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Coldwater Lake Report
Cowlitz County, WA

Details

06/19/2007
Trolling
Rainbow Trout
Green
Plug
Morning
06/20/2007
3
1916

Retired people get to fish on weekdays and that's what I did yesterday.

Took my 12' mckenzie style drift boat up to Coldwater lake and rowed it the full length of the lake and back.


Rowing along the deep main channel of the lake I like to use very deep diving crankbaits (rigged with a single barbless siwash hook). This one was probably running at 25 to 35 feet. Would row for about half a mile or so then stop and reel in the crankbait while watching the water behind it very closely. On one of these retrieves I could see a very large trout (4 to 5 pounds I'm guessing) sort of fin into view and then turn and head for deeper water. I marked the spot and will be back with slower, deeper working kinds of single, barbless, baitless rigged lures next week.

The lake narrows and gets shallow a half a mile or so from the very east end. The channel in this part of the lake is about 20 feet deep as opposed to the well over 100 foot depth of the main lake. Switched to a shallower running dark green zug bug kind of bass crankbait in this section of the lake and very quickly caught and released two very fat and fiesty rainbows that were roughly 12" long. One was so silver that it could have easily been mistaken for a kokanee but both fish were very fat and very healthy and that is a good sign.


Actually the main purpose of this trip was to shake down my boat in preparation for Chum fishing at Hoodsport this fall.

The hood canal boat ramp is 3 miles south of the hoodsport hatchery. What I want to do in late October and early nov. is pop this little drift boat in at the ramp 'bout half way through an ebb tide and then row down to the hatchery with a dodger/hoochie in tow. Then I'll anchor out from the hatchery and work for chums by casting green corkies or something like that. After tide change I start working back to the ramp. Biggest risk is a strong southerly wind starting to blow while I'm down at hoodsport, but I think I've figured out how to handle that.

The 3 mile part is what got me going up to Coldwater because this lake is about 3 miles long and I just wanted to make sure I could handle that distance using nothing but oars but before I go to Hoodsport I'm definitely going to go back and get something more interesting into the face of that big trout that was following my deep running crank.



Comments

bob johansen
6/22/2007 10:35:00 AM
How about a small outboard on the drift boat for Hoodsport?
littleriver
6/22/2007 2:09:00 PM
Would definitely work better but it would destroy my image as "The Old Man and the Sea"...

I've always identified very strongly with the main character "Santiago" from that epic tale of the 1950s.....

the movie starred Spencer Tracy and he rowed out into the Gulf and caught this huge piscatorial (Blue Marlin or something)
and then rowed it back into port.... of course, by the time he reached port the sharks had eaten most of the carcass and
all he was towing was a huge skeleton but the skeleton was all that was needed to prove his accomplishment...


but the "rowing" stuff was artistic license... Hemmingway based his novel on a real person who used to guide sport fishers in the Gulf
area and who was fascinated with large fish and, like santiago, he used to always fish from a small boat... the tales of this guide's adventures with the
large fish are still legend in that region to this day... but this "real person" did use a small outboard on his boat...


Like the producer of the movie I also think the "rowing" stuff works much better artisticly also and that's why I have been honing my skills.

now a 25 pound Chum is a long ways from a 1,000 pound marling but I'm just taking this one step at a time...

maybe next year I'll tie into one of those 13 foot sturgeon down on the columbia...
Mike Carey
6/22/2007 10:58:00 PM
I admire your resolve. My word of warning is there can be some strong southerly winds and the trip back to the ramp could be a bear, even with the tide in your favor. Not to discourage you, just letting you know what it can be like.
littleriver
6/23/2007 1:22:00 AM
Acknowledged. It was a very strong southerly blowing up the canal that blew out the hood canal bridge a few decades back... I'm actually
old enough to remember it... This is one of the reasons I took the boat down into the gorge this spring to see how it handles in very windy,
wavy weather. I was actually rowing around out by the wind river and wind mountain dodging the wind and sail surfers... not comfortable
or easy but, surprisingly enough, doable...
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709