JoAnn and I got to fish lake Cushman for the first time ever. I was curious and looking forward to seeing this lake.
We fished in the evening, and then the morning. Our target species was kokanee. This lake is famous for Chinook salmon, however, this year the fishery is closed for Chinook. Also, dolly varden are closed. Cutthroat trout are open.

We trolled the usual kokanee gear in depths ranging from 25 to 65 feet deep. My fish finder, after giving me some initial problems (it kept shutting off – I think the red connection is not making good contact) revealed a constant source of suspended fish. It also showed those famous sunken trees that are scattered around the lake. In general, they reach up about 60-70 ft from the bottom, so most of the time we were above them. Only once did I come into contact with the top of a tree, and fortunately did not get snagged.

The kokanee in this lake are in abundance. I quickly put away the bait, and the second rod. (no two rod endorsement on this lake). We probably caught 50-60 fish on this trip. Unfortunately, they were all small, averaging around 9-10”. Even so, it was pretty fun to have that level of action. Just about every mark I targeted bit my rigs. Didn’t much matter what I gave them, wedding ring, hoochie, thin blade spoons – everything worked. This would be a wonderful fishery for kids as there would be constant action.

On a side note, looking at the photos posted at Lake Cushman Resort, in years past there have been some nice kokanee to come out of the lake. And definitely some nice Chinook! Also, the word is out that there are plans to introduce a sockeye return to this lake. I don’t know that a timeline has been put in place yet. If it happens, this will be yet another wonderful lake to target sockeye on.

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