merwin report 5-24

Great job,RR...glad to hear they are still biting! Wait..you got phone service up there?

Thats a solid kokanee! Nice!

Great job,RR...glad to hear they are still biting! Wait..you got phone service up there?

I get reception up there randomly. Especially in the center of the lake I get pretty good coverage.
I ended the day with a limit. Most were 13-14 and fatties. Such a great fishery.

Yah...eating smoked kokes as we speak. Gotta get some more..congrats on the limit! Did ya see the katydid (white Starcraft) there? Wish I could go again soon..a lot of fun.

Yah...eating smoked kokes as we speak. Gotta get some more..congrats on the limit! Did ya see the katydid (white Starcraft) there? Wish I could go again soon..a lot of fun.

I think so. There was a white Starcraft that rolled up around noon or so. But didn't chat with us.
They were very aggressive today. I had 4 skyrocket out of the water as soon as they tripped the downrigger. Then it was a battle to keep them hooked while they danced on the surface. Hit me up when you want to head out there. 

Its great when they're that commited...its hard to know when to pull on the DR rod when they're being picky. Were you fishing 2 poles?  Caught a few while unhooking,peeing,snacking..etc.  wanna go fri\sat.    Although salmon /steel is hard to resist on BigC

Its great when they're that commited...its hard to know when to pull on the DR rod when they're being picky. Were you fishing 2 poles?  Caught a few while unhooking,peeing,snacking..etc.  wanna go frisat.    Although salmon /steel is hard to resist on BigC

Yeah I was fishing 2 rods. On the non-downrigger rod I fished 1 oz at anywhere from 12-45 pulls. Only got 2 fish on that rod and lost 2. The downrigger was what was producing today.

RR how deep was your downrigger?  I don't have one, but maybe I could get down far enough with more lead?

RR how deep was your downrigger?  I don't have one, but maybe I could get down far enough with more lead?

We started at 40 feet, and towards the end (about 2:00 pm) we brought them up to 30 feet. 

Here is my super fancy down-rigger cooler combo. 

I screwed the Scotty base to a backing plate (plywood) inside the cooler.  I had previously mounted the rod holders to it.  I dreamt this sucker up at 11:00 pm last night when I was looking for a logical item to mount the DR to.  What better item then a cooler I won at a fishing derby when I was 14 years old.  Kokanee fit nicely inside the cooler.  At least the ones that RR gave me when we were done. 

Here is RR netting his piggy of a kokanee.

Thanks.  Awesome setup!

Poor Craig had the worst luck with his gear today. Between faulty depth readings on his new line counter reel, and the awkward design of his foldout net, he lost some real piggies right at the boat.
Nice shots Craig. That was a sweet camera you had out there.

 Hey Craig,
 Was your new camera an Olympus ?

 I've started your custom Olympus whacker (that will float) .Get it to you soon.

Poor Craig had the worst luck with his gear today. Between faulty depth readings on his new line counter reel, and the awkward design of his foldout net, he lost some real piggies right at the boat.
Nice shots Craig. That was a sweet camera you had out there.

It teaches humility.

I had a great time at Merwin.  I watched a true master at work.  Romanian Redneck could not keep the kokanee off his line (Me=jealous rage).  They were all good sized (except for a couple) and he had several double hook-ups.  It started out rainy, but got pretty nice for a few hours.  I now have a new addiction and I plan on getting my money's worth out of my Washington license up there.  I had a nice fat one fly out of the water and nearly hit me in the face when it saw the net.  Of course, as soon as it hit the water again it came unbuttoned  .  I saw about 154+ AOTY points swim away.

Wait, Craig lost another phone?? 

Here's a short video from yesterday. It was definitely rainy at times but at least the wind cooperated.