To all my I-Fish friends, Happy New Year 2016!!! Wishing all a wonderful and prosperous year! New Year’s Day party is keeping the North River in the garage nice and warm but I hope all who do make it out on the lake today and throughout the year will post their successes and pictures on this thread. I cannot wait to get back on Merwin even with the murky water conditions. Photo was taken January 1st, 2015 - How many will be on the water today?
Report from 2-10-2016: nothing to report:shrug::shrug::shrug:.
Was at the ramp by 7:30 and there were four other "hopeful" trailers in the lot with two more coming in right after us. The water has not cleared up much if at all from my last trip up to Merwin two weeks ago with the water temp about the same at 41 degrees. My buddy, Jerry, caught a "dink" on a surface rod that was set back approximately 125-150 feet. Our other three rods were set back 150-175 feet and fished everywhere from the surface down to 40 feet or so (marking fish in the 40-50 foot range) but nada. We were using a variety of RMT or Deadly Venom hoochies behind Arrow flashers in various colors and designs and of course tuna soaked white corn.
I can not remember Merwin being so murky, I realize that we had a LOT of rain in December but I was really hoping that it would have settled down and cleared up by nowray:ray:ray:.
Hope the lake clears and kokes start biting soon. It has been tough reading this thread and hearing about all the disappointment for the Merwin gang. I bet we'll start seeing those "deck-covered-with-fat-kokes" photos before too long.
I took a drive up the Lewis river on Thursday. It don't look good for much improvement of water conditions. Yale is muddy and so is swift. They are still removing logs and debris at the parking lot on swift left over from the floods of November and December. Where the 25 crosses the muddy you can see that the water was very high during the flood lots of bank erosion. The water at eagle cliff is looking better so there is hope! The good news is the snow pack is looking very good this year so we should not have issues with low water.
Thanks for the update Rick (PepsiGuy78) and Sam'nilla, this is the worst January-Febuary for Kokanee fishing at Lake Merwin that I can ever remember, but we had a great year last year so lets not forget how great things were last year, we were putting limits in our boats with shorts and a t-shirt in late February.
Rick did you have a great time running the new TR1?? I am jealous by the way.
We will be up on Tuesday testing out some new Blades on our hoochies from Poulsen Cascade Tackle/Half Fast, that I think are going to work well in cloudy water because of the sonic vibration they produce.
We will take some underwater video to share and show you guys what the water clarity looks like on Tuesday.
Julie you guys are troopers to get up there every other week or so and reporting to the forum on a regular basis, thank you so much for keeping us in the loop and to all who share on this thread:meme::applause::meme:
Also The Fallen Outdoors is having a Kokanee Fishing event on Yale this June ( I Know this is a Merwin thread but we all fish Yale as well), If you are interested in volunteering or donating please contact Bryan Schroeder at Fallen Outdoors.
The Fallen Outdoors is an organization that helps former and present militay personel get out and enjoy the great outdoors that we all take for granted in this free country that they have helped us protect. As a former 13 Bravo M109 Cannon team member it is my duty to volunteer and spread the word.
The event will be held on Saturday June 4th at 5 am with fishing untill 2:00 pm and raffle afterwards.
If you need any other information please feel free to PM me.
Take Care and Happy Fishing
Patrick Linkenheimer
So fishing is slowwwww. How about we talk about gear and trolling. And how many poles you troll.
Me? I troll six rods. I usually use a wiggle hootchie 6"-10" behind a dodger.
Early like this I have my gear 100-150' back near the surface. Around April I go 15-40' in depth and 100' back. In the summer and fall it ranges from 40-80ft in depth and 30-50' back.
And with trolling 6 rods I only go straight. Or straight as possible.
Oh yeah, scented corn is a must. Even though I catch fish when I forget it.
Here is some pics from last year. Hopefully this gets the people out and fish a moving.
I waited too long. It is so easy to do and it keeps for years in the jar.
I smoke mine for no more than an hour on the Traeger on the lowest temp possible.
Then they fall right off the skin and in to the 1/2 pint, wide mouth jars and right in to the pressure cooker for 100 minutes at 10lbs of pressure.
