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Full_Monte
05-17-2009, 10:21 AM
This was our second "kokanee trip" ever and the first to New Melones.
On the drive up, I was amazed at how well the lake is hidden from view. You have to actually get there to see it, and it's BIG!

Fish count for each day was 1, 5, 4. Sizes 10-14 inches. No trout were landed, which was a surprise for us after not being able to keep them off the hook at Berryessa the week before.

The word on the water was that 38-42 feet was the depth, although my wife and I had our first "double" with me fishing at 40 ft. and her fishing at 80 ft.

We had luck with CBT hoochie things in pink and pink/orange splatter.
Also, the last day, the color green started to work after the pink turned off, with the CBT Firetiger spinner behind a FWG silver/green dodger producing the most. Scent was garlic/anise.

We learned a lot about the lake and tried to stay out of the way of the "koke fleet". On two of the three days, we actually found kokes in parts of the lake that had no boats. I was feeling proud of myself until I realized that kokes were all over the lake. My old Eagle 6300 fish finder was better than nothing, but not much. Individual fish show up as single pixels. Time for a real finder!

Another lesson was about submerged trees. Several times, we hung up our downrigger balls on obstructions, even when we were trolling 50 to 80 ft above the indicated bottom. :mad::mad: Several dodger/lure rigs were lost that way, but the balls were OK. I'm now suspicious about the depth calibration differences between the fishfinder and the Scotty 1106 downrigger counters. I wonder if I'm dragging around at deeper depths than the counters say. Can't see the balls on the finder...

The lake is 110 ft below capacity, making for long launch ramps and long walks to the parking lot. It's getting HOT at the lake.

http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/picture.php?albumid=38&pictureid=844

http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/picture.php?albumid=38&pictureid=843

HiTechKoke
05-17-2009, 03:08 PM
Hey Monte - Glad you got to fish the lake a few days and you found some fish. The fish can be very scattered as well. Mystery trees are not uncommon at Melones and with the lake being down I always make sure my transducer points a notch forward as well so I can get a 3 second warning on a massive tree that may pop up. Give me a call and we can talk more about where you fished as it is a big lake and their are usually fish in a lot of locations.

Kevin

SilverBullets
05-17-2009, 05:13 PM
Another great report and excellent details. Looks like your wife got into that pink corn again!laugh hyst. You two make a good team it looks like, and she really seems to enjoy it. Was this the trip she taught you a thing or two? Don't forget some days getting them on your line is the easy part, it's the netter who really catches them!thumbsup
We couldn't see our balls with the old Eagle finder either. After going to a Huminbird with a wide cone angle, we don't have a problem now. One thing you might try is to move to back of the transducer down to get it to point a bit more forward to be able to pick up the balls.

Full_Monte
05-17-2009, 06:23 PM
Yes, this was the trip where she was teaching me how to catch more kokes.
:mad:

Full_Monte
05-17-2009, 06:26 PM
We couldn't see our balls with the old Eagle finder either.

That's OK...sometimes I can't find my a$$ with both hands!

Bduck
05-17-2009, 06:43 PM
Hey Monte, Why does your wife have a bigger smile and with only 4 fish to show? What are you not telling us :o???