After a slow start around the house my son and I fished Lake Stevens Saturday morning. We launched at the WDFW ramp in downtown around 9:30 – 10:00. Surprising us, the lake was like a mirror with no wind. When we left home there was a good breeze coming out of the east and I had figured that we would be battling the wind. Out on the lake our first stop was on the northeast corner of the lake where we did a pass across the flats looking for some trout. We had one good take on a 3” gold stick bait rigged with a single siwash hook but didn’t put it in the box. The stick bait was flat lined at 25 pulls in 9’ of water where we were running at 1.0 mph. The water temperature up on the flats was 45.7-46 degrees.

The interesting thing was that 2 weeks ago the area was alive with various meter marks and side scan images of fish, both bait and catchables. On Saturday we only saw 1 distinct image of some sort of bait fish and otherwise it was like a desert out there.

After a pass and a half on the flats we started working towards the 90’ line along the east side of the lake. There were a few scattered meter marks but as previously mentioned it was a desert on the open water as well as the flats. Where did the fish go? I pulled everything in the box and then some. We tried various colors dodger or swing blades trailed by a number of lure, bait and scent combos. We also ran a variety of flatfish, Apex type lures or stick baits with no success. We were seeing very few kokanee meter marks and the ones we did see were between 45’ and about 60’ deep. With the surface temperature running at around 46 degrees the temperature at the 50’ deep was probably in the low 40s maybe even 39 degrees or so. That said I till chased meter marks with one of the riggers often going as deep as 60’ for a single kokanee meter mark. Although we did not take any fish home we did have some action.

We did have a number of hits and on two or three occasions had fish release the clip. We were trolling between .8 and 1.7 mph with 1.4 mph triggering most of the hits. The last few months I have been playing with a new kokanee fly design and the design seemed to be effective as they accounted for most of our hits. This week I plan to tie up a few double hook versions and hopefully our hit to catch ratio will improve.

As an interesting side note; I truly appreciate everyone’s diligence in assuring that the various WDFW regulations are followed. My mild frustration is that on a number of occasions a fellow fisherman would troll by and comment, sometimes with a not so friendly demeanor that you can only fish one pole per person. I should explain why it appeared that I was fishing 4 poles solo. My son and I both have 2 pole endorsements and the WDFW Regulations Pamphlet does not exclude Lake Stevens from the 2 pole endorsement option. I had picked my son up from SeaTac at about 11:00 Friday night. On the way home we hit Dick’s on 45th and we live in Burlington so he/we did not get to sleep until 1:30-2:00 Saturday morning. He is prone to sleeping in the boat as it is and Saturday morning was no exception. He spent most of our fishing adventure snoring on the floor of the boat and it only appeared that I was fishing 4 poles solo.

Mike Carey

4/9/2012 7:37:00 AM

I've had the same issue on more than one occasion as either my sons or spouse would be hanging out in the cabin. Sometimes people jump to conclusions alright.

Toni

4/9/2012 8:24:00 AM

But he did not have the rod under his control so would that be legal? Even though yelling fish on will work if there is action.
You should have brought a dead fish hooked it to his line and yelled fish on.... :-)

Smalma

4/9/2012 9:05:00 AM

Rseas -
Saw you on Saturday - very nice "ride" you have there!!

I did run a temperature profile Saturday. While the temp was in the high 40s on the surface at 10 feet it was 43 degrees. At 20 and 30 feet it was 42 degrees. From there down beyound 60 feet it was 40 degrees. Lots of cold water.

Those Stevens early season kokanee are fickle beasts! If we can get 8 or 10 more days like this week end we should be shfiting into a more stable fishing situation. Until then we'll be stuck with hit and miss fishing thought the sparodic bites should be come more frequent and last a bit long.

Thanks for the report
Curt

Idstud

4/9/2012 9:23:00 PM

Sounds like a great day on the water. Sorry to hear about the hassle from other (know it alls) I dont know about you but I put my rod in a rod holder so I guess my rod isnt under my control either. In the boat or bank fishing. I have a cow bell on my bank rod holder so It wakes me up from my nap when I get a fish on. 2 licensed people in the boat doing legal fishing. Just have to brush of the know it alls and try to enjoy your fishing. Keep up that great reports. Hows the new FF working for you? Cabelas opens on the 19th can wait for that.

rseas

4/10/2012 6:16:00 AM

Curt thank you. How were you collecting the temperature data? I have tried one of those glass tube thermometers for collecting water temperature readings attached to a down-rigger ball but have had very limited success. I think that 15 minutes worth of research before fishing would pay off in better understanding a lakes temperature profile but I haven't figured out a good way to collect the data with out spending a bunch of money.

Stud, how are the little ones doing? I love the new FF, even with the smaller screen on my 798 as I work through the learning curve the capability of the SI is amazing. Regarding the number of poles thing, I truly appreciate someone gently helping their fellow fisherman comply with the regulations. I would rather be reminded than pay a fine or have my license confiscated. I primarily mentioned it so everyone knew we were fishing legally. It's funny, we had the same thing happen while fishing Baker Lake quite often last year. 4 poles out with 2 or 3 people sleeping on the deck and me driving.

rseas

4/10/2012 6:23:00 AM

Toni; I have been known to set-up a practical joke or two focused at my fellow boat mates and a sleeping fishing buddy makes for a prime target.

Smalma

4/10/2012 7:18:00 AM

rseas-
I'm using that glass tube (Vexilar deptherm). The key seems to be to let it hang down at the depth being checked for 5 minutes or so so. While that extends the time need I'm mostly interested in the how the temperatures are developling in the spring until the thermocline forms I just use one of my downriggers and fish either a flat line or lead line on that side until I learn what I need.

I have doing this for a couple years and am finding some interesting stuff that seems to fly in face of what many folks think is going on. Just one example last year on Stevens a decent thermocline did not form until early June (nearly a month late). Before that point there was a huge block of 50 degree water for the fish to roam in. The fish tended to be pretty spread out and the preferred depth seem to change hourly dictated by light peneratation and daphin behaviors. The folks that were not adjusting to those changes struggled until the thermocline formed which gives the angler a predictable depth to target

Curt

Idstud

4/10/2012 9:27:00 PM

The little ones are doing great. Well health wise the 5month old likes to be up at night and the 3yr old has bad dreams and wakes up up. It is fun and the oldest has taking a liking to fishing and cant wait to get her on some fish. I like a friendly reminder as well I just dont care for others being rude about it. You might try a big flat fish on a snap swivel it gives lots of action for a joke. I clip them to the line and let it slide down and trip everything.

Curt --- thanks for sharing your temp knowledge Ive been wondering how to get temps myself.
Tights lines everyone

Smalma

4/11/2012 7:08:00 AM

BTW -
On 4/10 the top 30 feet had warmed up approximately 10 degrees (in the low 50s) in the last few days. While the fishing has yet to turn on it should not be too much longer. Expect the "game" to be full on by the 25th - hopefully before.

Curt

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