April 2014

It’s Time To Go Kokanee Fishing! By Lance Merz

It’s that time of the year again using the Mack’s Lure Double D where most of us are salivating Dodger® and a hot pink glow Cha at the opportunity to catch an Cha Kokanee Squidder Rig®. A abundance of fish; and some diagram on the back of the dodger already have. Kokanee fishing has shows five different attachment become increasingly popular over points, which allow you to spread the past several years. Once you your lines out of the boat path, get a chance to taste their delectable like a side planer. It also delivers meat, you’ll know what some of the a stop and go action to induce bites craze is all about. Not only are they and reduces the need of making a great tasting fish, they are also an “S” turn to catch fish. The Cha very fun to catch! Cha Kokanee Squidder® has a two hook, no-gap set up, which is perfect Kokanee, (also called “Silvers) is a for the soft mouths of the Kokanee. land-locked Sockeye salmon and on These fish seem to like white shoe- average, are between nine to twelve peg corn. Place two pieces of corn inches. They swim in schools and Austin Moser of Austin’s NW on each hook and tip the squidder usually feed on plankton in open Adventures caught these Kokanee with your favorite scent. waters of lakes in temperatures of using a Cha Cha Kokanee® series around 50 degrees. This time of the lure on Lake Chelan, WA. Fishing with electronics is key year (April) is usually when anglers and thus one of the best purchases can start seeing an abundance of Picking the right rod will help you to make if you want to consistently this beautiful fish. land more fish in the boat. A light catch more fish. There’s no sense action rod will allow you to not fishing blind, so trust your fish finder. Preparation, like all types of only see the bite when it happens, Start your day fishing shallow water fishing, is essential. The night but you’ll be able to feel the fish (10-30ft). Throughout the day, as before you go fishing, take some much better as well. There will be temps warm up or the sky brightens, time to rig up your rods with what times where you’ll have to go deep try fishing at deeper depths (usually you think will work. Depending on to catch Kokanee. Using a reel that 10ft deeper per hour). Once you the number of rods you are using, has the capability of holding a lot find the fish, drop your down rigger try using different colors of lures. of braided line will further enhance down to the depth of which you see When the fish start biting on a your success. fish on your screen. If possible, particular color or set up, change all ensure that your trolling speed is your rods to what has been catching Rigging is easy, although there less than 1/4mph. This allows you fish. are numerous combinations you to stay in the strike zone longer, can use. A very easy rig that which increases your chances of consistently catches Kokanee is catching more fish. If you don’t Continued on Page 2 Page one Continued from Page 1 have a down rigger, “flat lining” also works. Flat lining means that Vertical Jigging Techniques With The you are fishing out of the back of Sonic BaitFish® (SBF) your boat with no weight. Utilizing By Captain Pete Rosko the same set up of lure and dodger (or Flash Lite®); let out about 100 3) Use braid and not monofilament feet of line. The weight of the line! Braided main line is superior Double D Dodger® will allow the to monofilament for sensitivity, lure to be trolled at shallow depths. no stretch, better hook-sets, fewer If you want to go deeper, try a 2 or problems with line twist (almost 3oz weight approximately 15-20 no need for swivels) and best for inches above the Dodger. jigging smaller lures. Use the lightest line possible, especially As said before, Kokanee have with smaller SBF! very soft mouths. There is no need to yank the rod forcefully when 4) Match your casting/spinning you see or feel that bite. A soft, yet outfit to the size of your SBF. Error firm hook set is all you need. Once on the side of going lighter. A light hooked; reel in the fish in a slow and weight 6 or 6 1/2 ft spinning, or consistent manner. Kokanee fishing casting, rods with good back bone is fun for all and provides a great and a fast action tip (rod bends meal for everyone. about 1/3 down from tip) are good all-around choices for better control A 6 lb. walleye caught by Mack’s and hook-sets. The shorter the rod, Join some of the Mack’s Lure Lures’ Bob Loomis at Banks Lake, team on the 3rd & 4th of May, 2014 WA vertical jigging the Sonic the better the control, especially at Lake Chelan, WA. Mike Carey BaitFish®. when vertical jigging. Bait casting and Aaron Borg from Washington outfits work better for heavier lures, which help target deeper Lakes.com are running an event to Part One of Three TIPS: share great times and fishing for all. water suspended fish and bottom- positioned fish. Longer rods are For the benefit of first time readers, generally