Happy New Year Everyone!

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1 Happy New Year Everyone! January 2016 It s that time of the year again. Most of us are salivating at the ability to catch an abundance of fish; and some already have. Kokanee fishing has become increasingly popular over the past several years. Once you get a chance to taste these delectable morsels, you ll know what the craze is all about. Not only are they a great tasting fish, they are also very fun to catch! Kokanee, (also called Silvers) is a land-locked Sockeye salmon and on average, are between nine to twelve inches. They swim in schools and usually feed on plankton in open waters of lakes in temperatures of around 50 degrees. This time of the year (January) is still a bit early because the fish have a long way to go to school up, but they can still be found. Just like all fish during the winter months, these fish have to eat too! It may take more time to find them, but knowing the water of which you re fishing is extremely important. Preparation, like all types of fishing, is essential. The night before you go fishing, take some time to rig up your rods with what you think will work. Depending on the number of rods you are using, try using different colors of lures. When the fish start biting on a particular color or set up, change all your rods to what has been catching fish. During this time of the year however, you may have to change It s Time To Go Kokanee Fishing! By Lance Merz out different colors with a variance of leader lengths (and bait) to get a strike. Picking the right rod will help you land more fish in the boat. A light action rod will allow you to not only see the bite when it happens, but you ll be able to feel the fish much better as well. There will be times where you ll have to go deep to catch Kokanee. This time last year, I was catching kokanee at depths between ft on Lake Chelan, located in Central Washington. Using a reel that has the capability of holding a lot of braided line will further enhance your success. Typically, I will attach 25ft of mono to my braid, which eliminates the need of pulling line to ensure I m 25ft behind the boat. Additionally, using the mono gives stretch in the line that will give way when the kokanee are flailing about. Rigging is easy, although there are numerous combinations you can use. A very easy rig that consistently catches Kokanee is using the Mack s Lure Double D Dodger and a hot pink glow Cha Cha Kokanee Squidder Rig. A diagram on the back of the dodger shows five different attachment points, which allow you to spread your lines and out of the boat path, like a side planer. It also delivers a stop and go action to your lure, which reduces the need of making a turn to catch fish. The Cha Cha Kokanee Squidder has a two hook, no-gap set up, which is perfect for the soft mouths of the Kokanee. These fish seem to like white shoepeg corn. Place two pieces of corn on each hook and tip the squidder with your favorite scent. Although fishing can be slower, kokanee can still be caught during the winter months as shown here with Lance Merz and Guide Staff Austin Moser. Fishing with electronics is one of the best purchases to make if you want to consistently catch more fish. There s no sense fishing blind, so trust your fish finder. Start your Continued on Page 2 Page 1

