I hit the lake around 2:00 and stayed until about 4:30. Given recent reports, I was really only planning on trolling around to get some time on a new kicker motor and figure out the new sonar. I ended up hooking eight fish and landing four. None were cutthroat. Two were kokanee, and two were hatchery coho. Still, even though they weren't what I was after, the bites and fights were worth the trip.

The new Yamaha 9.9 kicker wouldn't start on the first several attempts. In fact, it wouldn't turn over at all. About the time I was ready to start checking battery connections, it dawned on me to check the shifter. Yep -- if it's in gear, it won't start. Operator error all the way. Once started, it ran flawlessly. The new sonar was also a welcome upgrade from the unreliable, poorly designed Lowrance unit it replaced.

I alternated between a cowbell with a kokanee killer on one rod and a Reli "Diamond Flash" lure behind a dodger on the other rod. Both were tipped with a mix of crawler and Gulp pink maggots. The dodger rod did most of the catching. 50' on the wire for most of the fish, as I was targeting returns on the sonar. There was a TON of activity at 50', in an area SE of the weather buoy and about halfway between the buoy and the eastern shoreline.