half part rock salt with water. Sometimes I add soy sauce but other times I do not let them soak in that brine for a day and in the smoker for a good 6-8 hrs only using alder wood. Delicious I will eat it while watching Sunday football with crackers or make smoked salmon chowder with it.