2009 Merwin Report thread

[adobe wall]

Okay this isn't the first Merwin thread of the year but the report thread always seems to be popular. With the Sunday springer closure I'll be fishing there a bit earlier this year.

Here's a motivational video from Merwin last year, you regulars have already seen it but it's still fun to watch. Kinda sobering when you realize that there are about 10 looks for every one you catch....

http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/j...t=testcut5.flv

Sooo...which iFisher is going to report the first Merwin kokanee? Put yer reports here.

tight lines, aw

[dbuechler]

Let see some PICS of the first KOKS of the year? I should may be up there on sunday??/?? Any body else want to go?? PM me
DB

[Kokonuts]

I am going up with my boat on Thur. & will be out as much as I can all season. I have an RV at the Campers Hideaway so I keep the boat there. Hope to see you all out on the water! Kokonuts

[jzell]

On a positive note, this year so far the price of gas is lower that last, which makes the drive more attractive.

IT'S STILL TOO EARLY!

You guys are truly NUTS!

Go catch a springer...or a winter steelhead,

jz

ps. AW, I should have placed a bet as to when this thread would start.

[twib]

Originally Posted by adobe wall

Okay this isn't the first Merwin thread of the year but the report thread always seems to be popular. With the Sunday springer closure I'll be fishing there a bit earlier this year.

Here's a motivational video from Merwin last year, you regulars have already seen it but it's still fun to watch. Kinda sobering when you realize that there are about 10 looks for every one you catch....

http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/j...t=testcut5.flv

Sooo...which iFisher is going to report the first Merwin kokanee? Put yer reports here.

tight lines, aw

Great Video AW! I hope you do some more filming this summer. How about some Springer footage?! Thanks for sharing.

[Meister Jaeger]

Going to give it a go Sunday with my partner-in-crimes-of-fish-on.

I think somebody had mentioned it was too early, but I'm not sure...

Will post up results...if there are any! I can GUARANTEE it will be vastly more relaxing than trolling beside three thousand of my closest friends that I've never met on the Columbia (that, and I can't fish Saturday...). What a zoo...

MJ

[lilbuddy]

Thanks for the motivation AW. I guess Ill get off the couch and give it a try this weekend if it dosent snow. Last year took the boat up in March and ended bringing it back home after a couple of good snows. Got lots of new stuff to try. White Motion Marine if anyone is in the area. 2009 kokanee season about to start....got to love it!

[adobe wall]

Originally Posted by lilbuddy

Thanks for the motivation AW. I guess Ill get off the couch and give it a try this weekend if it dosent snow. Last year took the boat up in March and ended bringing it back home after a couple of good snows. Got lots of new stuff to try. White Motion Marine if anyone is in the area. 2009 kokanee season about to start....got to love it!

I am fairly sure I saw you up there a couple times last year. Motion Marine's tend to stand out. I'll definitely give a wave.

I'm still working on springers. The Columbia is clearer than last year, so I may anchor up and run a kwickfish behind the fishcam.

The camera is frustrating, but I always learn stuff from it.

regards, aw

[wannacatchem]

Originally Posted by adobe wall

The camera is frustrating.......

I would go stark raving mad if I had that in my boat.




How much are they and where can I get one.....?

[adobe wall]

Originally Posted by wannacatchem

I would go stark raving mad if I had that in my boat. How much are they and where can I get one.....?

I've got an Aqua-Vu Scout with the DVR. I think the camera and DVR together are about $400....I hope not but I know my wife spent a good bit on it.

It's geared towards ice fishing and you have to do a little redneck rigging to get it facing aft and working right for trolling. If you have $1200, a Walker Strike cam is a much better setup (and you get a nice electric downrigger in the deal).

It took a few months and some heated emails to the folks at Nature Vision just to get some method of actually using the file that the DVR stores. I can't really recommend the Aqua-Vu but maybe if you find one at a good deal it wouldn't be a bad choice. I wanted one with a long cable (I think mine has 80 feet) but in truth you run out of light once you get much deeper than about 60. Knowing what I know now I'd do it differently, but this one is working okay.

