2015 Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby is now one for the books and the WashingtonLakes (Northwest Fishing Reports) team prevailed! After a long spring of only an occasional fishing trip we were able to join the festivities and fish the Lake Stevens Kokanee Derby. I will have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive, not really fishing all spring we had not had an opportunity to learn the lake or even work out any kokanee kinks in our technique. Then having taken Friday off to prep for the event I ended having to work all day so now I apprehensive and stressed. By 7:00 or 8:00 Friday evening the job related responsibilities were behind me and it was time to get to get’n ready. When I am fishing all the time, the prep time is insignificant but in this case I had a ton to do. There was bait to mix up, lures to make, top shots to refresh, tackle to sort, a truck to load and I will have to admit that I had to rescue the boat from the growing heap of general disorganization in my garage. I will not say when everything was done but shortly after we loaded up the 5 year old monkey boy, rolled out of the driveway and headed south.

After an uneventful drive south we arrived at the WDFW/Lake Stevens city launch and launched the boat. Well I did anyway; I let the sleeping bunch of hooligans sleep. Boat in the water I tried to catch a few winks before the gang was going to come down to get underway. My sleep plans were less than well thought out and apparently somebody thinks that I snore. Oh well time to get up and visit with my fellow kokaholics. Sleep would be nice but good conversation is better! At 4:30 the troops arrived and we headed off in search of our aquatic quarry.

The initial plan was to fish the shoreline just west of the aerator. Historically we have found a few larger kokanee in that area. Not finding what we were looking for we did go on the hunt to locate schools of fish. We started out running 5 lines; one pulling a Rapala targeted at any trout that may be looking for a quick snack, two lead line rigs and two rods off the downriggers. We ran an assortment of dodgers and custom tied lures tipped with various corn concoctions. Our trolling speed was 1.2-1.4 mph and we were running the gear 60’ behind the release clip or 1-2 ½ colors on the lead line setups. I wish that I could say that we had a rig that stood out but everything we ran saw about equal action. The only common thread was pink, pink dodgers and pink lures on 12” leaders. We spent the day chasing meter marks and most of our fish were off of meter marks. Although the lead line rigs saw a fair number of fish the depth control and being able to target the meter marks was a key. Another key was the use of my electronics. When we found a school of fish I would mark it and keep running through it until either it moved on or the school had had enough of my harassment and the bite would shut off. In the end we put 28 kokanee on ice and probably lost twice that many (monkey boy…). A few lost fish or not the day was a success and we went home with the top prize.

After a second place finish and some close calls in the earlier derbies for our boat, Karen finally got it done. While fishing the area just off of Sunset Park on the east shore of the lake a downrigger clip pops and it is Karen’s turn. The fish was bent on regaining it's freedom, making a couple long zig-zag runs and a trip through the lead lines but Karen was always one step ahead and she expertly guided what turned out to be the first place fish into the waiting net. At the time we knew it was a nice fish but had no idea that it would turn out to be the top fish. We got in line for the weigh-in around 1:30, shortly thereafter Karen’s name appeared at the top of the leader board. Unfortunately there were still 20 minutes until they closed weigh-in and a ton of people in line. The wait was a bit nerve-racking but in the end Karen took first place. John (Idstud) and also a WashingtonLakes (Northwest Fishing Reports) member and our good friend got second place. The event was well run and in the morning the event staff provided assistance with launching to help assure that things went smoothly. For me the event is kind of like a reunion, an opportunity to catch up with fish’n buddies, swap fishing stories and enjoy everyone’s fellowship.

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