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Ok, we blew it, I was trying to get the last minute big one and we missed Lake Stevens kokanee derby weigh-in. Very dumb on my part we already had 10 fish, three of which were at a pound but I wanted the big fish for bragging purposes. With only 10 fish we struggled to find kokanee but when we did we would scratch out a few then have to go on the hunt again. Derby day was a pink show for our boat. Pink attractors and pink lures were the go to for us.

With three fishing we were running 4 or 5 rigs, two or three off the downriggers and 2 lead line setups. I started running a variety of attractor/lure combinations and ultimately pared it down to pink, pink and more pink. Actually I also ran a stand-by 50/50 dodger with various home tied spinners trailing behind but it only accounted for a small percentage of the action. The hottest lure on our boat was a pink custom kokanee fly I tied last year. It was rigged with a pink smile blade and did its thing 8” behind a pink and white dodger. We tipped the hooks with shopeg doctored with a variety of scents; the most productive was the Bloody Tuna Gel.

Not having the opportunity to pre fish the lake this year we stuck to my usual routine. We chased meter marks with the downriggers and ran the lead lines at 1 or 2 colors. We varied our trolling speed between 0.8 and 2.0 MPH with 1.4 being our sweet spot. The water temperature varied between 64 and 65.8 degrees. I did not do an at depth temperature survey but there was a defined thermocline between about 25-35 feet. In spite of the weather we had a good day on the water but did not stay for the festivities. Our 4 year old fisherman was out of steam, Karen was tired and still chilled from the earlier weather and knowing that we missed the weigh-in we opted to secure the rig and just head for the barn. I take full responsibility for not making the weigh-in and do not plan to not miss it next year!

KIDKOKANEE

5/19/2014 8:56:00 PM

NICE!! KOKANEE YOU WENT HOME WITH WE FISHED THE DERBY EARLY O DARK THIRTY TILL APROX 815 AND IT WAS ENOUGH FOR US 14 YR OL TWO CRANKY OL MEN HA!! WE WERE COLD TIRED N WET WE HAD NO COVER JUST A 12FT OPEN SMOKER CRAFT ANGLER ! RAN THE ELEC TROLLING MOTOR BATTERY TO DEAD N STARTED THE GAS 15HP HONDA WAS RUNING AN CUTTING OUT SO WE BAGGED THE DERBY!! AND WENT TO SAMMAMISH DID WELL FOR CUTTHROAT BUT ENVY YOUR DETERMINATION FOR THE KOKANEE YOU TOOK HOME THAT!! FISH ON!!

Toni

5/19/2014 8:57:00 PM

Nice report even with the sad end. I think we all want a king kong kokanee

Idstud

5/19/2014 8:58:00 PM

I was wondering what happened. Too bad you missed the weigh-in. I pre fished 3 times with not a single bumb so I would say you didnt miss much. After the prizes were done I got the boat out and put My 5 year old in the car to tie down and she was passed out for the ride home and after for a bit. With her to bed early I was up at 745am the next morning so much for sleeping in.

Mike Carey

5/19/2014 9:14:00 PM

Someone looks worn out... I'm staring down a ten day stretch at work and JoAnn has agreed to go fishing tomorrow (Tuesday) SO I'm all pumped up and ready. Going to try your tied shrimp fly again. If it works you better be ready for an order of a half dozen flies! We need to plan for a Lake Samish video in June/July...

Norm

5/19/2014 10:24:00 PM

The most important rule for a derby, DO NOT MISS WEIGH IN!!! haha

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