The kokes are fun on the camera when you can actually get it oriented right. If you see a guy in Kokanee Cove on Merwin fishing by himself in an open sled and shouting a lot, that's me yelling at the fish cam.

regards, aw

[Soulakala]

Hey AW:
Your video is cool, now I know why you might get a little frustrated seeing those fish checking out the offering only to have them ignore it. I made my first trip to Merwin this year with my brother in law and fished one cold day without luck. We saw and talked with others out there having the same luck as us -zero. It was just too cold. We plan on coming back when the weather and water are warmer. I think this will be a great place to start my grandkids fishing. So thanks again for your effort hope to see you out there yelling, at least I will have an explaination too the kids. LOL

Soula

Originally Posted by adobe wall

I've got an Aqua-Vu Scout with the DVR. I think the camera and DVR together are about $400....I hope not but I know my wife spent a good bit on it.

It's geared towards ice fishing and you have to do a little redneck rigging to get it facing aft and working right for trolling. If you have $1200, a Walker Strike cam is a much better setup (and you get a nice electric downrigger in the deal).

It took a few months and some heated emails to the folks at Nature Vision just to get some method of actually using the file that the DVR stores. I can't really recommend the Aqua-Vu but maybe if you find one at a good deal it wouldn't be a bad choice. I wanted one with a long cable (I think mine has 80 feet) but in truth you run out of light once you get much deeper than about 60. Knowing what I know now I'd do it differently, but this one is working okay.

The kokes are fun on the camera when you can actually get it oriented right. If you see a guy in Kokanee Cove on Merwin fishing by himself in an open sled and shouting a lot, that's me yelling at the fish cam.

regards, aw

[dbuechler]

Just wondering if any one will be heading up to MERWIN on sunday? To give it a try
DB

[Meister Jaeger]

Originally Posted by adobe wall

Sooo...which iFisher is going to report the first Merwin kokanee? Put yer reports here.

tight lines, aw

GAME ON!

I neglected to bring the camera but my buddy will vouch for me; taken around noon or so on Sunday: about 13.5 inches and just under a pound -a beautifully-silver kokanee hen. Taken at about 8' on a FWG System-2 silver/chartreuse dodger and my homespun blue/chartreuse WR spinner product.

Buddyboy had a couple of takedowns that unhooked themselves on the way to the boat. Apparently he reeled in my line with a 'minnow' attached - I was enjoying a brief snooze in the sun at the time!

The water is still greenish with pretty poor visibility. I counted 7 trailers in the Speelyai parking lot when we pulled out at 3pm.

One down....oh soooo many to go!

MJ

[Dropshot]

Originally Posted by adobe wall

I wanted one with a long cable (I think mine has 80 feet) but in truth you run out of light once you get much deeper than about 60.

AW.

When you say you run out of light at 60 feet, what kind of light are you talking about? Natural sun light, UV, infared? I know nothing about underwater cams so pardon my igorance.

[adobe wall]

Originally Posted by Meister Jäger

GAME ON!

I neglected to bring the camera but my buddy will vouch for me; taken around noon or so on Sunday: about 13.5 inches and just under a pound -a beautifully-silver kokanee hen. Taken at about 8' on a FWG System-2 silver/chartreuse dodger and my homespun blue/chartreuse WR spinner product.

Buddyboy had a couple of takedowns that unhooked themselves on the way to the boat. Apparently he reeled in my line with a 'minnow' attached - I was enjoying a brief snooze in the sun at the time!

The water is still greenish with pretty poor visibility. I counted 7 trailers in the Speelyai parking lot when we pulled out at 3pm.

One down....oh soooo many to go!

MJ

Outstanding. Hope that is a sign we will have quality fish again this year.

Originally Posted by Dropshot

AW.

When you say you run out of light at 60 feet, what kind of light are you talking about? Natural sun light, UV, infared? I know nothing about underwater cams so pardon my igorance.

