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Cavanaugh Lake Report
Skagit County, WA

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Details

05/27/2012
61° - 65°
Trolling
Kokanee
Maggots
Green
Cloudy
Dodger
Noon
56° - 60°
05/29/2012
2
2007

Sunday one of the kids had an overnight guest and I had some chores to do so no fishing was planned. Of course that all changed when we found out that our guest likes to fish but because of some family dynamics she doesn’t get to very often. So two 13 year old girls in the backseat and boat in tow we headed for Lake Cavanaugh. We decided on Cavanaugh, not for the stellar fishing but because we recently learned that some family friends have a place on the lake and we thought we would try to find it from the water and say hi (yes we were invited).

After launching the boat we headed for the area just south and southwest of the island, set out our usual complement of kokanee gear and started the hunt As far as kokanee go the lake was a desert. I only saw 2 fish on the meter that I would say for sure were kokanee. Other than that the lake looked pretty sterile. I was watching the FF pretty carefully when I spotted both the meter marks and raised or lower the riggers accordingly. In each case the tactic worked. On one occasion both riggers went off at the same time and produced a nice cutthroat which after some debate was released safe and sound and also a kokanee which we lost. The next meter mark also resulted in a lost kokanee. Some time later we caught another cutthroat which like the first one was released safe and sound.

In both cases the kokanee hit a homemade beaded spinner behind a green Sep’s dodger. Overall the spinner was silver and green and tipped with maggots. Both kokanee hits came off of 46’ meter marks in 60’ feet of water while we were trolling at 1.1 mph. The cuts hit either a home made spin-n-glow set up or an orange/UV mini squid, both run behind green swing blades.

We fished for about an hour and then went for a short cruise, looking for our friends place. It turned out they were outside cleaning their beach so we tied up and visited for an hour or so. He is a major fisherman so I picked his brain about the Lake Cavanaugh fishery and decided that my next trip up the hill will be in search of wild trout, both bows and brown trout. The highlight of my day was when I explained to our guest fisherperson what the FF is for. I told her that when it senses a fish it will point in the general direction we should go to catch a fish. Shortly thereafter she sat Indian style on the floor of the boat in front of the FF and started watching the FF screen so she could tell me where to go…


Comments

The Quadfather
5/29/2012 1:39:00 PM
Nice work on that FF monitor person. Follow guidance, I'm sure.
I am really surprised that the lake was so void of Kokes. The last two years it has been red hot.
When you said your "Next trip up the hill will be in search of bows and B.T." I am wondering where you meant? Maybe that's a secret. (-:
Wondering if your friend on the lake, who is an angler, wondering if he had any stories on anything coming out of Cav. rather than the 10" skinny cutts, and standard Kokes?
rseas
5/29/2012 3:29:00 PM
The search will be to confirm the presence of large wild trout in Cavanaugh. He did share some "Cavanaugh" trout secrets, although they are already part of my big trout arsenal I had never considered deploying them at Cavanaugh. To me Cavanaugh is a kokanee lake.
blufin loui
5/29/2012 10:26:00 PM
Kudos to you rseas for being flexible and willing to provide the youngsters with a great trip. That's awesome you were able to provide a memory making trip for the youngsters. From the smiles, it's easy to tell it was a big hit. You Da Man.
Elijah.Loves.Fishin
5/29/2012 11:47:00 PM
great job! i think it's always awesome when girls enjoy fishing! at least when it comes to the girls i know, most of them hate it or won't give it a chance. the smiles on their face tell it all. nice report!
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709