We went out to Hayden Lake for the fist time this year after seeing the ice was off the lake earlier this week. Had lines in the water at 3pm and trolled straight up the lake from Honeysuckle boat launch. Caught the first shiny 12 inch kokanee within 5 minutes of having the gear in the water on a chartreuse home tied hoochie behind a Shasta tackle sling blade. The other two poles in the water had pink hoochies tied on. The action was steady from that point on and we got 12 fish in the boat and lost 8 or 9. Packed up and left at 4:30. Not back for a short trip. Caught several fish on the surface but the majority came between 24-28 feet on the downrigger. I used Anise gel sent and maggots and kept the speed at 1.2 to 1.5 mph. All the fish were about 11 to 12 inches and they seemed to favor the UV pink hoochie. We did hook one very nice looking Rainbow that got off just out of the reach of the net. I guess he will be there for next time.

Hunter757

3/27/2017 8:40:00 AM

Thanks for the report. Do you know if there are kokanee in twin lakes? Heading over in July and looking to take my father in-law out fishing at some of the local lakes. Are you using live maggots or the fake gulp ones?

BenCoal

3/27/2017 10:14:00 AM

Great to know the ice is off. Did you happen to see anyone bass or pike fishing? Ive been dying to hit Hayden again but Im afraid its still to early.

kokocrazy83

3/27/2017 3:48:00 PM

Hunter757 there are kokanee in Twin but I have never fished for them there. I imagine the fishing would be better on lower twin for kokanee. There are lots of kokanee in Spirit Lake they are just on the smaller size. I was using live maggots but I have been out with my brother and he used the gulp maggots and they seemed to work just as well.

kokocrazy83

3/27/2017 3:51:00 PM

BenCoal I talked to one guy at the boat launch that had been out bass fishing. He didn't catch any. I did see several bass boats on the water but don't know how they did. The water is very cold and high. At Honeysuckle you need waders or tall boots to walk out on the dock when launching your boat because the walkway is under a foot or so of water.

HookdUp

3/27/2017 5:12:00 PM

There are some very nice kokanee on Twin, they are similar in size to the fish on Hayden. They are located in the lower lake but they don't have a high population.

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save