Both. The camera has built in invisible spectrum lights (I think they are UV, but may be IR). Get much deeper than 60 feet even in Merwin and you have trouble picking out a lure that is 4' back, even with the onboard lighting.

I tried running the camera on the Columbia in September, a little murkier water, and ran out of light at 45 feet. I'm sure a UV coated lure would help but if you can't see the fish it's kinda pointless.

I will work with it more this year, I've still got some improvements to make. Hopefully Merwin will clear up. I did have some action on the cam once the fish got to around 30' deep last year but any shallower and the're skittish.

regards, aw

[kenvl46]

Wed
Caught 3 -12" to 12.5" in and 1- 15" all were on the thin side in comparison to what we get later on. Was surprised by the size tho. Rain and snow all day that we were there. Was just two other boat trailers in the lot.
Hoochies was the choice and flat line.
Ken

[Got Fish?]

This weather should really help out up there. Thinking I may go Monday afternoon for a little trip. Im sure people are hitting it this weekend!

[kenvl46]

Yes we are thinking it will be better fishing now with warmer weather too.
Guess we will try it again Mon morn.
Ken

[kenvl46]

Monday picked up 5 12" TO 13".........6hrs of fising
Tues just got 2 12" for 5 hrs of fishing. Was really slow hardly any fish caught by anyone we talked to. Must of been 20 rigs in the parking lot.
Again just flat line 100' behind the boat.
Ken

[bassmann]

went out friday netted 1 in 4 hrs. today went 5 for 9 in 5 hours couldnt keep them on the hook All on a lime green & black wedding ring behind a chrome ford fender. Two boats that I talked to didnt have any yet, any others have any luck? And it was nice meeting kokonuts out there today. bassmann water temp 47.7? is that accurate?

[comeherefish]

Went out Friday...had different things on all four poles. Four hours and ended with notta!

[Woodcanoeguy]

Went to Merwin for 4 hours early Sun morning. No hits...tried hi-low-slow-fast-flatline-downrigger-red-green lures. 50 boats on water....most fishing...saw two caught in the debris line. Nice day to shakedown teh boat anyway.

[P-ride]

Originally Posted by Woodcanoeguy

Went to Merwin for 4 hours early Sun morning. No hits...tried hi-low-slow-fast-flatline-downrigger-red-green lures. 50 boats on water....most fishing...saw two caught in the debris line. Nice day to shakedown teh boat anyway.

First of all, welcome to IFISH and the trout forum. Also, thanks for the report. With Springers drawing to a close and the nice weather finally showing up, I can't wait for my first trip to Merwin.

Hope to see more posts from ya soon! If you have a story you'd like to share, that would be great. It's kind of an IFISH tradition, but not mandatory. See ya on the water!

[kenvl46]

Mon.
Six hours on Merwin netted 1 squaw fish. Only heard of one boat with a catch of 2. Lots of boats on the water today enjoying the sunshine.
Fishing was Great........Catching was poor.
Ken

[Chesapeake]

Didnt want to let it fall off the page.

Nobody was up there for the trout opener? The weather was great.

[toomanydenny]

Thanks for starting this thread. Was gonna do the same. I havent been yet this year but did have a co-worker report that a friend went 5/ 9 a few days ago. Lets hear the reports... bad ones too! goodluck all

[Got Fish?]

Fishing is good but very unpredictable right now. I have been there twice and got near limits both times only to head to the dock and find most other got 1 or 2 for the morning. Pay attention to how far away your catching your fish and if your not getting bit in 10 min your doing something wrong. There are already some real nice sized fish up there too.

Anyone jigging in that lake? They seemed to be balled up and might be susceptible to jigging.

[Boster]

Originally Posted by adobe wall

Okay this isn't the first Merwin thread of the year but the report thread always seems to be popular. With the Sunday springer closure I'll be fishing there a bit earlier this year.

