My first trip to American Lake, so my expectations were tempered by the typical "new guy in the fishery" syndrome. I tried God's Tooth spoons in perch, 50/50 blue, and red/white, all tipped with crawler and fished behind either a flasher or pop gear. I also tried a bright green Reli spinner. No hits at all. I tried trolling anywhere from about three feet to 50', mostly in front of the VA complex.

I ended up catching/releasing one nice fish at about 3-4' depth on a green UV dodger and my favorite fly -- an Olive Willy with a glass bead head.

Given all the reports from the guys who are fishing the GT spoons or scent spinners and doing well, I have to think there's something wrong with my boat speed, choice of locations or some aspect of my gear selection. I had my kicker running at idle, and was still making about 1.25 - 1.50mph.

nerka nailer

4/19/2019 6:45:54 AM

I typically troll 1.5- 1.8 mph and find most of my fish 14-25ft, some deeper. Pink kok-a- bow spinners are always a great lure to start with!

MoonValley

4/19/2019 9:59:24 AM

Thanks!

nerka nailer

4/19/2019 6:45:55 AM

smokey34

4/19/2019 8:43:52 PM

Got a few GT spoons, but never caught a thing on them - Over-rated! Good ol' hootchie / smile blade still the best

MoonValley

4/19/2019 8:50:47 PM

Any favorite colors for the hoochie/smile blade? Dark red was crazy for sockeye last fall in the Columbia, but I've never really used them for trout anywhere, or for anything in American Lake in particular.

Widgeonmangh

4/21/2019 4:54:09 PM

I fish slow because I am actually after the kokanee. .8 - 1.2mph for me.

MoonValley

4/23/2019 7:03:46 AM

I could probably troll that slowly if I had the kicker in reverse. :) I grew up fishing for kokanee in various Montana lakes, and the challenge was always getting the boat (an old Apollo tri-hull) slowed down enough. But when you got it figured out, the kokanee were definitely there. We would take home family limits of about 50 fish. There was a huge hatchery on the Canadian end of the one large lake, so there were always tons of fish. The trick was finding them.

Widgeonmangh

4/23/2019 3:13:07 PM

A bucket over the side sometimes helps. Good luck!

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save