2 Continued from Page 1 day fishing shallow water (20-30ft). Throughout the day however, try fishing at deeper depths (usually 10ft per hour). Once you find the fish, drop your down rigger down to the depth of which you see on your screen. If possible, ensure that your trolling speed is less than 1/4mph (I like to start out at 1.2). This allows you to stay in the strike zone longer, which increases your chances of catching more fish. If you don t have a down rigger, flat lining also works. Flat lining means that you are fishing out of the back of your boat with no weight except for your line (if fishing with lead core). Utilizing the same rig, allow your lure out of the boat approximately 100 feet out. The action of the Double D Dodger will allow the lure to troll in shallow depths. If you want to go deeper, try a 2 or 3oz weight approximately inches above the Dodger. As said before, Kokanee have very soft mouths. There is no need to yank the rod forcefully when you see or feel that bite. A soft, yet firm hook set is all you need. Once hooked; reel in the fish in a slow and consistent manner. Kokanee fishing is fun for all and provides a great meal for everyone. Be sure to stop by our booth at the Washington Sportsmen s Show in Puyallup, Washington from January I will be giving Kokanee seminars each day to help increase your chances of catching more fish! Hope to see you there. Mack s Lure Double D Dodger & Cha Cha Kokanee Squidder Ice-Jigging With The Sonic BaitFish By Captain Pete Rosko Captain Pete Rosko. Last winter s ice season was highlighted by one of the largest walleyes ever caught on a lure east of the Columbia River. An 11 yearold, Will Tibbels, accomplished that feat while jigging through the ice on Western Lake Erie. The lure was a silver 1/3 oz Sonic BaitFish (SBF) with the line / snap attached to the top of the back. His technique was basically simple; almost deadsticking the lure with occasional twitches. 11 year old Will Tibbels holding his 14lb Lake Erie Walleye caught with a SBF. Will s technique is not limited just to ice fishing. I personally have enjoyed excellent deadsticking results in open water from the Pacific Northwest to the Gulf of Mexico. A few species include kokanee, chinook salmon, grouper and all species of snapper. I have consistently out-fished fellow anglers in the Florida Gulf while fishing the SBF against natural bait such as shrimp and squid. Fish are consistently more attracted to the finish, and fluttering action of the SBF. Slow drifting or when anchored, offer boaters a very enjoyable way to catch a large variety of fish with this very simple, but highly effective technique. In calm water where the line does not angle off, increases success when dead-sticking the SBF with the line / snap attached to the back. Otherwise, attach the SBF to the nose, or tail, in active water movement. The SBF was created to catch fish in a variety of environments. This is possible because it can be attached to three different anatomical parts of the lure. This results in three distinct different actions. No other lure in the industry has this unique feature. 1) By fishing the SBF with line / snap attached to the top of its back, the lure is being presented in a most natural horizontal position; especially deadly for dead-sticking and finesse fishing. Even in near dead water movement conditions, a dead-sticked SBF still rotates in the water. It resembles a suspended bait fish threading water, which is an easy target for a predator. A simple twitch of the SBF results in a striketriggering injured bait fish action. This was Will s technique on the day of his famous 14 pounder. 2) By attaching the line / snap to the tail, the hook end is next to the eye of the SBF. (Many anglers believe the eye attracts more strikes and add eyes to their particular lure near its hook.) The action on the drop will be a tighter, more vertical flutter. 3) By attaching the line / snap to the nose (traditional method), the action on the drop will be a livelier, more horizontal flutter. Dead-sticking with a SBF is highly effective when catching any species of fish. Knowledge leads to success as with anything in life. The more you know about the SBF, the more fish you will catch!as always, thank you for taking the time to become better anglers through the Mack Attack articles.pete (Capt. Pete Rosko) Page 2

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4 Stan s Space You Gotta Know The Water Part 2 By Hall-of-Fame Angler Stan Fagerstrom If you read my last Stan s Corner you know I talked about following the advice of some of the country s most knowledgeable anglers if you want to learn how to put fish on the bank or in the boat. A couple of the experts I named were Bob Schmidt, the president of Mack s Lure, and Gary Loomis, the rod building expert who brought G.Loomis Rods onto the world s fishing scene. I told how both men stress the importance of learning every darn thing you can about the water where you ll be doing your fishing before you ever get out there. Many of the points I ve heard recognized experts like Schmidt and Loomis make are those I learned the hard way in my own angling adventures. Let me explain. I hope this youngster remembers exactly where he caught his first steelhead whenever and wherever it happens. The more he learns about the river or lake he s fishing the more fish he will put on the bank or in the boat. While I lived in the Evergreen State, one of my all time favorite spots for steelhead was on the North Fork of the Toutle River, not far above where the North and South Forks of the Toutle come together in Southwest Washington. The area was about 15 minutes by car from my former home for almost 40 years on the shore of Silver Lake. I caught more fish from just one 100 yard stretch of the Toutle s North Fork than I took out of all the rest of Southwest Washington s rivers put together. The reasons I did, was I fished it enough to really learn something about it. This of course, was prior to the time Mount St. Helens blew up. I ve not been back there since and I never will. That area of the beautiful river was destroyed when the mountain blew. I want my memories of that beautiful place to remain right where they are. Prior to the time the mountain blew her top I spent darn near all my winter weekend mornings on that part of the Toutle; and I went there every other chance that came up. The North Fork of the Toutle River was my favorite steelhead fishing spot prior to the eruption on Mt. St. Helens. I got more winter steelhead out of just one short stretch out of the beautiful stream than I did out of all the other rivers combined. There were three spots in this 100 yard stretch of river that held almost all of the steelhead that were there to be caught. I could predict with accuracy those who would and wouldn t catch fish just by watching where they presented their bait or lure and how they handled it once it got there. There was almost always a steady stream of fishermen who came by to try the same area I was fishing. Most were so eager to get to the next spot up or down the river, but what they failed to realize is how productive the water they were on was. That was all right with me. My experience wasn t all that unique. If you ve read my steelhead book I mentioned in my previous column, you may recall a chapter that told about Bernie Wright and Ron Boyea of Longview, Washington. At the time, that pair of young anglers got to know intimately one stretch of the Kalama River back when the summer run there was really strong. In the process, the two hooked more fish in one season than many anglers usually see over a lifetime of steelheading. My book featured pictures of some of the fish they had caught. There just isn t any substitute for knowledge of water. If you want to become part of the ten percent of anglers who take 90 percent of the fish, you ve got to develop your own feel for things. Don t get so set in your approach, especially if conditions on your favorite steelhead drift changes. That spot I mentioned on the North Toutle changed several times in the years I fished it. Sure as there was heavy winter time flooding, the holding spots that steelhead utilize become different; sometimes much different. I sometimes had to learn the affected stretch of river all over again when that happened. You just can t overemphasize the importance of water knowledge no matter where you fish or the species you are after. You just can t overemphasize the importance of water knowledge no matter where you fish or the species you are after. Continued on Page 5 Page 4

