Chrome Inc. - Enjoy the many scenic rivers of the Olympic Peninsula the way they were meant to be fished: drift style. Ready for the Humptulips, Wynoochee, Satsop, Chehalis, Clearwater (Grays Harbor County), Hoh, Queets, or Bogachiel? Even if you can't pronounce them, we'll be sure you have a great time! We also fish other top coastal rivers seasonally, and spend the summer guiding the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. We use top quality equipment and provide all the top quality tackle you'll need to be successful.
Jeepers, twice in one week! Maybe this retirement stuff isn’t so bad after all. The weather and my schedule finally synced and I got out again. With the boat all ready and gear stowed I was pretty excited when I went to bed Wednesday night. I love kokanee fishing and knowing that the boat and I were going to chase them in the morning made for little sleep.
Being the first rig in the water I was floating on a foggy Lake Samish by about 6:00. Even though I planned to start fishing just outside the speed limit buoy I let both motors warm up while I got the gear ready before I pulled off the beach. Usually there are kokanee on the meter right out in front of the boat launch so I went gear down just past the buoy. Gear down but I was not seeing the usual cloud of Kokanee on the meter and noted that the surface temperature was 47.3 degrees. I little cold but they still should have been showing on the meter.
Fish or no fish I love kokanee fishing and I was doing my thing. Regarding gear, although I ran a variety of my usual kokanee offerings my plan for the day was to experiment with some new kokanee lures, a few new kokanee flies that I had been working on and a number of existing lures that I had reconfigured. I was running everything behind a variety of Arrow Flash dodgers, Skagit Tackle dodgers and swing blades. No science behind my trolling speed, my kicker idles in gear at 1.2-1.4 mph so that was my trolling speed. All my offerings were tipped with tuna corn, Play-doh maggots or a combination of. I had planned to try worms also but my new carton froze in the beer fridge overnight and turned to mush. Although I went through many combinations of attractors, lures and bait the fish were picky and only one combination seemed to work. I did not have my Fish Hawk thermometer on board so I can’t say what the at-depth temperature was, but all my hits were between 26’ and 34’
Although I really liked the action of some of the gear I was running apparently the kokanee and my strike trigger was different. My most consistent producer was a small (Junior) Poulsen Cascade Tackle hammered 50/50 dodger, 6” leader, a very small hammered silver Colorado blade with 4 small orange beads. Go figure but what works, works.
As far as catching goes; I had fairly consistent action all morning. Many drive-buys, a few lost fish and a few smaller kokanee that I released. The bite was very subtle so I really had to watch the rod tips. Most of the action was on the set-up previously mentioned. That may have been because I ran it all morning while I experimented with various gear on the other side of the boat. I did not fish the little lake. Being solo I didn’t want to fold my radar arch down to get under the bridge, the process can be a bit challenging.
I had attempted to shoot a number of video clips of the different gear in the water but my phone had a different idea. Apparently, I exceeded the on-board memory and it locked up. A tech guy I will never be… There were 4 or 5 other boats on the water and I’m not really sure how they did. I did talk to a couple guys in a nice Lund (I’m jealous, I miss my Lund. I should have kept it…) but they had just started fishing. I had a very nice morning on the water chasing my favorite fish. I love kokanee fishing but it was so nice out there that I would have been content just puttering around the lake.
As a quick note to self; don’t forget the coffee. Apparently, the combination of my lack of sleep the night before and warm sunny day got the best of me. As I was trolling, about midway down the west side of the lake the boat made a funny wiggle. I look up and the deep rigger cable was solid on the bottom. I must have dosed off for a second and it cost me one of my favorite dodgers. I did get the ball back. Lesson learned with no harm done but that said; all it takes is one moment if inattention…
I was out there, 19’ Lund Tyee with a chocolate lab... Were you in the hard top red aluminum boat? I had zero success with the kokes... took home 20 perch tho! I spoke to 3 other boats, no one was having much luck. What a day tho huh!?! See ya out there!
I was in the green Duckworth getting started when you were pulling out. We didn't have much luck with the Kokanee either... Tried a variety of colors all tipped with tuna corn...
Headed back out Saturday morning to see if we can turn our luck...
Tight lines!
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Chrome Inc. - Enjoy the many scenic rivers of the Olympic Peninsula the way they were meant to be fished: drift style. Ready for the Humptulips, Wynoochee, Satsop, Chehalis, Clearwater (Grays Harbor County), Hoh, Queets, or Bogachiel? Even if you can't pronounce them, we'll be sure you have a great time! We also fish other top coastal rivers seasonally, and spend the summer guiding the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. We use top quality equipment and provide all the top quality tackle you'll need to be successful.