Hit me up if you ever have questions about the canning. Freezer space is always a premium and you can gift away jars a lot easier than a frozen ziplock.
Quick question, I bought some sling blades a while back. They only had the smaller size. I figure they won't give as much action on the hoochie. Will they still work?
You could try putting a slight bend in them. Either about 2/3 towards the back (I use the gunnel on the boat) or a slightly curved bend (basketball) to it for tuning until you get good action at your trolling speed.
Does anyone ever take their one man pontoons out for Kokannee. Thinking of heading up on Saturday to troll around the bay and maybe head up and over towards campers hidaway if the weather permits thanks david
I have only seen one, he was out near the waterfall trolling around with an electric. Boat traffic and wind made it look a bit difficult, but not sure how he ended up for the day. Now in the early season I don't see why you couldn't if you went on a decent day.
My buddy and I will be going up Saturday for sure. I Was hoping for less rain this week, but you got to go when you can right. We both have trolling motors and oars. First time ive gone since I last had a boat almost 4 years ago. Can't wait. Good luck and tight lines
muddytrck: Hi. I may be joining you up there this year. I just purchased a Outcast Stealth Pro and need to get it wet. I got it with a motor mount on it, oars, minnkota 30# thrust motor, 24 pound battery, and I got a set of kick fins that are like force fins, but less than half the price. I plan on doing it's madden journey up on Coldwater Lake next week. Looking forward to seeing you out there.
Denny
I have kayak fished Merwin several times and done ok. The biggest challenge was going slow enough for trolling speeds in a 17.5' sea kayak that likes to cruise 4.5 to 5 mph. I have also fished out of my 11.5' pram and done very well. I have a Minnkota on it, but the erratic action of rowing incites more bites. I would just watch the wind with a 'toon, otherwise I think you will be just fine. I mostly fish out of a bigger power boat. It allows much more comfort and the ability to run down to the dam and try more areas, but it doesn't directly translate to more fish caught.
Alright Guys & Gals, I put together a short video of the water clarity on Lake Merwin on Tuesday, the leader from the camera was only 24" and you can't even see the dodger.
The only way we caught fish was to accidentally run across them.
We went out today, got a little bit of a late start. We missed 3 takedowns but did come out with a nice rainbow. Red/gold wedding ring tipped with garlic flavored corn behind cowbells. It was a good day weather wise with not much wind. First time out on a big lake with the pontoon was a success
I have seen guys do quite well up at Merwin, they launch past the stump farm on a dirt ramp, I don't know how to get to it but I'm sure if you do your research you can find a way. I took this picture of a setup I thought was pretty cool.
This keeps you going straight in the wind and is a lot more comfortable.
I tried that setup and it was unbelievably awkward. I evolved my rig to attach motor on back, traveling backward (so your rowing is aiding in the same direction) and I use an oar as rudder. Downside of this setup is you have to reach back when needing to control motor; awkward but I got used to it. I've seen some attach an offset handle extension. You want to keep the bow (front) open and clear for easier landing of fish.
BTW: Follow Patrick's website to the best lures for kokanee: Venom tackle made a huge difference in my catch and retention rate.
Hey, if you want a better chance at Kokanee, starting in about the middle of April you can launch at Yale park ,row straight out about 200 yards and start catching..
Take Care and Happy Fishing
Patrick Linkenheimer
I have just purchased a Outcast Stealth Pro. It has a motor mount on the back end behind where I sit while fishing. I am putting a 30 pound thrust motor on it with a toggle on/off switch that is located where my right hand usually rests while sitting in the boat, and then to the positive terminal on the battery. Also has a 50 amp inline fuse on the positive lead to protect the motor. I just leave the motor on high and in line with the boat so it doesn't move the boat sideways. If I want to use it to move somewhere quickly I just hit the toggle switch, which puts power to the motor, put my fins up on the foot far, and away I go. I drop either oar into the water to change the direction if I need to. I also have a pulley attached to the motor mount that I raise and lower my 5 pound anchor which is just a crab sack full of rocks that I picked up along the river. I use it for flyfishing and am going to try it for kokanee this year at Merwin.
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