Let the snow melt before we headed out and had lines in the water by 1pm. Water is a bit murky but much better than last year early. Ramp and dock at Speelyai are very usable. 4 other trailers in the lot, most boats were ending as we were starting. Saw 1 other on the lake. Air temp 38, water temp 38-39. Rained hard, mild winds, cold fingers baiting corn. Longlined 140-150 ft back with no weight. Fish are shallow, 10-15 ft. Kept 9 Kokes and a fat rainbow. Hot spot was just a bit east of the stump garden on the south end (gps pic shows our loop). Fish were 11.5-12.5 in with 1 guy just shy of 14. A bit leaner than the winter Kokanee we caught recently at Chelan. Lost a half dozen. At least 3 hit the surface and "tail danced" on the surface like a marlin, cool show. Meat looks good as usual. Several combos of wedding rings and dodgers worked but the rainbow dodger and "fruit loop" wedding ring Melissa tied was by far the hottest, accounting for probably 80% of bites. Shoepeg cured in bloody tuna oil/procure. Didn't hook a single Pikeminnow this trip.

Could this be a comeback year for Merwin?

---