08-30-2024, 04:12 PM
After getting my car aligned took way longer than it should, my son wanted to go fishing so we decided to run up and see if the Kokes had turned red yet and were gathering in the stream, I did not see any.
Water level is good for this time of year, maybe only 6' or so below full pool with just a couple of weeks of water year left. We took an inflatable kayak and not much else. No fish finder or other gadgets. The stocking report looked like they have been putting a steady stream of 11 inch fish in every 2-3 weeks since ice off so I expected the population to be pretty good and from what I has seen rising a couple of weeks ago on a recon mission I wasn't wrong.
We inflated and my son headed for the East side. He fished around an inlet but the wind wouldn't him have any boat control so he moved to the middle where he would have time to fish while he drifted back to shore.
I went back down lake a bit and set my chair up to throw some PB while casting spinners.
Things were kind of smelly for a while, then, just about when the sun started to come off the East side it started.
I watched my son catch several fish casting and could see them surfacing and splashing close enough to him he could have hit them with the paddle. It was happening for me as well on the shore. Lots of fish around. This kept up until dark and was all over the lake.
We saw a couple of paddle boarders, a couple of kayakers (reported same luck as us) and one motorboat that launched around 5, went to the inlet area, circled a couple of times then anchored and were jigging.
Final count was 2 small kokanee and 3 rainbows for my son and 2 rainbows for me. The Kokes were about 10" and maybe 2nd year fish...no color at all, bright silver and almost black back. The bows ranged from 13" and fat to 11".
Lure of the day was a 1/4 oz Thomas Buoyant in Brown trout pattern thrown and reeled back in medium fast and shallow. Hits were savage.
S&M is such a gem, close enough yet far enough, beautiful views, quiet and not crowded. No wakers.
Water level is good for this time of year, maybe only 6' or so below full pool with just a couple of weeks of water year left. We took an inflatable kayak and not much else. No fish finder or other gadgets. The stocking report looked like they have been putting a steady stream of 11 inch fish in every 2-3 weeks since ice off so I expected the population to be pretty good and from what I has seen rising a couple of weeks ago on a recon mission I wasn't wrong.
We inflated and my son headed for the East side. He fished around an inlet but the wind wouldn't him have any boat control so he moved to the middle where he would have time to fish while he drifted back to shore.
I went back down lake a bit and set my chair up to throw some PB while casting spinners.
Things were kind of smelly for a while, then, just about when the sun started to come off the East side it started.
I watched my son catch several fish casting and could see them surfacing and splashing close enough to him he could have hit them with the paddle. It was happening for me as well on the shore. Lots of fish around. This kept up until dark and was all over the lake.
We saw a couple of paddle boarders, a couple of kayakers (reported same luck as us) and one motorboat that launched around 5, went to the inlet area, circled a couple of times then anchored and were jigging.
Final count was 2 small kokanee and 3 rainbows for my son and 2 rainbows for me. The Kokes were about 10" and maybe 2nd year fish...no color at all, bright silver and almost black back. The bows ranged from 13" and fat to 11".
Lure of the day was a 1/4 oz Thomas Buoyant in Brown trout pattern thrown and reeled back in medium fast and shallow. Hits were savage.
S&M is such a gem, close enough yet far enough, beautiful views, quiet and not crowded. No wakers.