Northwest Fishing Reports

how do i set up a dodger and bait what length leader i new here in bothell and looking for a fishing buddy i fished lake samamish and caught 1 2lb trout but that was it a little boring by myself. the lake was huge need someone who knows there way around that lake or any other one for that matter. shoot me a email if anyone wants to fish sometime mikefiore1@hotmail.com thanks

Mike, check out the Lhure Jensen site tech notes for a lot of good info on lake and trout fishing. Here is a link to the tech notes on dodgers and flashers. http://www.luhrjensen.com/downloads/tec ... ashers.pdf

I have used small home made dodgers trailing spoons on Beaver and Pine lake, but haven't tried Sammy.

Length of leader depends upon the a few factors. Speed of troll, size of the dodger/flasher, stiffness of the leader and the lure you are going to put behind it. If you are going to troll a lure that will rely on the movement of the dodger/flasher for action, like a hoochie, then you'll want a stiff leader that is between 2 and 3 times the length of the dodger/flasher. For lures that have their own action, like spoons, spinners, Apex lures and Flatfish, you will want a bit more length to your leader. I like to use 4' to 5' of leader when using anything but hoochies behind my dodgers/flashers when fishing for cutts. The longer leader allows the dodger/flasher to move more than a shorter leader would due to the drag of the lure. FYI, this time of year a dodger really isn't needed. The small number of boats out on the lake don't "noise pollute" the water to the point that the fish have a difficult time finding your gear unlike the summer months.