used for greater casting Be sure to go to www.MacksLure. important tips will be repeated distance and for trolling. com for event photos, videos, more in future issues. All three SBF fishing tips, and any other of your attachment inserts (nose~back~tail) 5) Keep your hook point needle- fishing needs for the upcoming have distinct functions and resultant sharp with a fine tooth file. If your season. actions. hook does not stick in your finger nail (not your skin), it’s not sharp! Mack’s Lure 1) Always use the provided wide Double D® Dodger bend snap to attach line to the SBF in 6) A siwash hook is best for hook & order to maximize its action. Never sets and keeping fish hooked with Cha Cha® Kokanee Squidder use a snap swivel when vertical its deep throat and wide bend. It’s jigging, as its “hinging” effect may even better if it’s barbless (barb cause hook-to-line fouling. Instead, pinched-in) to protect released attach a swivel between the mainline fish and facilitate quick removal and leader. A snap swivel may be with accidentally-hooked human used with horizontal techniques as anatomy. Here’s my technique with in casting and trolling. hooks that work perfectly. I take two SBF of the same size that I 2) To prevent hook-to-line fouling intend to fish, whether cast, jigged with braided mainline (it’s soft or trolled. I attach a siwash hook & tends to collapse on the lure), to the nose on the first SBF then I WORLD RECORD always use clear monofilament or attach a siwash hook to the tail of the WALLEYE fluorocarbon leader (it’s stiffer & second SBF. With these two SBF, Caught On..... deflects the SBF away from the you have all the vertical jigging April Fools Day! braided line), especially when techniques covered as follows: vertical jigging. Continued on Page 3 Page two Continued from Page 2 a) Hook on nose…Attach snap shifting wind directions, fluctuating to the tail (results in a fall that’s barometer, bright high-in-the-sky Video of the Month more sideways darting than the sun, dead tides (salt water), dirty/ attachment to the top of the back). muddy/ Or, attach snap to top of the back for a tighter vertical fall (the most contaminated water, abnormally vertical of all falls). cold or hot water and uncontrollable winds. Note: Most troll & drift b) Hook on tail…Attach snap anglers hate calm water. However, to the nose (results in the most vertical & horizontal jigging can sideways darting on the fall). Or, make you catch fish like a pro when attach snap to the top of the back other techniques fail during calm (same fall as “hook on nose”). water periods…refer to finesse Sonic BaitFish® Techniques, Part jigging. IMPORTANT…ATTACHING 1, By Pete Rosko THE LINE/SNAP TO THE TOP Be sure to read the Mack Attack in OF THE BACK (TOB) IS ONLY May for part two of vertical jigging FOR VERTICAL JIGGING AND techniques with the Mack’s Lure This months video shows CPT NOT CASTING OR TROLLING! Sonic BaitFish®. Pete Rosko with the Mack’s Lure Sonic BaitFish® and Because of the tenacity of fish In next months Mack Attack I demonstrating the 4 different attacking the SBF, I personally only plan to cover my favorite topic… actions that are possible with this use no more than one single hook vertical jigging. It is my sincere very versatile lure, Click Here. for any technique. The hook can hope that this series of “Tips & be directly attached to the SBF via Techniques” will be instrumental in Other videos can be viewed as tightly crimping its open eye to the increasing my fellow angler’s future well, Click Here. lure or connecting the hook to the enjoyment and success on the water. SBF via a split ring. Single hooks If you have video’s to share, also snag suspended weed growth, Captain Pete we’d love to see them!! Send your and bottom structure, far-less than video links to: treble and multiple single or double hooks. Note: Always face your [email protected]. single, or double, hook outward. 7) Hook replacement (single siwash hooks are best)…1/10 oz (#4), 1/6 oz (#4 or #2), 1/4 oz (#2), Mack’s Lure 1/3 oz (#1), 1/2 oz (#1) & 3/4 oz Sonic BaitFish™ Check Out Our New (#1/0). NOTE: When casting or trolling for larger fish, hook size Mack’s Minute can be increased beyond the basic recommended “hook replacement Videos sizes”. Casting: increase up to one Click Here size larger. Trolling: increase up to two sizes larger. Fire Tiger 8) Best time to fish. Most fish are light sensitive and want a stable and clean environment. I personally love fishing during cloudy weather with Get Yours Today! a stable barometer, with minimal breeze and in clean water. About two hours before sunset is hard to Available Online beat! In salt water, fish activity improves during tide changes. Poor fishing conditions include www.MacksLure.com Page three Lake Tahoe for the past 25 years. weren’t responding. A guide with Stan’s Space the experience Scott Carey has isn’t going to continue dragging exactly the same lure around hour after “He Puts Records In The