So after a great trip to Baker lake Saturday ( I say great as the scenery, company and running into WAfisehman and DJbutler was fantastic- the fishing was a struggle for us only managing 3 kokanee} I had made plans with good buddy and customer Matthew Lecours to take his 2 kids Kiley 15 and Christian 4 fishing in hopes to get them their first cutthroat or kokanee!

I was going to hit Lake Sammamish since they live in Issaquah but wasn't sure how early they've been opening the gate and knew we could be on the water by 5:30 on Lake WA so that was my lake of choice- and it paid off!
So I put the species as kokanee but actually I was targeting cutthroat but since the kokes stole the show decided to give them their due diligence!

Got to the boat launch a little early so I could have the boat in the water and have things ready to roll when the gang showed up- so did all my pre-checks and soon they arrived for a day I was hopeful would make them happy! Did a little boat safety 101 and soon we were on our way out onto the water!

Now a pretty good SE wind was blowing so I decided to start our troll about half way across due west from the launch and the cedar river mouth. Got into about 105 FOW and got ready to catch some fish! Water temp was at 71 degrees so started with the down rigger rods first with the first one set up with a rocky mountain tackle dodger and hoochie spinner tipped with pink gulp maggots. Now we were showing huge schools of sockeye at 55 and 90-100 feet but did see some smaller marks in the 70 foot range so decided to start there. Got the other rod rigged with a 5.5 sling blade and pink mini brads cut plug also tipped with the same maggots and set our speed at 1.7 to hopefully not entice a sockeye.

About 10 minutes into the troll the rod with the hootchie does a dance and it's fish on for the 4 year old! With his sisters help and dad at the wheel I coached them in and soon we had what I had thought was a pretty good cutthroat but as it got closer realized it was a pretty big kokanee! Once in the net I did a quick measurement and phew it came in at 14.75" and was fat so into the boat it goes! Christian got to bonk his first ever kokanee and sorry dad but now I'm afraid he's hooked! High fives all around and it's back to business so set it back down to 70 feet again and this time it gets pulled off the clip and it's fish on Kiley! She works this fish in like a pro and soon we have another fat 14" kokanee in the boat!

So this goes on for another 3 more kokanee with the pink brads cut plug only getting one and the hoochie getting the majority of the action. Now the wind is blowing even harder and colder, so I suggest we just let it blow us around the west tip of the island and find some shelter in the cove over by Paul Allen's house. As we approach the corner we can see that it is calmer and flatter water so make the turn and wouldn't you know it the hoochie rod goes off again and it's fish on for Matthew. This one is pulling harder and taking line so I'm thinking maybe a sockeye but he is gaining on it and soon see it's a very nice cutthroat! Finally and of course catch another right after but smaller in size and now it's about 9:30 and everyone is ready for a bathroom break.

We pull in all the gear and decide to head to Atlantic city to use their rest rooms as by now the wind is pushing out at due east and pretty darn choppy out there! (BTW does anyone know if that little park on the west side of Mercer island has a place for a boat to pull up and use the rest rooms? I saw a dock but couldn't make out if we could tie up a boat there as most of the area is roped off.)
After all is done we make a decision to head over towards where we first started the day and let the wind push us north/west to see if we can't find a few more kokanee. Now we are marking schools at 70 feet and 90-100 so take the gear down to 55 and suddenly the same hoochie rod goes down and stays down! Uh oh looks like we have hooked a sockeye and sure enough you could tell the difference as it took us a while to get it in the net to unhook and release as quick as possible. So as soon as the rods are down again the other rod goes down and it's another sockeye- so after hooking 3 more we are about to call it quits when we get a fish that is not as heavy and it's another fat kokanee!

We called it a day around 11:30 stopping to take some pictures and clean the fish with smiles and high fives around the boat and of course the wind dies down to dead calm! Oh well, made for a smooth ride in and easy quick hook up to put the TIn cup back on the trailer! Total count: 7 kokanee 2 cutthroat and oh yes forgot to mention for a while we ran the lead core and picked up a perch but soon realized water was way too warm for that rod to be effective so retired it. Great day on the water with a great family was thrilled to be able to get them onto some fish and make some memories! See you on the water!

---