Here's a motivational video from Merwin last year, you regulars have already seen it but it's still fun to watch. Kinda sobering when you realize that there are about 10 looks for every one you catch....

http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/j...t=testcut5.flv

Sooo...which iFisher is going to report the first Merwin kokanee? Put yer reports here.

tight lines, aw

What pound weight do you use on your downrigger??
Boster

[adobe wall]

Originally Posted by Boster

What pound weight do you use on your downrigger??
Boster

The homemade downrigger, I usually use a 32 ounce cannonball. The other cheap plastic downriggers I use take about a 3 lb ball. I'm definitely low tech.

Looks like a week from today will be my first trip up to Merwin unless things get going at Drano.

regards, aw

[Kokonuts]

Fri. May 1st....Where is Spring?

The Lake was windy with small waves at 8:00 when I went out, the it got windy with white caps, then it got worse.

I left about 12:30 when the Wind Surfers started jumping over my boat!

I did talk with 2 guys who got 4 verly early before the wind came up.
Kokonuts

[toomanydenny]

REPORT: First trip to Merwin this year. Fished aprox. 7 hrs. Started out with a "macks flashlite" in red and silver with a red WR spinner and wht corn, no lead, 50 pulls. No strikes in 1 1/2 hrs. Switch to chartruese and silver "flashlite" and chart.WR. Fishing on top with no lead, 1/4oz and 1/2 oz. Still no strikes. After seeing several caught by trollers using small silver chain trolls, I finally dug out a small silver willow leaf troll and used the chart.WR and 1/4 oz lead, 25 pulls, went 3 for 3 in one hour. Nice size for this early in the year!
Most the fish I saw caught were in the am on the rockslide side across from speeleye. Due to my slow learning curve the first trip, mine were all caught in the afternoon.

Heres a question I have long pondered. I know there are small chinook and rainbow trout in merwin. Why are there no large ones? Lack of feed is all I can guess as kokes are plankton feeders. Anyway whats your
Good Luck All

[Loner]

Well I intended on waiting until June to start Kokanee fishing but I broke down and headed up to Merwin on Saturday with my youngest and a good friend. After spending the bulk of Friday evening switching the boat back over to lake fishing, tying some new wedding rings, and organizing the the monster pile of tolling rigs and gear my wife got me for Christmas, we were al ready to go.

We hit the water about 9:00 were fishing by 9:30 and had one in the boat buy 9:35ish. The fish were kind of all over the place in both depth and lour color. About the only consistent thing I ran was two pieces of corn on the front hook an a piece of gulp worm on the trialing. We marked and hooked fish from the surface to 30ft. All of our fish were caught on wedding rings green/black, blue/chrome, red/chrome, solid gold and few other I guess. Like I said we were all over the place just when I though I had it figured out it would go cold, I would then switch up one of the rods in one way or the other and then pick up another fish.

We pulled up a 2:00 and had boated 8 fish, my youngest who is 4 reeled in his first two kokanee this year and got promoted from official sqaw fish reeler/bonker to a full fledged Kokanee deck hand.

[nwsoftball]

Does the Spiderman PFD come in adult sizes??

[ppbthorsen]

Atta Boy!!!!

[comeherefish]

He looks pretty pumped...very cool!

[P-ride]

Originally Posted by nwsoftball

Does the Spiderman PFD come in adult sizes??

I was thinking the exact same thing! I would totally rock one of those... Anyway thanks for the report and way to get after them. I'm looking forward to my first trip of the year up there myself!

[FallRiverGuy]

Sounds like a good day on the water. Very nice report with lots of great details.

[Fourteen]

Thanks for the report . It 's great to hear that the fish are a good size this early . Just imagine what they will be like in July & August . We had some last year taking line after they were hooked .

[lilbuddy]

Tuesday and Wensday Merwin report..... good fishing both days but had to work at it at times. 80 percent of the fish were on red wedding rings. The interesting part was about half the fish were 100 ft. back and the other half were on the downrigger. Unlike last year in the early part of the season there were defined schools of kokanee that when found could be caught. The other method was longlining out the back when nothing was showing deeper. Id say the fish are maybe a little smaller than last years early ones but still nice. The cove produced a handfull of fish but the south shore area was most productive.

