Mike@Bills
5/15/2012 7:50:00 AMI am fishing stevens tomorrow, can you tell me a good spot to fish for Kokes? I have never been to the lake before, but I do have a map if you can give me any good info.
Thanks Mike
Thanks Mike
psugrue
5/15/2012 8:36:00 AMSir,
They seem to be all over. You may see them jumping, that's a clue :-). I like the south end of the lake but you will need a depth finder because it gets down to only 10 feet and you need to be in about 30 or 40. If you don't have a depth finder just head out in the middle. There are plenty of fish there. Troll at 20 or 30 feet with a wedding ring and corn 16 inches back from a dodger at 1.4 mph. Lead line on a level wind reel takes the hassle of a down rigger out of the equation. You will need about a 40 foot leader and let out 2 to 3 colors. Each color is 30 feet and you get down about 10 feet per color. Other than that down riggers work fine, they are just more work. The key is to be on the lake and fishing by 5:00 am. You can catch fish all day long but early morning and late evening are about 8 times more productive. Good luck.
They seem to be all over. You may see them jumping, that's a clue :-). I like the south end of the lake but you will need a depth finder because it gets down to only 10 feet and you need to be in about 30 or 40. If you don't have a depth finder just head out in the middle. There are plenty of fish there. Troll at 20 or 30 feet with a wedding ring and corn 16 inches back from a dodger at 1.4 mph. Lead line on a level wind reel takes the hassle of a down rigger out of the equation. You will need about a 40 foot leader and let out 2 to 3 colors. Each color is 30 feet and you get down about 10 feet per color. Other than that down riggers work fine, they are just more work. The key is to be on the lake and fishing by 5:00 am. You can catch fish all day long but early morning and late evening are about 8 times more productive. Good luck.
HBomb
5/15/2012 9:37:00 PMHello psugrue,
I'm HBomb, and I get out on Lake Stevens just about every weekend. I'm curious to know about how you use the leaded line, as I don't have downriggers and have only hooked 3 fish in last 4 trips fishing the surface. You say to tie a 40 ft leader onto the leaded line and then go out 2-3 colors? In your opinion what would that come out to as depth when trolling? Thanks and tight lines!
I'm HBomb, and I get out on Lake Stevens just about every weekend. I'm curious to know about how you use the leaded line, as I don't have downriggers and have only hooked 3 fish in last 4 trips fishing the surface. You say to tie a 40 ft leader onto the leaded line and then go out 2-3 colors? In your opinion what would that come out to as depth when trolling? Thanks and tight lines!
psugrue
5/15/2012 10:44:00 PMDear HBomb,
It is conventional wisdom that as the water temps rise the fish go deep to stay in the temp range that they like. We now have 60 plus on the surface so 20 or 30 feet seems to be working right now. Rotten Chum told me about the lead line. He's a great guy and you can see when you talk to him he does it for the love of fishing and helping people. I got it at the Greg's custom rods in Lake Stevens. I think it was about $15 for 100 yds but it's 18 lb test so it won't break and they say it will last for years. You will need a level wind reel because the line is way too stiff to use with a spinning reel. The lead core trolling line changes color every 10 yds and every ten yards will get you down about 10 feet. You can see that it really works when you look at the line angle compared to a surface setup. The knot that you use to tie on the 40 ft monofilament leader which tends to be say 6 or 8 lb test is low profile so goes through the rings on the rod. You pull back the sheath on the lead core line about 6 inches and cut 6 inches of lead off. Then you tie a couple of simple over hand knots very loose in the lead core. Then you poke the monofilament leader up into the now hollow braid. Now run those loose overhand knots down. One about a quarter of an inch from where the braid ends and one about 4 inches back up the braid from that and pull everything tight. I have a down rigger but I can't be bothered to use it any more as this setup is so easy. Good luck, and let us know how you do.
It is conventional wisdom that as the water temps rise the fish go deep to stay in the temp range that they like. We now have 60 plus on the surface so 20 or 30 feet seems to be working right now. Rotten Chum told me about the lead line. He's a great guy and you can see when you talk to him he does it for the love of fishing and helping people. I got it at the Greg's custom rods in Lake Stevens. I think it was about $15 for 100 yds but it's 18 lb test so it won't break and they say it will last for years. You will need a level wind reel because the line is way too stiff to use with a spinning reel. The lead core trolling line changes color every 10 yds and every ten yards will get you down about 10 feet. You can see that it really works when you look at the line angle compared to a surface setup. The knot that you use to tie on the 40 ft monofilament leader which tends to be say 6 or 8 lb test is low profile so goes through the rings on the rod. You pull back the sheath on the lead core line about 6 inches and cut 6 inches of lead off. Then you tie a couple of simple over hand knots very loose in the lead core. Then you poke the monofilament leader up into the now hollow braid. Now run those loose overhand knots down. One about a quarter of an inch from where the braid ends and one about 4 inches back up the braid from that and pull everything tight. I have a down rigger but I can't be bothered to use it any more as this setup is so easy. Good luck, and let us know how you do.
HBomb
5/16/2012 8:51:00 AMThank youj, I'll put it all to work this weekend. Good luck to you if your fishing the Derby this Saturday.
HBomb
HBomb