...unfortunately so were most of the trout  I guess I should not complain since I did catch 24 trout but I would guess I missed at least 2 or 3 for every one that I caught. Plus add in the number I lost right at the kayak and it could have been a monster day but overall it was still a good day.

 

There are trout everywhere! You could see them rising and splashing on the surface all over the no-wake zone all day long. There were sections where they were denser but it seemed like you would be hard pressed to find a stretch of water that was not showing some activity. I probably got a bite about every 5 minutes or so pretty much all day long. 

 

The trout were really trying hard to get caught all day long but I felt like I was doing everything in my power to make that not happen I think I peaked my ineptitude half way through the morning when I hooked a double and lost each fish right at the kayak as I was reaching for them with the net. Maybe I got so many bites because they knew they were pretty safe in biting my line

 

The only thing I found that seemed to make a difference is that once the wind picked up a little I seemed to get bit more often trolling downwind as opposed to upwind. I was guessing that perhaps when there is a steady breeze that the trout tend to face into the wind to feed on the midges as the wind sweeps them by.

 

I caught most of my fish on my usual 1/24oz roostertail and trailer hook with a 1/2 nightcrawler. I also caught fish on small flatfish and on a small minnow plug. I am not sure if it even mattered what I was trolling. Depth made seemed to make some difference. I started the day with 1/8oz on the dropper and 60' of line out. As the sun rose that bite slowed so I went to 80' out and that worked for an hour or two. Finally I increased the weight on the dropper to 1/4 oz and 80' of line out and that worked the rest of the day.

 

I was excited to try out my new Daiwa Lexa 100 LC reels. I was replacing some older Daiwa ICV (digital LC reels) that I could that had some issues and I could not get parts for - even from Daiwa (they said they are too old for them to stock parts). Recently I was able to find a place in Florida that had some parts and I was able to mostly repair them but since I had the new reels I figured I would fish with them and just keep the ICVs as back up reels.

 

I will say that I really love the new Lexa's. They performed great. The free spool nicely and the drag is buttery smooth. Now the biggest trout I caught were probably 15 or 16" so it was not an acid test but when the fish surged the drag was silky. Plus I don't have to worry about the battery dying on them while I am out on the water.

 

Water temp was 63F when I got there and was 66-67F in the afternoon. I brought some bass gear but never picked it up. My shoulders were happy to keep trolling all day long. Water clarity is great. I did not use any kind of dodger or flasher in front of my spinners. Maybe having that erratic action would have caused the trout to bite harder but it is more fun to reel in the fish without that extra stuff on the line.

 

I would say if you pretty much want some guaranteed action get out to Hagg.

 

Here is a picture of one of the average sized trout just to include a picture and a video from the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 5/26/2025 at 2:46 PM, pdxfisher said:

The trout were really trying hard to get caught all day long but I felt like I was doing everything in my power to make that not happen I think I peaked my ineptitude half way through the morning when I hooked a double and lost each fish right at the kayak as I was reaching for them with the net. Maybe I got so many bites because they knew they were pretty safe in biting my line

 

You're channeling Pat McManus here! Or @king fisher.

 

And "The Bite was off the Hook" is clever word play!

 

 

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

You're channeling Pat McManus here! Or @king fisher.

 

And "The Bite was off the Hook" is clever word play!

 

 

 

Thanks! I love Patrick McManus! Laughing at days like that is better than crying about them