I managed to sneak away with the family to Loon Lake before I head down to Guide chinook trips on the Columbia. I got a new boat this year I have been spending a lot of time getting it rigged just the way I want it prior to the fall run. This was also the first trip testing out my new shade top. We built this top to provide shade yet not take away any of the fish ability of the boat. I think it is a great improvement over a Bimini top. I’m super excited to add an extra level of comfort to my guest this year.

We started trolling right away when we reach the first bay on the right. We found fish immediately on the sonar that we’re hanging out around 30 to 37 feet. With my two kids on the boat I decided to keep it simple at first. We fished two down-riggers, and quickly found that 35 feet was the hot number. First I ran rocky mountain tackles plankton spinners in two different colors. It quickly became apparent that pink was their favorite. After we settled on a color I added one of my pink shrimp flies into the mix. It turned out to be the best producer for the day. We used a combination of baits and both seem to work just fine. Corn in an anise and krill scent and Berkeley maggots. Towards the end of the afternoon I added a third rod out the back utilizing a 3 ounce cannonball. Once I got it out to about 47 feet, it too started producing. Action was pretty consistent and my daughter had a ball reeling in these fish. It helped that the equipment was easy to handle and so are these Kokanee. We caught most of the larger fish in the second bay around the island with the house on it.

Great trip and awesome weather. I also got a chance to make a few adjustments to the boat before we start whacking on some Kings.

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