It's been a while since I last had the boat out on the lake and decided it was time for my annual spring scouting expedition to check the conditions and see where the fish have staged themselves. First note is that the lake level is at "full pool" and surface temps are in the mid 60's, should be go time for just about all the species that call the lake home. I decided to target the shoreline and stick to water between 20' and 40' deep to see if I could manage some variety to what I would encounter. I initially rigged up for long lining a chartreuse pro-troll trout killer tipped with pike minnow and utilized a snap weight to stay somewhere between the middle and the bottom of the water column.

The trout killer did manage to entice a couple of what looked to be cutts, but I was not able to close the deal and get them close enough to the boat for a photo op. I also picked up a 10" perch which looked to be in great post spawn condition before deciding to switch over to a gold Brad's Kokanee Cutplug stuffed with pick minnow meat. The Brad's was a hit with the perch community and I was regularly reeling in fish when trolling in 20' to 25' waters. What's odd is that I didn't pick up any other species after the switch, could have had something to do with the increase in boat traffic as the day wore on.

Second note, many of the shore buoys are not in their normal positions or are altogether missing. Probably has something to do with large number of high wind events we've experienced and that the lake level has been above normal since late winter. In any case, if you are used to using them as references when trolling, be sure to watch your sonar to double check the depth.

For you perch fanatics, I've attached a couple of photos to show you the shape they a in at the moment. I normally don't keep perch until July rolls around, so they have had time to put some weight back on. May not have to wait that long this year...

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