Net” hour, if what he’s using isn’t getting By Hall-of-Fame Angler results. As I said in the beginning, Stan Fagerstrom he’s one of those experts who is very much aware that sometimes what looks like a small change winds up A friend of mine picked the right getting immediate results. name some years back when he Few anglers know Lake Tahoe as This time, the change Carey made came up with a specially designed does guide Scott Carey. He’s been got record shattering results. “I little piece of plastic that’s now putting anglers on fish there for the decided it was time to make a bit of helped anglers all over the country past 25 years. He’s shown here with a change,” Scott says. “I noticed a catch fish. one of his deckhands displaying the chartreuse colored Smile Blade® You don’t have to take my word record Lake Tahoe kokanee that I had within reach. I removed the one of his clients caught earlier this for it. I can point you to some of year. brass metal blade that had been the best in this business of putting on Bill’s Double Whammy® and fish in the boat who’ll tell you the You may have already seen the replaced it with the chartreuse Smile press release that you can find right same thing. Some of them are Blade®.” here on the home page of this Mack’s professional guides with decades of Lure website that was posted when angling experience. that new record was set. If you You and I might just fish for fun. have, you’re aware that an angler The pros I have in mind, have to named Bill Brush, from Nevada consistently find fish for their clients City, California boated a 5-pound, if they hope to make enough bucks 2-ounce record setting kokanee to buy their beans. for California that measured 25 The foregoing comes to mind ¼-inches. because I recently talked to one of Brush gets credit for the record of those pros who had just put one of course, but you can bet he’ll credit Scott Carey with putting him where his clients on a fish that broke the that fish was and then rigging him state size record for one state and Changing from a brass metal with the lure that got the job done. spinner blade to a chartreuse is expected to shatter the current I’ve found the details of just how colored Smile Blade® is how guide record in another. that came about of keen interest. It’s Scott Carey put that record size One of the reasons I mention what something I forever keep in mind Lake Tahoe kokanee in the boat. you’ve just read is for a special when I’m out there fishing myself. reason. My guess is you’ll want to do the Did that change do what Scott had If you regularly read these Stan’s same. in mind? You better believe it! “We Space columns, you’ve probably Scott shared the details I’ve hooked that record fish about five seen it at least a hundred times mentioned with me and I’d like to minutes after we made the spinner before. It’s this: Sometimes what share them with you. Here’s what blade change,” this likeable veteran he had to say: “The fishing had might appear to be just a slight guide says. been slow on the day that record I have to chuckle a bit when change in a lure when the fish California kokanee showed up,” Scott told me what also transpired aren’t showing interest, can make a Scott said. “The kokanee we were before he was successful in getting tremendous difference in results. after just weren’t hitting that well. the beauty Bill Brush had hooked Want to meet a record-setting “I had Bill Brush rigged up with into the boat. “I thought at first guide who will testify to what a Mack’s Lure Double Whammy® we’d hooked a lake trout,” he says. you’ve just read? Let me introduce Classic lure with a brass metal blade. “Then I got to thinking it might be you to Scott Carey, a fish-catching My clients have caught lots of fish a big brown trout. I kept thinking sharpshooter who has been guiding on these lures over the years.” something was going to break.” anglers on the waters of beautiful As Carey mentioned, on the day “We usually use a smaller net for the big one was boated, the fish just Continued on Page 5 Page four Continued from Page 4 kokanee. I hollered for somebody to anything that swims. I carry a bag get the big net we use for the larger full of different sizes and colors Cookin’ Your Catch trout. Then the line got tangled every time I’m on the water. I give in the boat’s antennae. We got it them every opportunity to perform free and about that time Bill’s line just the way they did for Scott Carey. Fresh Kokanee On wrapped around our downrigger Upgrading from the original cable. The line should have broken The Grill but it didn’t. We finally managed to Double Whammy® to the Double get that beauty in the net.” Whammy Pro® can make all the The big kokanee has already been difference! certified as a record in California. Click Here to view the Press Scott expects it will also be Release of this record breaking recognized as the new size record Kokanee. for kokanee in the state of Nevada. Original recipe makes 4 servings.

