I've been hitting Merwin quite a bit in the kayak lately for kokanee in order to put together an instructional kayak fishing video on this fishery before the peak of the season begins. Saturday's weather was nearly perfect with warm air temps, intermittent sun, and a total lack of wind. The lake was very busy with well over 40 boats at the ramp. This was probably due in part to a recent seminar held by kokanee guide in Longview, WA. Everybody was very cordial at the ramps and on the lake and it was a great to be on the water.

I start trolling straight out of Speelyai across to the south shore where I hooked and landed two doubles in the first hour. I hooked and lost a couple fish before scoring two more before 10 AM. I eventually trolled west to opposite of the waterfalls where I found several willing biters and boated one more fish for the day to end my day with 7 fish. I trolled until 3:30 PM but failed to find any fish after 1 PM. Kone Zone flashers w/spinner hoochies and Sling Blade dodgers with a wiggle hoochie were the ticket for the day. All fish were caught 100' back with no weight with troll speeds between 1.0 and 1.5 mph. Average fish size was 12" and all were chrome with vibrant red flesh.

Here is the video I produced with some underwater strike and fight footage. Enjoy!

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