5 Continued from Page 4 Be observant every time you re on a steelhead stream. Use a recorder or your pencil if necessary to keep records. That might sound like a lot of extra bother. It may be, but it will pay dividends somewhere down the line. I ve mentioned my book Catch More Steelhead that had a couple of printings way back in the 1970s. The knowledge of water I talked about in discussing steelhead fishing in that book is every bit as important if you re after other species of sports fish like bass, walleyes or panfish. Cookin Your Catch Kokanee Salmon with Coriander and Lemon Mack s Lure Hot Wings Dave Pitts is about as knowledgeable as they come if it s salmon he s after. He gets fish like this because he knows where they hang out and where and how he needs to present his lures to get em. I ve got thoughts where bass and panfish are concerned that tie right in with what Bob Schmidt and Gary Loomis have to say about the fish species they target. Having been fishing myself since shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire---now I realize that s exaggerating just a tad but that s permissible where fishing and politics are concerned and I have got some thoughts to share in that regard. I ll endeavor to do that in a future column. But before I, do I want to get into some thoughts about another aspect of fishing that s on a par with learning where the fish hang out in the rivers or lakes you re fishing. I ll be doing that in my next Stan s Corner. -To Be Continued- Original recipe makes 6 servings. Ingredients: 6 thin salmon fillets 2 Tbsp crushed coriander Juice of 1 lemon ¼ tsp ground cumin 2 garlic cloves ¼ tsp Kosher salt 10 grinds black pepper (~1/8 tsp) 2 tsp olive oil Soy sauce Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Mix coriander, lemon, cumin, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes. Place fillets onto a baking sheep. Pour/brush coriander mixture onto each salmon fillet. Bake for 13 minutes. (Baking time will vary depending on thickness of fillets.) Drizzle fillets with soy sauce. Let s Eat!!! Mack s Lure Double D Dodger Page 5

6 Hot Deals!!! Double Whammy Kokanee Pro Question of the Month Have a question? We d love to answer it! Contact us at MacksLure@MacksLure.com if you have a question you would like to see featured! Q: I am looking at your Ultra Violet (UV) hoochies. I am wondering how effective they are at what depth? can be another important factor in visibility, and that is why on all of our hoochie octopus skirts we have the eyes glow in the dark as well. Quite often, you can walk into your local tackle shop and see anglers or guides with a UV light, shining the light on the product of which they are looking to purchase. Using this light shows exactly how much UV is in the product, and many can attribute their fishing success to this important factor. As Kokanee season quickly approaches, enter code KP2209 to receive 10% off and Double Whammy Kokanee Pro product ( ). KP2209 A: Thanks for the question! The honest answer is really quite simple; whenever you re fishing, no matter what species it s for, always use tackle/fishing lures that have high UV. Colors will remain the same but what changes the effectiveness of that color is water clarity and brightness of the day. Using any type of UV increases the visibility for it to be seen at any depth. Luminescence Photo of the Month Video of the Month It s time to start fishing for Kokanee again. Check out this video to see how to use Mack s Lures products. (How to Rig a Cha Cha Kokanee Series). Click Here. Guide Staff Jeff Witkowski of Darrell and Dad s Guide Service is getting an early start to Kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan in Central Washington with great success. Can it be attributed to the signature bandana that Bob Loomis always wears? Hmmm Send your photo s to Lance@MacksLure.com for consideration to be included in a future Mack Attack edition or on Facebook. See more pictures by clicking here: Mack s Photo Gallery Page 6