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So got an invite to join Mike Carey and Robbie today in area 10 but sadly had to take a rain check as I have been promising one of my Us Foods drivers for over 6 months to take him fishing and his son. He has yet to catch a fish in WA so was hoping to turn the tides today on Lake WA!

Arrived at the Gene Coulon boat launch at 5:30 and not surprised to see only 2 boat trailers in the parking lot as weather has been sketchy but today looked like we had about a 6 hour window for it to be decent. Was prepared to have 3 of us on board today but his son had to work late last night so couldn't make it. He has never fished in a boat before and knew nothing about trolling so after a little fishing 101 on how to bring in a fish on light gear we motored straight over to where I had success last time out on west side of Mercer Island and set out 1 lead core line and one on the downrigger.

On the down rigger put on the same Brad's mini cut plug that has produced for me lately tipped with cured corn and on the lead core set back a hand tied fly by Nick Hudson with a wobbler dodger with a herring strip. Put both lines back 115 feet and dropped the rigger to 35 feet on the wire. Went through school after school without even a bump so decided to pull in and put on some new gear- the lead core turns out had been dragging a pretty good size perch for a while so at least the skunk was off LOL!

Since the wind wasn't a factor yet decided to keep working the area over again where we had been marking so many fish and this time went with a rainbow colored God's tooth on the lead core and one of the newer cut plugs I had picked up recently. Tipped both with corn and set them back again hoping for better luck! Not too long into it saw a school at 45 so set the rigger at 40 feet and no sooner did we go through the school the rod starts danciing and it's fish on for Melvin! Turns out he was took the lessons to heart and skillfully played his first kokanee of his life artfully right into the waiting net and its was high "gloved" fives abound!

Got the line juiced and baited back up and back it goes for another shot at some silver bullets! Passed a fellow fisher person who had just boated a nice 21 1/2" cutty so would be okay with one of those too! Suddenly the rigger rod does the sexy dance and it's another fish on for Melvin! Now this one is bigger and does a couple flips out of the water but he keeps his cool and still slowly gains ground on it- of course this fish isn't done and makes another run before finally succumbing to my waiting net! Okay so that's 2 really quick on this set up and I am no dummy so quickly bring in the lead core and switch to 2 down riggers with the same set up on it.

As we pass the point and buoy I see marks at 20 feet and 40 feet so set the depths accordingly and wouldn't you know it- a DOUBLE! This will be a challenge but Melvin's is coming in first so I net it while still fighting mine and then dump the fish out of the net and hand it to him for his first try and netting a fish! As I said he is a quick learner and had been watching my technique of netting fish and soon mine was on board too! WOW! Pretty stoked now as we have 4 on ice! Get both set ups with fresh corn and scent and back they go again.

Worked our way back and forth from the point and soon the new set up goes down and pulls it off the clip and I'm thinking "oh no not a sockyeye" but he makes one good runa and starts to come in and funny thing, was smaller then the others but man what a battle! Now it's 11 am and wind really starting to pick up from the north so decide to just troll all the way back to the boat launch. As we get close decide to pull in the lines and wouldn't you know it, one has a perch and the other another kokanee! So total for the day was 9 for 9 with 6 kokanee and 3 perch! Now I've spoiled him and he wants to buy a boat! OH no, what have I done? Anyway, stay safe out there and see you on the water!

herefishy

6/30/2020 10:06:23 AM

Great job Barry. Still needing to get out on WA for a kokanee trip but for some reason can't drag myself off Sammamish. Cutthroat are biting well but size average has decreased but still respectable. Most fish caught were between 13" - 15". Hope to see you out on the either WA or Sammamish soon!

salmonbarry

6/30/2020 7:51:14 PM

Thanks Janet! I think I am going to give it a shot on Sammamish this Saturday or Sunday or both as it looks like the best option for the least amount of wind to deal with! Hope to see you and Glen out there!

gcban

6/30/2020 1:42:34 PM

Nice report Barry, thank you. Been trying to get out there but scheduling and now the wind is cramping my fishing groove. Might try Thursday or Friday if these winds subside a bit. Hope to meet you out there sometime. -G

salmonbarry

6/30/2020 7:49:52 PM

@gcban Thanks and hope we cross paths soon but that wind has been a 'you know what' this week huh? Figures as my wife is out of town for 8 days and have been dying to get out for that evening bite but man it is whipping by the time I get off! OH well, that's fishing!

uwbkokanee

6/30/2020 5:36:58 PM

Looks like you had a good day out! I am a faculty member at UW Bothell doing research on Lake Washington kokanee, and I would love to get kokanee samples from you or any other Lake Washington anglers catching kokanee. If you still have the heads, or catch LW kokanee in the future and can save the heads for me, I'd really appreciate it! Frozen is fine. If you could tell me the length of the fish that the heads came from, even better. I can meet you somewhere to pick them up. I can be reached at [email protected]

salmonbarry

6/30/2020 7:48:05 PM

@uwbkokanee Sounds good! I'll save the heads next time out and get ahold of you!

uwbkokanee

7/1/2020 1:11:44 PM

Thanks Salmonbarry! If it's possible to get a fork length and associate it with each head that would be extra great. I have some tags you can write the length on and attach to the heads that I'd be happy to drop off somewhere for you. You can reach me directly at [email protected]. Cheers, Jeff

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