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First Try @ Merwin

2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  P-ride 
#1 ·
With weather looking good for Saturday the 21st I thought I would give Merwin a try for Kokanee. Never fished it, but from what I read the plan is launch my 15-5 Cat hull at Speedlie (something like that) and troll with fender and wedding ring with corn. It sounds like Im a little early in the year but heck a guy just has to fish. Any thoughts, recommendations or just stories on how to, where to and even how deep using lead would be greatly appreciated. Going early in the year so I don't get those "look at that new guy, whats he doing" stare.

Thanks guys
 
#3 · (Edited)
Visibility up there is about a foot to a foot and a half. Fished it for a little bit Monday with no bites. I was just up there looking around and trying some new things out in the boat.

Seriously if you are coming from Ocean Park I would not waste the time. If others have done well up there I hope they chime in but for my little recon trip I wasn't to thrilled.
 
#4 ·
I just started fishing up there a couple of years ago, so I'm not an expert. However, what I noticed early last season (April?) was that the kokanee were right on top. Further into the summer, the trend was that the pikeminnow were near the top and the kokanee were below them, but the guys that did the best early in the year were flatlining the gear you mentioned above with no weight at all. We were running 12-15' feet deep and caught about 10% of what the other guys were catching until we figured it out. Good luck if you go. Shoot us a report if you score.
 
#5 ·
Long line it.....100 plus feet back. I would use just the weight of my lure, etc to take you down. If they are there they would be in the first 20' near the surface.

good luck,

jz
 
#6 ·
More answers than you know have already been provided.

As far as the "new guy stare" goes you probably wont run into that as anyone else up there this time of year will be asking the same question you are. " Catching anything?"

Follow the above advice..

Trout Forum <-- <-- <-- Hint hint hint hint (start the thread ask the question)

Flat line top 20 feet (leave the lead and downriggers at home)

Troll like a drunk


Has anyone mentioned the Trout Forum yet?
 
#8 ·
Thanks everyone - all good information and I will post a report on Saturday evening on our sucess or lack thereof. But again thank you and this is the reason I support IFISH great people in for the sport of fishing.:meme:
 
#10 ·
I've fished Merwin quite a few times. When conditions are right its a lot of fun early in the spring. In the spring we always ran our gear pretty shallow. Nothing special, just a 1 or 2 ounce "banana" trolling weight, flashers, fairly long leader, and a mooching hook setup using white corn (w/scent) or powerbait trout nibbles. We would just set out different distances (30 to 60 pulls) and locate schools of fish. We never seemed to get skunked on that res. One trip the fish where so close to the surface that they would chase the gear right up to the back of the boat and every once in a while we could watch the Kokanee slam it! I don't know if that helps at all. Anyways, good luck!
 
#11 ·
Well we made the trip from Ocean Park to Merwin this morning leaving under clear 45 degree sky. We launched from Speelyai and found at least another half dozen boats on the water. Getting out of the truck the first thing we noticed was it was cold around 35 degrees with a terrible wind perhaps steady at 25 with only a slight nudge up from that on gusts. It was ok in the little bay by the boat launch but once we trolled out into the main lake it was westard bound, heck I think we could have shut the motor down and used our coats as sails for control. With no takers for coat trolling we left the kicker running, not that it provided speed we had plenty of that just for control. An hour or so of windsailing and my brother-in-law suggested we try that little bay at boat launch again - no need to say anything more, lines came in, kicker up and away we went. Time we got to the speelyai bay we had wind burn, frost bite and that stupid look of yes we are fishing. Noticed the water temperature in the main lake was around 38 degrees and in Speelyai bay it was around 41 both are near surface readings. We saw good groupings of fish on the scope but nothing no fish on the pole. We talked to at least 4 groups of fishermen all had nothing but cold wind burns to show for the morning. All said and done the day was great for shaking cabin fever and getting to see new water, we both enjoyed the day. But for now we both decided to wait for warmer weather and water before our next excursion to Merwin.:applause:
 
#12 ·
Good for you for making it out there anyway! I love fishing Merwin, but yes the wind can be brutal at times and that's when it's not a few degrees above freezing! I think most of the regulars start putting in time around March, but I rarely go there til after springer season. Hope to see you out there this spring/summer!
 
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