This is a two day report for 3/9 and 3/10. First time out at Merwin for early kokanee. There was a break in the weather finally which allowed my bucket list lake to be checked off. Its an amazing lake to be on. Scenery is fantastic.

Didn't get a really early start due to lack of sleep. Easy to get so excited the night before plotting a day of fishing. Finally up at the lake and lines in the water at 8:30 from Speelyai. Gate opens at 7am during the off season (till March 31) then will be open at 5am according to the signs. First day was a scouting day. Headed left out of the bay and toward Cresap Campground. Spent about an hour there with out luck on the south shore. Looped back in the middle and did not get a bite. Decided to change location to the middle north end of the lake. Started at the waterfall area and headed toward Woodland Park.

Tried a variety of gear flat lining without any weights. They seemed to like blue on the first day. Had the best action on a blue/silver 50/50 God's tooth. Changed out the other rig for the only other blue thing I had which was a mack's hoochie which did pretty good as well. Trolled passed Woodland Park and could not get a bite after about 1 - 2 pm.

Made it to the bend before coming to the dam and decided to pull gear and head back up lake to where I first had some action. Water became dead calm and there were risings everywhere. Just could not get the fish to bite Called it a day around 4pm with 5 keepers. Let a few babies go for next season. Needed to get back and rest up for the next day.

The next day should have been awesome. I knew where the fish were the day before and what they wanted but... that was yesterday. I tried almost everything I had without any bites in the morning. Boat next to us netted one so I knew they were around. Wind started whipping up from the southwest and decided to move to the dam for any willing bitters. Did get a tap on the West side near the dam but a loop back was unsuccessful. Wondering if I should move or stay put, I decided to troll back up lake.

With the sun bright without cloud cover, I figured some fish might be a little deeper so I started to vary depths instead of flatlining. Put on a orange God's tooth spoon which got my only fish for my second day. It was this biggest fish of the trip at just over 15" at 20' deep on the downrigger. Not much on the fish finder so they were still on the top.

Rain decided to make a showing early afternoon which made it cold but cut the wind at least. We were still by the dam and again rising s everywhere but struggled to get another fish in the box without avail. Did get a few more bites on bare hooks with a worm and corn before calling it but they spit the hook and gave me the fin.

Had a ton of fun trying to figure out the bite on both days. Cycled through more gear than I've ever done before. Used spin-and-glos, hoochies, spoons, wedding rings, corn of various scents, gulp maggots, earthworms, different dodgers, changed speeds. The gear yesterday did not produce the next day. That's kokanee fishing. Had a blast and will be back when the chance arrives. Fish will be breaded and fried for the family to enjoy! Tight lines everyone.

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