Holy cow, I just got back fishing from Lake Meridian. I haven't caught anything there since Jan. Not even a bite. Been there 3 times after the so called planting and nothing to show for it. And in those 3 outings, I only saw a total of 1 fish being pulled in, by anybody. Today, I had some extra time and decided to put in a hr or 2 of fishing.

Got to the dock at 6PM. There's a few guys fishing scattered. But I was on the right dock, with a fellow. He's been there for an hr. Was using a bottom setup with PB I think. Anyways, he said not a single bite.

So I decided to throw my kastmasters. Started off with my fav 1/8 oz orange/silver. Threw it straight out, WHACK! A solid hit. Missed. Damn it. Throw it in the same spot, and this time, landed this beast. A whopping 7-8" or so.

My first 7-8 casts, I had a fish, or a miss. It was crazy. But, the other guy was just sitting there, with no bites at all.. I was letting my kastmaster sink pretty deep, and that's where it seems they were hitting most of them.

I missed A LOT of strikes. I guess the fish aren't taking the lure completely, or at an odd angle? After about 8-10 fish landed. I missed a strike and my line snapped. Looked like my line wrapped itself around the tip of my pole and broke there.

So I tied on my new "dare devil" colored kastmaster. Caught a few, and missed a few. But it wasn't as hot as the orange/silver. So I put on my chartreuse/silver one. Seems to work a little bit better. When that slowed down, I put on a gold with reflector kastmaster. Caught a few and missed a few with that.

Now, I'm at about 18-19 fish caught. It's about 7:15, and I start to see a lot of fish surfacing all around. I was working the kastmasters slow and deep. This time, i tried to work it faster and keep them up high. Caught a couple more, and i decided I wanted to try out one of my new floating minnows.
"Yo-Zuri Pin Magnet Minnows"
I think it's the #63 one, 2.75" size.

Anyways, I've tried using it a few times for fun, and haven't caught anything. First cast with it. Jerk it to get it going and BAM! Fish on. Had a few strikes within pole distance. Saw my lure jerk, the slowly float up, and all of a sudden, a fish grabs onto it and pulls it. But somehow, I missed a couple of those.

But anyways, in 2 hrs of fishing, I landed 24, and lost 4, right in front of the dock. My friends have a rule, if it comes off within pole reach, it counts as a catch:albino: . I stopped counting how many misses, after 15. By the end of the night, it was well past 15.

I wanted to squeeze in 30 fish before I leaving, but they were getting close to locking the gates.

So, I don't know if they stocked it the lake again this weekend, or if the school of fish decided to come to the east side of the lake. Or if the nice warm weather got them going. But whatever. Lake Meridian is hot hot hot for me right now.

Cant wait until these fish get bigger, assuming others will release them.

urbanangler

4/3/2008 9:24:00 AM

What a fine session. I too have had some great days with the orange and silver kastmasters, And I like spincasting action a little more than still fishing. Thanks for the story.

ChrisB

4/3/2008 2:10:00 PM

Isn't the limit 5 fish, whether you keep them or not?? I'm not going to frown on what you did, as they are trout and I'm glad you're releasing anyway. Thats bass food ;) Sounds like a fun night. I thought about heading down to catch some, but I have a feeling they are too small to keep yet.

FishingFool

4/3/2008 2:41:00 PM

ChrisB,

As long as you're using an unscented lure, and not keeping the fish, you can fish all day long. But if you use any bait, including scented lures, then your limit is 5 no matter what.

urbanangler

4/3/2008 2:54:00 PM

The five fish limit is for when you are keeping them, or using bait, like powerbait. When using lures, you can catch and release trout, bass and other fish virtually without limits. From the rules pamphlet:

"Where use of bait is prohibited, or where lures or flies are used voluntarily, game fish may be caught and released until the daily limit is retained. If any fish has swallowed the hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue, it should be kept if legal to do so."

What exactly is defined as bait?
"Anything that attracts fi sh or shellfi sh by scent and/or flavor. This includes any device made of feathers, hair, fiber, wood, metal, glass, cork, leather, rubber, or plastic, which uses scent and/or flavoring to attract fish or wildlife."

So if you use scents on your lures, they become bait!

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/2007/2007sportregs.pdf

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