May 9, 2019

My arms are burning.

Today, I went fishing to Ten Mile Lake and had a relaxing time under the sun chasing kokanee.

When I arrived at the lake I took my time getting on the water. I loaded up the boat in my usual staging area and attached my new launch rope to it. As I backed down the launch I noticed a local fisherman casting his fly rod chasing rainbows. I stopped just as my trailer tires touched the water’s edge. We chatted for at least a half hour before I launched my boat. I would have to say that talking about fishing at the lake is becoming almost (definitely almost) as much fun as fishing. The lake was calm and the rainbow fishing was good. I hesitated and almost went for rainbows, but the new gear I have to test out for 2019 won the battle.

As I launched my boat and admired my new launch rope I thought, “this rope is great and works really well.” As common sense and observation would dictate, my mind was changed quite quickly as I watched the rope sink into the abyss. As if a light bulb turned on, I realized that launch rope that sinks could potentially create a hazard for my precious boat if the rope gets hung up on a sunken log or rock. It was easily confirmed that this new launch rope will soon be retired and deemed my new hunting rope for the fall.

The fishing was slow for me today, but I had the opportunity to test a few new lures and gear that I’ll talk about later this summer if the testing goes as well as I think it will. I also tried my new Gibbs lake troll and Gibbs bling blade today. I definitely feel the difference between a dodger and this troll. Hopefully the next few outings the troll will produce a kokanee or two because the flash it throws out is really good. Simply put, I made a lot of gear switches today and only put one kokanee in the cooler.

My electric motor quit working today and this did not help the fishing. I was not able to stay at a comfortable spring kokanee speed of 1.0 – 1.4 mph. I’m hoping my motor only needs a new battery, but I’m worried that there’s a mechanical issue with it. The blade stalls or doesn’t move when trying to adjust the speed. Hopefully I can fix it before my next trip to the lake.

I was running out of time at 13:30 and had to pack up to head to work, but the last lure, or “one last cast” lure I tried surprised me. Because my motor was pushing me at 2.2mph I started thinking about trying a plug. I’ve had a few Best Lure plugs in my tackle box for a while and haven’t fished them much because I haven’t really got into plug fishing. As soon as I let out the pink plug I immediately hooked up into a nice kokanee, but it got off and that was the end of the day for me.

As arrived at work, I noticed that all too familiar feeling of a wind burnt face. What I didn’t notice was how badly sun burnt my arms were. Even still, my arms are burning. I’ve now added the summer sunscreen onto my list.

While the fishing was slow, my day was still enjoyable. We watched a float plane land and take off today. I watched Ospreys diving for fish and also watched an Eagle steal a fish from an Osprey.

I also checked my GoFish Cam footage tonight after work. I’m amazed at how many kokanee were following my gear without striking it. Video to follow when I have time. My take away from the footage is to change my scent more frequently in the spring.