Started the New Year trying something completely new for me, targeting Cutthroat on Lake Stevens. Very different fishery actually trying to target them compared to other Cutthroat lakes I've fished. I've got a few here and there before while Kokanee fishing on Stevens, so figured I would give this a shot. I had 3 specific areas I wanted to target, but being in a kayak, and with the lake being so large, I instead just focused on the eastern shoreline of the lake.

I started in about 60 feet of water, and with each pass I would move in a bit closer. I ran one line between 7-15 feet and the other line I ran at 30-40 feet. I wasn't really seeing much on the sonar for some time. Then as I turned to head back along the shoreline, moving in even closer I started to see fish almost right on bottom in 35-40 feet of water. Immediately my deep rod goes off, and I land a nice little 13 inch cutthroat. I dropped the other line down as well, I am now running both lines at about 30 feet in 35-40 feet of water. That line now goes down, and I land a very recently spawned 18 inch cutt. A short while later I get a very nice fish on. It feels very heavy, and my gut says it's 20 inches +. As I am bringing that fish in, the other rod goes off, a double! Instead of concentrating on getting what I know to be a very large fish to net, I get greedy and pop the other line off the clip. After getting back to line with the larger fish, it gets off shortly after that. Ugh. I did however land the other land which turned out to be a very healthy 15 inch cutthroat.

1 line today I ran a 50/50 brass/nickel Elgin Fishing God's Tooth Spoon rigged up for Kokanee by Reli Lures, 14 inches of leader off a Dick Nite 4 inch moon jelly dodger. On the other line I ran a another 50/50 God's Tooth straight out of the package set on fast action, with about 4 feet of leader, no dodger. No bait or scent used.

The lake fished completely different that what I am used to when targeting cutthroat. The fish I found were hugging bottom. Fishing that close to bottom really kept me on my toes and made me work. I did hang up a couple of times, but was able to keep all my gear. I fish bottom on some lake frequently, but the bottom here rises and drops erratically. The fish that I lost had some real weight to it, it has me intrigued! I did not expect much, so all in all I think it was a good day. I learned a bit, landed an 18 inch cutt which is a nice fish on any lake around here, and definitely felt a much larger fish on my line.

Video shows a little bit of the action from today.