Northwest Fishing Reports

What are all your new additions/restocks for this season? I'm getting back into the sport and noticed my tackle box low on gear.

what type of fishing do you do? trolling with hardware, flies? bait?

Trolling. Currently I have no downriggers. So it would be flat lining until summer and maybe invest in some dowriggers.

i've never used downriggers for lakes. I'd stock up on flatfish and hotshot. deadly for trout. also you can troll wolley buggers with a spinning rod easily. That works wonders too

If you need to target a specific depth nothing beats a downrigger in my opinion but they are not an absolute necessity. There are inline triangle shaped trolling weights that are effective if you need to get deeper later on in the season.
I troll a lot for kokanee and trout, a DN dodger and wedding ring is my #1 set up and probably caught 90% of the fish last year.
I've seen flatfish, needlefish, DN spoons be effective as well, just not for me yet. Good luck!

i know nothing about trolling really, buuuuttttt, ive heard alot of people talking about berkley gulp maggots and corn on their wedding rings and spoons and stuff

Any specific sizes on the flat fish?

F-4 flatfish and hotshots are perfect for rainbows. I usually fish shallower lakes that don't require me to get down deep. Just need a barrel swivel, leader, and tie directly to the lure. You'll hit fish consistently, no question.

How about colors?

for flatfish, my favorite colors are: gold, silver, black with red spots, and also the frog pattern is very good. keep your speed slow and you will nail them. I like using castmasters and roostertails too! a small dodger trailed with a wedding ring tipped with worms, power eggs, corn, or Gulp maggots or even real maggots is effective as well

flatfish colors: brown trout, gold, black with green spots, perch colored, rainbow trout.

Thanks, I'll have to grab some flatfish in various colors. Does anyone use any scents with lures that are not tiped with bait? For example, adding some pro-cure gel onto flatfish or rapalas.

don't overlook hotshots as well. if they don't hit for me on flatfish, sometimes i go to a hotshot and it's fish on for a while. as for scents, i haven't used much of that, although i don't think it's a bad idea.

I've been using Mack's Smiley Blade Flys (wooley bugger) for the last month and been slaying them. The other options listed above are all good too. I've also been adding a little Pro-Cure shrimp gel to get their attention.

Rapala slays the trout f3-f5 perch, rainbow, and gold are productive color patterns. Olive or brown woolley buggers work well for trolling. Wedding rings are excellent for trolling. also try flat lining a hook and worm dead slow un weighted when there is alot of surface action going on, It's deadly.