Fished Merwin for the first time this year. The boat launches were busy, but we were able to find parking at Speelyai Bay. I hear the kokanee fishermen are doing well, and there were plenty of trollers on the lake this weekend, but I was looking for toothy big game. It rained Saturday, but by Sunday afternoon we were lathering on the sunblock. Surface water temperatures in the main lake warmed from 63 degrees on Saturday to 65 on Monday. In 2 days of fishing, Mike and I saw 3 tiger muskies; 2 of these followed our lures, but were lethargic and only curious; and I missed a strike by a fish I couldn't see that probably was a small tiger musky. It hit a tandem-blade spinnerbait with a bright chartreuse plastic trailer in a woody shoreline area where the water was muddy and the water was 66 degrees. This fish was about 4 or 5 feet down and 25 feet out from the shoreline. The spinnerbait had a single hook, which reduces hangups when working heavy cover, but is harder to hook fish with. In the cold water conditions still prevailing on western Washington's tiger musky lakes, it's pointless to fish early in the day before the water warms up, so we slept in and started fishing around noon. By late afternoon on Sunday, we were able to find surface water at 68 to 70 degrees in a small cove off the main lake and in the back of Speelyai Bay, and all of our musky sightings occurred in these warmer, shallow areas. One was a cruising fish and the other two were holding tight to sunken wood. Although Merwin is a very clear lake and you often can see bottom at 15 feet or more, there currently are some mudlines and areas of turbid water, which I suspect is caused by soil washed into the lake from recent rains. Now let's talk about fishing for tiger muskies in late spring cold water conditions. First of all, wood is a heat-sink, soaking up sun and warming the adjacent water, and this is especially true of the flat top underwater stumps. Tiger muskies often will be right on top of the wood. They're trying to get comfortable. Fish are cold-blooded creatures, and their metabolism and feeding activity slows in cold water. In Lake Merwin, I've not seen much action when the water temperature gets below 68 degrees, so that's the number I always key on. There are now a few fish on the shoreline wood, but it's going to take another week or two before the musky fishing turns on here. Another factor is the squawfish are spawning now, and frankly I'm not sure whether the muskies are following the food supply up into the river -- I don't think so, because the river water is very cold -- or just waiting for the squaws to return to the main lake. I don't know exactly what's going on, all I can say is the musky fishing is tough right now. Tiger muskies are sterile hybrids that do not spawn, but they may have a spawning instinct and go through a post-spawn funk, and perhaps that's also a factor right now. As for cold water strategies, I would suggest fishing during the warmest part of the day, using smaller lures, and slowing down your retrieves. This is your best bet for triggering lethargic fish. You will have to work hard to locate tiger muskies and my suggestion is to watch the temperature readings on your depthfinder and look for the warmer nooks and crannies on the shorelines that get the most sun. Speaking of wood, a lot of the shoreline trees were pulled out of the lake over the winter. I understand they do this to reduce the hazard to boaters from drifting wood (we saw a lot of it -- use appropriate caution -- and remember the speed limit on Lake Merwin is 40 mph) and they also sell the larger logs. It's not good for the tiger musky fisherman because it removes cover for our favorite fish, but there's still some shoreline trees that fell into the water this spring, and there's plenty of underwater stumps, snags, and sunken logs in this lake. Merwin has so much sunken wood that it would be nearly impossible to denude this lake of musky cover. I probably won't make it here again until late summer or early fall because of other obligations. Remember to release your tiger muskies, and don't be afraid to use the hot summer weather to experiment with tactics and lures. We still have much to learn about this fishery, and there are opportunities to pioneer the tackle, lures, and tactics that will define this fishery in the future. Keep in mind that tiger muskies feed on squawfish, and lures that "match the hatch" work best. Squawfish have white bellies and forked tails, and I have consistently found that crankbaits painted white on the bottom are the best producers. Mike and I caught a lot of trees this weekend -- it takes a couple outings to get the range -- and a 12-foot collapsible boat pole I purchased from Cabela's was very helpful for knocking lures out of the trees and off the underwater logs. We had one lure in particular that seemed determined to stay in the lake permanently but it came home (this time). If you find yourself hanging up a lot on the underwater wood, try a single-hook spinnerbait. Your fish hooking percentages will be lowering but you'll spend more time fishing and less time logging. Go with chartreuse or other bright colors in muddy water, but in clear water stick with your darker colors like black.

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