[bassin]

Originally Posted by lilbuddy

Tuesday and Wensday Merwin report..... good fishing both days but had to work at it at times. 80 percent of the fish were on red wedding rings. The interesting part was about half the fish were 100 ft. back and the other half were on the downrigger. Unlike last year in the early part of the season there were defined schools of kokanee that when found could be caught. The other method was longlining out the back when nothing was showing deeper. Id say the fish are maybe a little smaller than last years early ones but still nice. The cove produced a handfull of fish but the south shore area was most productive.

How deep did you fine them on the DR?

[lilbuddy]

Originally Posted by bassin

How deep did you fine them on the DR?

when no schools were on the fish finder I would run from the rigger ball just 2 feet below the boat to about 12 foot deep. Not a real good way to fish shallow but did connect on half a dozen that way. The defined schools were from 20 to 30 feet and quite catchable when you could find them. Setback on downriggers early on like this was 40 to 60 feet.

Hope this helps Dave

[Got Fish?]

When your not marking fish they are flaring from the boat. They won't show on the finder but with a half once of weight and about 15-20 pulls your NAILING them. Color didn't seem to matter today but we were fishing under them for a bit till we figured it out. Once we did we were done.

[P-ride]

Thanks for the reports! Hopefully I'll make it out there in a week or 2 and be able to post a report myself...

[mikey]

Where to camp at lake merwin??? Want suggestions as to where are the camp grounds in the area?

[Steelheader12]

Landed 5 out of 7 in three hours fishing 3 rods. Fished 20ft deep on the riggers. Wedding rings and spinglos with corn did the trick. Light leader 4lb test.
Good Luck

[sucker]

How big were the fish? I hope bigger than the minnows I caught at Yale.

[bassin]

Originally Posted by lilbuddy

when no schools were on the fish finder I would run from the rigger ball just 2 feet below the boat to about 12 foot deep. Not a real good way to fish shallow but did connect on half a dozen that way. The defined schools were from 20 to 30 feet and quite catchable when you could find them. Setback on downriggers early on like this was 40 to 60 feet.

Hope this helps Dave

Thanks for the feed back

[lilbuddy]

Good fishing Sat and Sun. 100 feet out the back with no weight was still most effective,
A question I have that was discussed some last year is what is legal as far as releasing fish? Sundays fish were 5 out of 8 good sized and the other 3 need some more growing. Also if you limit early is it legal to catch and release until you get your fill?
Anyway fishing was good by the Hideaway area. Quite a few boats were down river farther but didnt have to go that far to get fish. The size of the better fish is makeing me think that they just might be as nice as last years models!

[Whaler]

Decent fishing fishing for us on Sunday. We managed 12 nice Kokes for 4 people without a net (forgot it at home). Obviously we lost quite a few at the boat trying to hoist them over the side but still had a good time out on the lake.
The best producing set up for the day was a chartreuse dodger with silver prism tape, red wedding ring with silver blade 20" behind the dodger, ,Shoepeg corn, 3/8 oz weight 3ft in front of the dodger, trolled 60feet behind the boat.
There are going to be some very nice sized fish later this year and team "No Net" will be after them.

[sucker]

Originally Posted by lilbuddy

Good fishing Sat and Sun. 100 feet out the back with no weight was still most effective,
A question I have that was discussed some last year is what is legal as far as releasing fish? Sundays fish were 5 out of 8 good sized and the other 3 need some more growing. Also if you limit early is it legal to catch and release until you get your fill?
Anyway fishing was good by the Hideaway area. Quite a few boats were down river farther but didnt have to go that far to get fish. The size of the better fish is makeing me think that they just might be as nice as last years models!

I believe you use trout rules for Kokanee in Merwin; If you are using bait the fish should count as part of your limit even if you throw it back. If it is small and you give it some slack a Kokanee will usually get off; if it doesen't get off you should keep it as you probably killed it.

