Started out at the North end of Mercer Island as there were smolts jumping all over the place just off of Luther Burbank. As promising as this appeared to be, it did not result in a single take down or hookup. Motored up to the North side of 520 and ran into Slimy Slab who was having some success working the area. I trolled along the bridge using a mini silver Dick Nite behind a sling blade keeping just below the thermocline which was sitting at about 25' in this area. This setup resulted in a hookup with a smaller than average cutt which ran about 15". Continued to work the area up to Evergreen Point with no further luck. At around 1:00pm the weather took a turn with the wind picking up from the SW and bringing light rain with it. I switched to a 3" McMahon spoon and ran it 30' down at a fast pace. I pulled this setup under the east highrise while moving to the south side of the bridge and had a hookup that I really put a bend in the rod. Unfortunatley this 19" hen inhaled the spoon and its 3/0 siwash hook and bled badly, so she got to come home for dinner with me. Prior to being netted she spit up a large sculpin and as you can see by the picture, she had another in her stomach. Continued to troll the south side of the bridge and picked up one more fish before calling it a day and running back to the launch as the waves started to reach white cap status. Surface temps were between 57 and 58 degrees and the thermocline was anywhere between 20' and 35' down.


Copyright © 2025 Northwest Fishing Reports
Leave a Reply