This is a two day report.

Saturday I woke up early, and with the wife's blessing I decided to hit Lake Stevens to see if I could get this lake dailed in. With the warmer weather we have been getting, the lake is starting to warm, and the fish are starting to feed!

First thing in the morning I dropped one rod to 10' and top lined another one. Downrigger rod was hit almost instantly and I got a nice little Koke to the boat at about 11". Let him go to go eat some more and grow. I then quickly hooked another on the surface rod and it was another little guy. About 5 more minutes goes by and I hear the downrigger rod come unclipped then hear the sweet sound of line peeling off the reel. TRIPLOID! Couple nice runs, missed netting attempt, then one more line peeler and a jump, SNAP. Now here is were I am still kicking my self. In lakes like Chelan I run bigger dodgers, either 6" slingblades or 7.6" Double D's. On these bigger dodgers I also run heavier leaders, most of the time 14# Flurocarbon. The downrigger rod was running one of my custom 6' Sling blades with a wedding ring.... With 10# leader. The thing I have found with those bigger dodgers is when the fish jump they put an incredible amount of strain on the line between the dodger and lure before the dodger comes out of the water. Bigger Dodgers = Heavier Leader. Yes, even the guide screws up. After this episode I picked up a buddy at the dock and we proceed to work the lake over until about 4pm letting some small fish go and catching some nice 12-13" Adult fish.

Sunday I got a later start, but hit the water mid morning with the Wife and kids in tow. Lines in the water. Switching gear every 10-15 minutes. After about an hour I found the magic combo with an Arrow Flash/ Wiggle hoochie. Switched four rods over and was hooking a fish about every 5 minutes and handing rods off to the fisher girls. The final count for the day was 23 fish hooked and 6 to the boat. But that was okay with me, the kids were all smiles!

With the fish being 12-13" right now, we are looking at 15-17" fish come April! Even bigger in May. This is the biggest I have ever seen these fish in Lake Stevens in February, and there is a ton of fish in the lake this year. I can't wait for Spring!

NorthwestSportfishing

"I specialize in Kokanee and Lake Trout all over Washington State. Utilizing the latest and greatest techniques to insure you have a great day on the water. The 20' Customweld Cobra is covered to keep you cool in the Summer and Warm in the Winter! Coast Guard and Washington Fish & Game Certified."

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