[kokanut]

Originally Posted by lilbuddy

Good fishing Sat and Sun. 100 feet out the back with no weight was still most effective,
A question I have that was discussed some last year is what is legal as far as releasing fish? Sundays fish were 5 out of 8 good sized and the other 3 need some more growing. Also if you limit early is it legal to catch and release until you get your fill?
Anyway fishing was good by the Hideaway area. Quite a few boats were down river farther but didnt have to go that far to get fish. The size of the better fish is makeing me think that they just might be as nice as last years models!

According to WDFW, when using bait (corn) on Merwin, any fish that is caught must count towards your 5 fish limit even if released and it would not be legal to continue fishing after reaching your limit. There is no minimum size, so if you throw back a little guy it still counts towards your limit according to the regs.

[Fourteen]

Any reports from Merwin this weekend . The feedback from ifishers last week was encouraging . I 'm anxious to get up there this year but right now I 'm concentrating on Drano for the time being . Thanks if anyone has gone .

[cmb1998]

Originally Posted by Fourteen

Any reports from Merwin this weekend . The feedback from ifishers last week was encouraging . I 'm anxious to get up there this year but right now I 'm concentrating on Drano for the time being . Thanks if anyone has gone .

Fished from 4:45 from 12:15 on sat. Second truck in the parking lot. 2 kokes to the boat, 1 squa fish, and about 6 - 7 hooked but lost before we could get them to the boat.

Good luck.

Chirs

[dogrunner]

Made it out one day last week two people in boat limited in three hours. brass colored flashers one wedding ring with "gulp" and one with shoepeg corn 2oz and 40 pulls they were running about 14". Down river of the Hideaway

[cmb1998]

Originally Posted by dogrunner

Made it out one day last week two people in boat limited in three hours. brass colored flashers one wedding ring with "gulp" and one with shoepeg corn 2oz and 40 pulls they were running about 14". Down river of the Hideaway

The neighbor was out with his kids yesterday. 2 boats fished a total of 6 rods from 6am until "all the damn ski boats came out" aka 11:30. 8 fish total.

Good luck

Chris

[Raining_Kings]

First trip Kokanee fishing ever on Sunday. Read some books, did some shopping and spent a lot of time doing research on the internet and iFish. Result, 2 rods and 2 limits! Took from about 8am to 3pm to get our last fish though. Lots of moving around also, and gear changes. Most success was a silver ford fender, red double-hook wedding ring with corn and worm bits. Kokanee are fun, and Merwin is a pretty lake. Sure is a lot of debris out there though!

[Sportsman18]

Great day on Sunday! Got on the water at 6:30AM and fished til the plasure boaters came out about 12:30PM. 4 rods for 15 kokes in the box. Various blades but a 3-blade chrome/brass rig seemed most popular with hot pink wedding ring with hot pink Gulp maggot and hot pink dyed shoepeg corn. 35-50 pulls on the top with no weight. Jim Teeny blades worked well also. They were really soft hitting and we lost several but a great time was had by all. The Gulp pink maggot seemed to do the job. We fished rods with plain yellow shoepeg corn, hot pink died corn, and maggot with pink died corn --- hands down winner was the combo of died corn and pink Gulp maggot. Lots of debris on the water though so be careful.

[shinnookums]

My buddy and I hit the water about 9:30 this morning and the lot at Speelyai was full. Caught 8 nice ones in short order and then it slowed considerably. Dam flow? Finally topped off our 10 fish limit with a couple of smaller ones by 12:30. All caught with 3 oz lead, silver/gold flashers red beads and silver blades tipped with shoepeg corn. 30-40 pulls.

[dbuechler]

Does any body have a report on MERWIN? How was it saturday and sunday?
DB

[10-7]

I think the limit at Merwin is 6 this year and Yale is 16. At least that what Fishermens Depot is showing on board. Can anyone confirm?