The Quadfather
11/21/2010 7:23:00 PMsnake7676
11/21/2010 7:30:00 PMgoodtimesfishing
11/21/2010 8:45:00 PMYeee Haw!!!!!!!!!
Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Fast Action Guide Service
I’d rate this excursion a 5 on the experience meter due to the wildlife, solitude and light snow flurries that made for an unforgettable trip on the lake today. I started mid morning, just after 9:00am, saying hello to the great blue heron that frequents the launch while hopping into my boat and firing up the heater. Heading out of the launch, I spotted a group of 6 otters making their way into the Newport Marina, one of them appeared to have picked up a nice sized sculpin and proceeded to munch on it after hauling out on to the log boom. I stopped for a few pics and must say that this sight alone made my day. I decided to give the south end a shot today and started around Seahawks headquarters, aka the VMAC, dragging a mini cut plug behind a 3/0 dodger. Picked up 2 average sized, 17” – 18”, cutts in short order right off the bottom in 30’ of water and released them unharmed. I continued trolling south, picking up a couple of leaves and some milfoil along the way and ended up near the mouth of the Cedar. I was busy getting a few pics of the huge flock of coots in the area when I heard the sweet sound of my reel being spooled. Even though the fish jumped a few times I wasn’t sure what I’d hooked into as I had 200’ of line out before the take, but it was big and dark. My first thoughts were steelhead or late sockeye but both turned out to be wrong. My ultra light 7’ Ugly Stik was up to the challenge and brought to the boat what turned out to be an unmarked coho that I’d estimate was easily in the 8lb to 10lb range. Can I get a Yee Haw out there? I had to switch out baits as I cut the line to better remove the hook from the coho and continued trolling north along Rainer Avenue until I reached the Lakeridge area. I had no further takes and the wind had started to pick up out of the north so I headed back home through a light snowfall. Surface temps hovered around 51 degrees and the ambient air temps never made it out of the 30’s, glad to have had the Buddy Heater along for the ride.