Our 3rd annual family “mini” vacation was a success again thanks to Russ and Michelle for having the perfect “fit for our family” resort.
Our family enjoys talking about what we all want to do and we make a decision based on everyone’s input. We find that this helps make our family fishing trips and vacations a success no matter what happens. Three years ago, we found Moosehaven Resort on Hathaway Lake and fell in love. This resort has everything we look for in a family getaway adventure. Our cabin was right close to the water and dock. Nothing beats watching your kids paddle around safely in their kayaks in front of your cabin or watching their faces light up when they can ride their bikes safely around the resort without fear (mostly from us) of vehicles driving too fast. And the day is always topped off nicely around a campfire while watching fish rise on the calm lake surface, the sunset and then the transition into darkness while bats emerge and fly around catching bugs over the lake. The icing on the cake is that moment before you put the fire out and watch for shooting stars in the sky as darkness sets in.
Fishing started off slow and remained at a constant most of the weekend. The weather did not help the fishing (at least that’s my thought and excuse 
).
We woke up Saturday with no rush or expectations to go fishing right away. A fresh cup of coffee was enjoyed on our deck overlooking the lake while the boys finished their lucky charms and then sped away on their bikes to ride around the resort as many times as they could before we hit the water. Finally, we went fishing before lunch and struggled finding any active fish. After a couple hours, we returned to the dock and casually walked back to our cabin. Time seems to stand still here and this is what we enjoy the most. We fired up our barbecue and cooked hot dogs for lunch. Unfortunately, we had forgotten the ketchup at home. Nothing could stand in our way. They tasted great without anything on them and we got right back to our vacation. The boys took off again on their bikes and Sarah and I enjoyed a few minutes to ourselves. The plan now was for me to head out and locate some schools of kokanee for the family while they enjoyed their kayaks and relaxing on the lakeshore.
I spent the next couple hours scouring all sections of the lake I could. I must have tried at least 20-30 different dodger/lure combinations with no success. It had been two weeks since my last kokanee trip and I was needing to see at least one bite, but luck was not on my side. I did manage to get one burbot while trolling at 30ft for kokanee, but that’s it! What was I doing wrong?
Kokanee continue to be an intriguing fish for me. There is always something to learn. Along with terminal tackle presentations, I tried various techniques that have worked to trigger bites in the past. Saturday would prove to not be my day, so I enjoyed the next best thing to fishing on the lake and that is a campfire on the lake.
Sunday would turn into the day that we were looking for. The weather was getting better and I was hoping the kokanee fishing would too. Again, a cup of coffee was enjoyed on the deck and I was happy to finally meet Jason and Michael and family. Ethan and I went fishing first thing in the morning as Sarah and Austin decided to take advantage of a casual sleep in day.
We managed to put one nice kokanee in the cooler and loose one just before lunch. The fishing was still slow. Could the weather be to blame? Had I lost my kokanee mojo? Or, had the lake been overfished over the last couple of years (the afternoon fish would prove otherwise)? All sorts of thoughts were going thru my head. I was even contemplating going to another lake, but I chose to stay as I had to figure out this “problem” I was having. This family trip was not supposed to be focused on fishing exclusively, but I found myself obsessed and stressed about not being able to find the fish. As I stood on the deck watching the boys play on their kayaks in the water, I realized what I was missing in my fishing dilemma. I decided to embark on an afternoon siesta. I flopped onto the bed and was sleeping for at least an hour. Could this be the golden ticket I was missing? As I awoke from my slumber, the bug screen door was slid open and closed for what sounded like an eternity, I slowly lifted my head to look at the lake. The lake was showing signs of unfavorable wind and waves. I climbed under the sheets this time for another hour of rest.
We started fishing around 1630 and found fish right away. They were in the same area as the morning but were more active this time. The boys had fun building their own lures and we figured out what the kokanee wanted. We were even trying mealworms as bait and the boys decided to entertain themselves by having mealworm “battles” on the boat while waiting for the next bite. The winning combination was a Gibbs Dogtail dodger and a Gibbs bling blade. We even had to retie one of the bling blades as the line was getting destroyed by the teeth of the kokanee during their infamous kokanee (similar to coho) roll. We managed to put 6 kokanee in the cooler and got to shore by 2030 after losing at least 8 more. A campfire was quickly established and the evening ritual was repeated from the night before.
Today was perfect. We woke up early enough to try for the “morning bite” that we had missed the previous two days. We did manage to put 3 more kokanee in the cooler and the weather was still better than Saturday. I am almost fully convinced that the weather played a huge part in these kokanee being put off the bite (but there’s a part of me that wonders if there was anything more I could have done). While most people typically fish with short leaders for kokanee, I have been playing around with slightly longer leaders to allow the fish to have an easier time biting the hook, especially when the bite is slow or non-existent (of course others were having success) and maybe this was my issue. If so, my stubbornness won again, just ask Reg and he might be able to explain it better. 
We owe most of our success to Gibbs and their great gear. Some kokanee were caught using Luhr Jensen dodgers and other lures combined with them (pink P-line hoochie for one and a rainbow Apex for another). I am also thankful that I took the time to talk to other anglers who were successful and tried similar lures to what they were using until we tried a bling blade.
The day was topped off nicely with what has become our traditional visit to the Iron Horse Pub and a traditional visit to Lone Butte Sporting goods to buy some new gear from Mark for our next Fougere Family Adventure. We each get to pick one lure (maybe two) for our next fishing trip to see if we can catch a kokanee on it. By doing this, our family has fun seeing who’s lures will catch fish and it gives us something to look forward to. Where will we go next?