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I was at the launch at about 7:00am. Yey, they have fixed the ramp. Long and slow descent and no longer sloping to one side! I always try something new when I go out. Today it would be a new/used 55lb, 50 Amp max thrust electric Minn Kota on my 12’ aluminum. I built an AWG 8 power cable with quick disconnects to a beefy Cabelas battery, positioned near the bow. I was hoping the additional thrust would get me to the Kokanee zone from the launch. FAIL! Same slow boat travel. Argggh. OK, let’s fish. The East side has produced Kokanee and Cutthroat for me before, so that is where I went. Right away I lost my gold/silver God’s tooth lure on a snag, 20’ down in ~70’ of water. Bad start. Never snagged that one before in about 30 previous passes last year. There were no fish marking in my usual area (40-80’ deep) so I headed out to join the majority of boats out in the deeper water. I found some nice schools in session and was able to land 3 of 4 to my net. The first two kokanee were caught at 1.2 mph with an Ace dodger and gold and silver custom wedding ring, two red #4 hooks, one with corn and kokanee super dipping sauce. I was pretty much done, but I thought it would be fun to target some cutthroat on the way back. Speed was increased to 1.7 mph and switched to a worm on the on the downrigger. Lead core went bouncing again. Fish #3. All my fish were caught on the lead core line with 3 colors out. None on the downrigger, even though I set it up with the same and chased markings up and down. The key was targeting schools and caught every fish at 15-20’ down. There were fish surfacing, especially in the calmer waters, but I could not entice them to bite. Several people mentioned fish taking aerials and lost. I had one significant drive by bite, otherwise they all stayed on. I think the lead core kept the line in the water. Happy Fishing!

reynoldsj

4/10/2019 6:49:04 AM

Nice job! Question on the lead core. What lb lead core do you use or spool on your reel? (3 Colors?) Also how much mono to add to it for the business end to dodger? Looking get some for just koks

FishingTenor

4/10/2019 7:29:34 AM

Hey REYNOLDSJ, My lead core line has out-caught the downrigger many times. I have been using 15 lb Tuf-Line lead core. It changes color every 10 yards and usually drops down about 5’ per color. I am using about 20’ of 10 lb fluorocarbon that I connected using a double uni knot. The guys at Ted’s will tie a miniature ring on there for you that will still pass through your reel and eyelets. My lead core line is always the first one out for cutthroat or Kokanee to see if fish are near the surface. The drawback is when fish are suspended below 20’. Sometimes I wish I had heavier line to get down a little farther, but at that point I am using the downrigger anyway. One time I added 1/4 oz to the leader for fish that were at 20’ and it’s was very successful, but really the lead core’s purpose is to eliminate hanging objects from the line. It worked though, so what the heck!
Question for you REYNOLDSJ. Are you my Issaquah HS friend Jimmy?

reynoldsj

4/11/2019 6:01:52 AM

Thanks for the input. Sorry, that's a negative. Went to Marysville.

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