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Melissa and our trusty boat dogs headed to Merwin Tuesday morning to see if we could find any early season Kokanee. We were pelted by heavy rain the whole drive from Olympia. We actually made it to the gate just before opening time at 7 am. Once we were on the lake however we were pleased to find very calm water and only a sprinkle or 2 during our morning outing.

Fishing was a bit tough as the fish seem spread out and we were marking them at depths from 10-80 ft. Our slow start was interrupted by our first catch, a nice fat Rainbow. Fun fight but not what we were after. We then lucked into a little spot just east of the stump farm and caught 2 pretty kokes in short succession on the downrigger set 120 ft back and 10 ft down. That was it for another 2 hrs until we caught 1 more while heading in by the waterfall.

Weather for January was fantastic! Fish quality was great and catching kokes over 15 in now should make for some great fish by the spring! They are out there now if you're willing to work for them. All were caught in 10-15 ft though we did play around deeper we didn't get any takers. Probably lost 3 more and had a few more nibbles. Hand tied wedding rings and a pink wiggle hoochie were successful. LOVE this fishery when the weather is nice!!

afk

1/31/2018 7:27:53 AM

Maybe not one for the record books. But, you got out and caught fish! Thanks for the report. Andy

Rocketvet

1/31/2018 7:37:05 AM

Thanks Andy. We actually had a great time! And man are those little silver bullets tasty!

billyreed

1/31/2018 8:04:18 AM

Sounds like a fine Tuesday to me. Thanks

strikezone

1/31/2018 11:15:06 PM

Hey Paul: Glad you two had a great day. Figured you'd be up there pretty soon. We are headed east next Tuesday for 3 days of bank fishing. Will give you a report when we get back. denny

Rocketvet

2/1/2018 12:04:34 AM

Have fun and good luck!

Mike Carey

2/2/2018 6:59:42 PM

nice fish and Good Doggie!

PouserKeith

2/6/2018 7:32:36 PM

Very nice report and some neat photos of your trip and fishin' partner too... Merwin is on my list of lakes that I want to hit this year (for the first time). I've only have a small 12' Smokercraft, but I will try my best to roll the dice and pick a few days to head down that way to give it a try soon. All of these post of early season (and even winter) kokanee are making me REAL anxious to hit the water, have tied a crap-ton of different custom lures in various colors while watching TV, spent more than I was supposed to for dodgers, a rod, new reel and other needed gear at the Sportsman Show, and have lost a little sleep thinking about fishing. This IS the year!!!

Thanks again for your good reports RocketVet.

Rocketvet

2/6/2018 8:42:23 PM

Hey Keith! Our first Kokanee we ever caught was in my old 12 ft Smokercraft on Merwin a few years ago. Manual downriggers and manual trolling motor. I have since upgraded considerably and we have spent a lot of time on lakes in the last 3 years. We even managed to hit over 40 lakes in 1 year! I still have my 12 footer and take it out to local lakes for fun. The only thing that can be tough at Merwin is the wind so try to pick a day when winds are under 10 mph and you should be golden. We tie our own wedding rings but use commercial stuff once in a while. Shoepeg corn soaked in bloody tuna scent overnight works for us. Leader length from dodger to lure no more than 8 inches. If I've learned anything it is finding fish, finding depth and keeping your speed at 1.0-1.3 mph seems more important than dodger color or lure choice. Just my 2 cents. Good luck out there!

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