Fished Lake Washington with the kids and participated in the PSA derby.

Arrived at Coulon around 5:00 and thought we had the date wrong as there were limited rigs parked and nobody else at the launch ramp but we consulted our derby tix and confirmed we were fishing on the right day. Launched and proceeded to the south end of Mercer Island where one or two other boats were working.

Fished 3 lines and started out with a little bit of everything to see what they liked. Began trolling mostly due south of the island in 60 - 90 feet of water with lines from 20 to 60 feet. Surface temp about 62 degrees with winds generally light and variable. Got our first take down about 45 minutes into the day in about 55 feet of water on the chartreuse splatter back ace hi-fly with a strip of herring on a double hook set-up. Landed a 15.5" fish and reset our lines. Headed north and east toward the VMAC and the next fish also took the hi-fly at about 40' and was our biggest of the day, a fine cutthroat coming in at 20.25" and 2.25 lbs. The Fish Princess expertly angled this trophy trout to the boat and he proved good enough for first prize among youth anglers in the derby.

Decided to add another rod with the Ace Hi-fly rig to our mix and worked a circuit from the park with the blue picnic shelter (Mercer side) down to the southeast end of the island and back. Picked-up one fish on almost every pass with downriggers set from 35' - 55' in 50' - 95' of water. Bottom contour included lots of humps and ridges so gear was up and down a lot to keep from hanging the gear. Speed of about 1.5 seemed to be the magic number and weset out about 75' to 100' of line before attaching to the rigger clips.

Finished our fishing day with 7 strikes 6 hooked and 5 landed all over 15" and all over 1 pound. Headed back tothe docks to weigh-in our catch and have a hot dog. Enjoyed visiting with the PSA guys and the derby sponsors who were all good folks. Thanks for hosting a fun event!

Good luck and tight lines!

Fish Dawg

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