Favorite Trout/Kokanee Tackle

I was out in the shop this evening prepping for the upcoming trout/Kokanee season at the Lewis River lakes (Merwin, Yale, and Swift) and I figured this is as good a time as any to open up a discussion on go-to lures, rigs, and hardware.
My favorite Kokanee setup is the blue/green UV Shasta blade trailed by a chartreuse (or glow/pink) wiggle hootchie.
That's money in the bank if looking for Kokanee.
For trout, it's hard to pin down just one but the F-4 Froggy Flatfish and the Berkley powerbait worms are at the top of the list.
 

Really did well on trout last week on little frog pattern needlefish. Trolled alone or behind lake Troller.


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Dynamite or an old crank phone seem to work ok

RR, I agree my kok tackle choices a lot like that (although less organized). For actively feeding trout add in needlefish spoons (hammered brass/red, firetiger, rainbow trout/silver, bikini/brass, cop car...), size to the lake and fish #1 to #3. Fall and spring when water temps are 52 f and greater. Low light days, go for more color pop like the firetiger, high-light go for something less flashy like cop car.

Colder water less than 52 f or so, finicky fish try Apex 3" (http://www.hotspotlures.com/products_apex_troll.php) watermelon, glitter melon, rainbow trout, ...and more. Work better later in the day, more light, more sun, not sure why. Very high action. Work well for coho too.

Brad's mini cut plugs (3") have been producing nice big trout for us on Lake WA. Stuff them with minced herring or anchovie or at very least soak that internal foam pad with scents (http://www.bsfishtales.com/sbaitc.php). Same colors as other lure, hot tiger, watermelon, black jack, shamrock and for some reason double-take is my top producer.

We seldom fish a flasher set up, unless it's dirty water (plankton blooms), noisy (boat traffic). During winter the visibility is so good in a deep glacial cut lake that they can see just fine. If they are interested they'll get it. If your after bigger trout then leave the flasher off during this time of the year. Add a double swivel set up at the top of the leader as these lures spin fast. I like light leaders, down to 4# with 6# my standard and no more than 8# in mono and 10# in flouro. Brad will disagree, he likes 10 and 12#. IMO that's so he can horse them in without breaking them off  .

Herring is another novel. We use a lot of helmets to insure a very tight spin, glow green is a good start. Smallest herring or anchovie you can get. I am modifying helmets for more consistent spins of 2 rps at 1.3 kts. If you can rig it without a helmet to a tight drill bit spin go that route. I just like the ease of a helmet especially when the bite is on I can get it back out there fast.

Tight Lines.

Full sized dupont spinner.


ok ok, red blade / blue body vibrax or a wedding ring, pretty much any color.  If the lake holds big trout, then a small rapala or size 3+ vibrax.

The acme thunderbolt in gold with spots, and a fire tiger rooster tail have been my go to trout lures for years.

Kastmaster in silver or gold work great for recently stocked trout

Has anyone ever fished with Nordic Jigs? They seem popular on quite a few lakes throughout the NW. A buddy of mine in the Seattle area swears by them.  I have one (the pink lure in the upper left hand corner of my tackle box in the picture) but I haven't tried it yet.
Apparently the word is Luhr Jenson is planning on discontinuing these.

That's a nice set of tackle you have there.  I've just started my koke / trout trolling gear collecting.

A few flashers and some different color wedding rings.   I've caught trout on them but have yet to chase Kokes. 

Here in the next month I'd like to head to Wallowa Lake for a new world record

Has anyone ever fished with Nordic Jigs? They seem popular on quite a few lakes throughout the NW. A buddy of mine in the Seattle area swears by them.  I have one (the pink lure in the upper left hand corner of my tackle box in the picture) but I haven't tried it yet.
Apparently the word is Luhr Jenson is planning on discontinuing these.

Looks like a mini-Candlefish (er, can't recall exact name) or even the Kandlefish lure (designed by the same guy that made the crippled herring) that is just hitting the market. I use them a lot. Got a new one this past weekend with same shape and pass-thru line like the buzz bomb. I keep jigs like this on the casting rod for surface feeding trout and salmon. 

Yo-Zuri Lures are the shiznit.  Its like when nothing else seems to work they just force fish to bite.  My thought is that because it is made in Japan it is legal for them to use lead in their paint.  Since they can do that, they can get a more vibrant color that shoots off a wider spectrum of light, thus creating more reaction strikes even when the fish arent hungry.  I was running two rods, one with a yozuri and the other with everything I had in the tackle box, the only one that caught fish was the yozuri.  last weekend i hit up alder lake and was catching 10 inch Kokanee on a 5 inch diver. They just work.

The floating Rapala minnow/jointed minnow has worked really well for me.

Which yo-zuris do you use W&E?

How do you keep your tackle box so clean??

How do you keep your tackle box so clean??

It looks like a "Glamour Shot" for a tackle box.

Jigging a two inch pink Buzz Bomb works best for me. I also catch a lot of fish with a UV pink/purple Dick Nite dodger set up with a small piece of worm. Has anyone caught any fish on the Wee Tad Plugs? I tried using them last year without any success.