early Kokanee fishing

went to Merwin in Jan. nice fogy sunny day.
put out dick nite on top switched to wedding ring. nothing! went down 2' nothing.. changed dodger change colors went down 10 feet. nothing! went back on top nothing! done for the day!
What did I do wrong?

How fast were you going?
Did you tip your hooks with bait or put scent on anything?
How deep were the fish at?
Was there anyone else on the water and were they catching fish?
How early were you there?
A lot of stuff could have gone wrong down to the fish just didn't feel like biting. 

Sounds like you did everything right. The choice to bite or not bite is completely up to the fish.

We all take a trip thru Skunk Town once in a while.

I fish kokes a lot during the winter at Merwin and see a fair number of yak anglers out there.  Powerboats and yak anglers alike miss out on winter kokanee for several reasons but number one is not getting on the water early enough. I hit the water right at or just before sunrise. I've noticed the winter koke bite at Merwin lasts about 1 to 1.5 hours and usually turns on between sunrise and 11 AM after that it is always hit or miss. Winter fish tend to hold near the surface down to 40 feet beyond that I don't target them. Get a two pole endorsement and run one with 1/2 oz weight at 40 pulls (~ 60 feet) and another with no weight at 80-100 feet back. If I don't get any hits I start working both rigs down by adding weight. Once I find the fish I dial both rigs into the same depth within 10 feet of each other. Additionally, I see a lot of guys wasting a lot of time trying to paddle/peddle to the upper end of the lake or across to the cove before deploying gear. I always drop my gear as soon as I hit 50 ft of water depth out of Speelyai and I can't count the number of fish I've picked up in the first 15 minutes.

Other hints:

- Always tips your hooks with corn add a dash of smelly jelly krill
- I run double hooks (#4) on my hoochie spinners and it makes a big difference in hookup to landing ratios
- Troll speed - SLOW in winter 1.2 mph seems to be ideal for me
- Direction of troll can make a difference but I don't know why. In general trolling against the wind produces more fish.
- Zig zag your kayak as if a uboat was trying to torpedo your ass (you should be turning every 50-75 feet)

PM me if you want to get out on the water soon. I'd be happy to fish you with and show what works for me. I fish using exclusively hoochie spinners and shasta dodgers.

used corn.. maggots and yes sent.. had an in line sent chamber..just couldn't find the bite...

Just keep at it. It only makes that first fish all the better.

pdm,

Kokanee fishing was a different experience for me in 2013 compared to other years. In early spring, I usually don't both with downriggers, as the fish are usually in the top 20 feet of the water column. I usually flat line my gear or use a 1oz cannon ball weight. But spring 2013 had me packing the downriggers and fishing in 25-50 feet of water. I caught a lot of fish in March and April at 45 feet, which is not typical. I usually don't bother fishing Merwin during August-February, but there was a good bite in Dec 2013 and Jan 2014. I have not been back up there since we got the snow a few weeks back. Here's the thing though, the fish are still at 25-35 feet! Again, not typical. I can't really explain why the fish have been deeper, but try 2oz at 35 pulls the next time you go out or take a downrigger along. Oh, and the fish are pretty decent size for this early in the season, with the majority of fish right at the 13" mark.

Hope this helps,

Heatmiser