This weekend marks another great kokanee lake checked off my kokanee bucket list.
We arrived for the afternoon bite just in time. After a 2hr drive north, we arrived at our destination. The boat launch was one of the busiest boat launches I have launched at to date. Thankfully, I’ve have had some practice and have slowly learned about boat launch etiquette before my big day launching with spectators. My launching technique was admired by standers by and they commented on how easy it looked. I found a parking spot and squeezed my truck and trailer into it.
I was amazed at how quickly we got into fish. I had a few locations selected prior to our departure, but the kokanee were eager to meet our freezer and started biting as soon as we dropped a line in off the downrigger.
The next three and a half hours solidified my need to come back to this lake. We were getting into fish consistently and more often than not we were hooking fish on the second rod before the first rod got back into the water. Today was the perfect day to take Ethan’s friend fishing with us. Instead of fishing for 3hrs until the bite turned on (Mcleese lake), we hooked our fish in the first 3hrs.
Tackle of choice was simple. I left my small Mack’s lure pink hoochie and moon jelly smile blade on one rod and the second rod had a pink P-line hoochie paired with a chartreuse wiggle bill. I brought some new kokanee corn to try and it worked well too. I made up a batch of garlic bloody tuna corn blended with some Pautskze’s krill scent cure.
We managed to put 19 kokane in the cooler on Saturday and 10 kokanee in the cooler on Sunday. I’m looking forward to smoking up a few batches of kokanee for our summer fishing trips over the next couple of weeks.
Today, we arrived at the lake mid morning and I was amazed at how much quieter it was compared to Saturday. The weather was not as nice in the sky, but the water was calm and the surrounding scenery was just as peaceful. We met up with friends on the lake and tied our boat to theirs. We had a BBQ on their pontoon boat, which is becoming one of my favorite things to do on the lake. I’m learning to “take a break” from fishing and relax for a few minutes before going “back to work.”
I’m hoping to go back to Purden lake sooner than later. This lake is relatively close to our home town and is a perfect lake to take kids and go fishing.
The water “turbulence” was better than Ness Lake on a hot sunny day which has made this lake a more enjoyable lake for the family and I to look forward to returning to. I managed to use the waves from waterski boats to my advantage. The waves helped with two things. They slowed down our boat speed and sent action down to our downrigger balls. I’m not 100 percent sure, but I’d be willing wage that the choppy lake surface helped our fishing.
Stay tuned for a quick video on fishing Purden Lake. We will be going back soon and hopefully find the “big ones” that I’ve been hoping for.