Had four days off, planned to fish Hayden all four as the kokanee fishing has been well worth while. The lake did not disappoint although the weather was a struggle throughout the weekend. Thursday 4/24 it rained cats and dogs all morning/afternoon. I got out for an evening shot at some fish after doing errands and with a break in the rain, but no luck. The rain really did not allow the lake to warm up much and the water was at 53.8 in the evening and the fish were not cooperating.

Friday come rain or shine I was giving it my best and was first boat on the water fishing at 5:00. Started getting fish at 6:40 A.M (first fish lost, second in the boat at 7:00). I don't know if it is too early in spring still, but the real early morning bite has not produced for me and 7:00 has seemed to be when it picks up. I had to leave my tried and true spots and go towards open water where it was a bit warmer, around 53.5 where it was in the 52 range near drainage areas/small bays.

After I picked up a few fish out towards the deeper water with the warming water I ended up finding a pattern in which I would get hit on about every pass so I concentrated on that spot. It was in my usual fishing grounds, so the kokes love that spot probably based on feed. For me Hayden has produced on points with good transitions and flat like areas that go from 60 to 120 feet gradually. The bite really picked up again around 10:00, and then died off a bit as the day progessed. I think I was somewhere around 12 fish at 2 or 3 o'clock when I started thinking about quitting, but I held in until I got my limit at 4 as the fish just kept biting.

Friday with a break in the storm system there was plenty of sun and the water topped out at 57 degrees for the day. The fish were very happy with this and the bite was fairly consistent and I ended up with my first official kokanee limit of 15 and my biggest kokanee out of Hayden at 17 inches with many around 14 or 15. It wasn't as crazy with doubles and intense action as my previous trip, but I ended up with more fish in the cooler and hooked. Think I went about 15/21, so a great day although I fished hard for what I caught!

Tight lines all!

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