downriggeral
8/10/2015 10:46:00 PMAlan
the doc
8/11/2015 5:38:00 AMMike Carey
8/11/2015 6:20:00 PMFish Dawg
8/12/2015 10:52:00 PMThanks for the report.
Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Northwest Fishing Expeditions
The last time JoAnn and I fished Yale was three years ago, and we didn’t fish it very long as the fish were running 8-9 inches in size. Lot’s of fish, no size. Because Merwin was fishing tough for us we decided to fish Yale on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. We decided to fish Sunday as we found that this year the fish are indeed a bit bigger, now running 10-11 inchers. I decided to catch a dozen or so to help fill up my smoker for a load this week.
We fished mostly down by the dam in the large bay there, and a bit north of the bay. The action was steady and good from the word go, with most fish running 45-60 feet deep, 50-60 feet being the most consistent. They were pretty much biting anything you dropped down to them. It hardly felt challenging, but it was redemption of a sorts after Merwin gave us a good dose of humble pie.
11 inchers are not what I would normally keep, but it is hopeful to see the fish a bit bigger. If this keeps up maybe in a year or two Yale will be a first destination and not a back-up plan.
A word of warning – there are some underwater trees, including one that has my downrigger ball and gang troll. 65 feet trolling over 150 feet of water and sure enough I caught me a tree! After this happened I paid closer attention and opened up my zoom range. Sure enough, there are a few trees that never got cleared out. So do keep an eye out for them!
We could easily have caught our limits of 32 fish each day, but I had no desire or need for that many 11 inch kokanee. I kept what was needed and called it a day(s) each day after about eight fish. We probably lost more than we caught. One other thing of interest - for 11 inck kokanee they really hit hard! Just about every one of them popped the release.
Very aggressive fish in Yale!
Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Northwest Fishing Expeditions