Sweet Caroline

We took a few yesterday in 15-20 fow out of Ibay. The water temp was 63 top to bottom but the browns were there. 

Sutters pump out wasn’t working this afternoon so I went over to Shumway.  While I was there, I did a couple passes down the river between end of piers and bridge. 1 for 2 on a nk 28 frog, 10 down, back 20. Couple other boats working same area. Saw both hook up at least once. River was 65 degrees which should be good for river and river mouth action. Not much of a report but I thought I’d share. 

 Cold water came in and so did the fish! Fished East in 20-25 fow and had steady action on Jumbo browns and mature salmon. Carbon 14 and glow frog spoons were mvp today. Highlight of the day was at noon when I was trolling in and last rod down 8ft in 10 ft of water doubles  over and starts screaming. Assumed I had bottom for first 10 min and proceeded to pull boards and break down other rods and left the rod in holder. Figured I’d see if I could turn around and try and undue my snag.  Put boat in reverse to see if I could get my snag loose. Had thumb on reel to try and break line and then I see a fish break water and then realized it was a fish.  Put boat in neutral and fought fish for another few min on side of boat. No official weight but was 29-30lbs on my scale. Was all by myself where I was but heard a good slug of fish came in to river too. Most boats probably stayed there. Good fishing should last another week or two. Get em while you can!

Gotta report the bad with the good. Been out 3 times since Thursday in the 400+ NE of IBay. Been a tough bite and got worse each day out despite good conditions. Not marking much in bait or fish and the mature bite had been hard to come by.  Figured I’d post to save some folks time and gas. Good luck everybody. 

Fished 9-1:30 today. Set up in 450 fow slightly east and immediately took a mature down 80 on a carbon 14. That was it for matures. Trolled past 600 fow and picked away at 1 and 2 yr olds. Lost two that seemed big but they came unbuttoned quick. Scattered bait and fish with temps 80-100 ft down. MVPs were carbon 14 on riggers, coho special flasher with meat on wire dipsey, and UV 2 face spin doc with stud fly on wire dipsey. Good luck this weekend. 

With the colder water moving up you likely will not have to go out that far as J.D. mentioned. We usually set in 350-400 fow this time of year and point N. Would save you a few miles on your trip. Normally don’t need to go out quite that far to find migrating matures in August. 
 

good luck and be safe. 

Good catch Unreel. You are correct. That was 3 beers and 3 hrs of sleep typing. 

12 miles

Fish are right on schedule with a fantastic offshore mature bite this morning! Slightly east of I-Bay, 600 + fow, 12 miles offshore. 100-120 down was best, but temp was coming up fast by late morning. Anything white was good. Best Spoon being a lure I call the ghost, which is glow cup, white face with black the silver ladder back. Great spoon when matures are down deep offshore. Wonderbread spin docs with meat on wire divers good as well. Good luck

The 200 to 500 fow NE out of Ibay in August is a fantastic area to intercept the matures heading east. The ledge starts 1/2 between Ibay and Webster. No more going west for me after this weekend. 

Wow. Glad everybody made it out safe. One common thread with boats going down is how fast it can happen. Having quick access to a life jacket is so important! Probably not a bad idea to leave some out so they float on the surface if you can’t get to them fast enough. Something I hope I never have to think about but it can happen to any of us. 

  Morning bit was ok this morning then died for us. Everybody I spoke with struggled after the morn bite. Didn’t mark any bait all day which is probably why fishing was slow. Mostly fished 100-200 ft right off the point. Carbon 14 spoon was the only spoon that was halfway consistent. Great day though weather wise. Our fish came down 60-70ft.

Wow. If you told me that fish was 35lbs I would have believed you. That thing looks huuuuuge! Nice job.

 Never trust a wind forecast more than a day in advance. Forecast has changed 3 times already. 5-10 mph from the west currently all weekend.  Could change again by tonight. Usually when storm cells are coming through like they are this weekend you will get cells or short periods of wind as the storm moves through so still need to be careful. Predicting wind when a front is moving in can be tricky. Can’t tell you how  many times I’ve been burned by trusting a wind forecast. 

IMO best bet out of Ibay would be to run west instead of deep. On a calm day 15- 20 min run to the west will get you in to a consistent salmon bite this time of year in <150 fow. Come August you can’t beat the offshore waters NE out of Ibay. The past two years were the only years I can remember having a steady salmon bite directly out of Ibay before August. This year, we are back to normal. We fished all the way down by Watoma Shoals today and it was a 30 min run to the mouth of Ibay from there. Worth it IMO. 

Ran way west this morning. Set up at Braddocks point and went west from there. Slow pick until we hit Watoma Shoals at around 9am. Steady king bite from there with a laker, coho, and steelhead mixed in. Fished down in the 65ft to 70 ft range over 120-160 fow. Wonderbread spoons on riggers were best and two face spin doctors on dipseys. Good luck.

Lake should be very fishable in any wind that is 10 knots or less. 

I got the coated net with the largest hoop and 6-9 ft extendable. Love it 

Just got a Beckman from fishusa. Best Net I’ve ever used. 

Was hoping to report out on the lake real time but had poor connection. Lots of kings and steelhead today between the Genny and Braddocks. Kings up to 22lbs and jumbo steelhead.  Went all the way out to 400 FOW, but best king bite was 200-220 fow.  Never really made it much past Braddocks from the East. Fishing 80-90 down on riggers and free sliders took a few steelhead too. Came in to 175 fow at 10 am and trolled East from Braddocks. Steelhead one after another until the last pond when we pulled at 11:30. No mvp lure today although most kings came off various spin docs on dipseys and steelhead on various spoons off riggers down 80 and on free sliders. Carbon 14 in the early morn, NBK, custom blue chartreuse nk 28 probably the best late morn. Was cool to see fish porpoising chasing alewife on surface first thing in the morn. Looked like Sharks with dorsals out of water. Didn’t mark a single bait school all morning and fish marks were scarce as well, but rods were snapping! Hope this helps and good luck out there. 

Same here. Good luck

Lil slow today. Went all the way out to 400 fow. Best depth was 150 Fow or so on a 10 degree down break. Right where all the floating cottonwood was  is where the fish were. Steelhead on a 3 and 6 color, lake trout down 50-60. No salmon. 

 “What depth did you hook up with the salmon?“

165 FOW on a six color

Maiden voyage with my 4 yr old today. Didn’t leave dock until 4:30. Plan was to bottom bounce with gambler rigs. Set up in 120 FOW, made it out to 170. Took 5 minutes for first fish and then ended up with one more, and a couple lost. Screen dried up for lakers on bottom past 140 FOW,  but lit up with suspended fish. I put out a 6 color with a green silver evil eye and immediately hook up and lose a screamer. Wife calls, time for dinner back at dock at 6:30.      Mission accomplished. 

Never mind. Searched for some suggestions and went with the Beckman from fish usa