My plans for a dawn patrol were thwarted by my 11 month old’s new tooth, so I ended up launching my kayak at 2pm in 5-10mph winds with ugly skies spitting rain.
Before I continue, I have to mention that an anonymous fellow fisherman left me an Easter present in the way of a fully paid parking receipt at the parking machine at the launch. Whoever you were, thanks! I owe you a beer.
Now, having primarily been a fly chucker for the last 13 years, I am still at the beginning of the learning curve for fishing lakes with spinning gear and a fish finder (Eagle Cuda 350s with GPS). So by no means does my no-fish day mean the fishing couldn't have been better.
Having read past reports on the lake, I decided kokanee would be my target, and set up one pole with mini-dodger (white with green stripe) with a wedding ring and white corn kernel trailing. The other pole I set with a another dodger (pearl with pink stripe) with a small squid and white corn kernel behind.
I set out in search of sonar pings, and was surprised to see nothing on my screen from the dock on the west side of the lake to the east side of the lake where I planned to start my troll. Not a one. I found this a bit odd. Regardless, I began my troll (1-1.5mph) heading north on the east side. Mid-way up the lake, I encounter fish jumping all around me, so I shortened my lines for a shallower troll and continued on.
After 30 minutes I had no hits on the green wedding ring, so I changed out to pink, and continued the hunt.
I worked different depths, water column heights, and lures for the next 2 hours with the only mention of fish coming from my finder. All fish pinged, except those at the surface, were shown hugging the bottom.
Overall, a good day to practice using the finder, and with the wind, I got a great workout in the yak.
Next time it'll be better!