Ingredients: • 2-3 medium sized Kokanee Salmon (12-14 inches) • butter

You just never know for sure which • minced garlic (optional) one of these Smile Blade® colors is most likely to attract fish. If • lemon pepper one color or size doesn’t produce, • seasoning to taste (salt, fresh give ‘em a different choice. Smile herbs,etc.) Blades® can be changed in less time that it takes to tell about it. Directions: -end- 1. Heat grill to medium heat. It figures the little guy you see 2. Butterfly the kokanee (slice here is going to be a cracking good Keep Smiling! down the backbone of a fisherman himself one day. Young cleaned fish and debone or re- Carson Carey is pictured here with his dad Scott; the guide who this move bones after cooking). year, landed a record Lake Tahoe kokanee for one of his clients. 3. Place kokanee on open tin foil skin side down and put on grill, dot butter and shake lemon Like I said in the beginning, the pepper on fish, and grill for @ deep thinking man who designed the Chartreuse Green Tiger 5 minutes or until firm. Smile Blade® picked the right name for his new bit of angling hardware. 4. Remove the foil from the grill My friend Ron Stirtz, of Eugene, ...with our and remove fillets from the foil Oregon is the guy who developed Mack’s Lure with a spatula. Leave skin on the Smile Blade®. It has left a heap Smile Blades® the foil for easy cleanup. of fishermen all over the place with 5. Serve with rice, french bread their lips curved in the same shape and fresh vegetables and a as Ron’s deadly effective little fish good white wine. attractor. Available Online Smile Blades® are so easy to use in a variety of ways, for darn near www.MacksLure.com Let’s Eat!!!

Page five Hot Deal!!! are lighter, spin at slower speeds, Question of the Month adjustable, don’t rust, and put more Click Here to view Mack’s Lure movement in whatever is behind Closeouts and Specials. These Have a question? We’d love to an- them. items are constantly changing, so swer it! Contact us at MacksLure@ Watching our videos, and reading make sure you check back to view MacksLure.com if you have a ques- articles in the archives, will help the latest products. tion you would like to see featured! to explain why, when, or how the difference are an advantage. Q: I have been hearing a lot about the Smiley Blades in articles and etc., but wonder why they really would be any better then using a The staff at Mack’s Lure is always regular metal blade. In honesty, is committed to providing a quality it just personal preference? product. We want your input! If you know of anyone who would A: Although it is true that many like to be on the mailing list to Mack’s Lure Line Tamer and anglers will use a certain blade due receive the Mack Attack, please Buck-O™ Float. to confidence, or habit, there really forward their email address to Al@ are some significant differences MacksLure.com. Photos, stories, with the Smile Blade. In fact, there and comments are welcomed and are a lot of different metal blades encouraged. Please forward all that are offered; differences that can content materials to MacksLure@ matter, but not nearly to the same MacksLure.com. degree as when compared with to Smile Blade. THANK YOU! This a short list of differences which are advantageous in many fishing applications: Smile Blades

Photo of the Month

Katlynn Gibbons, showing off her nice 17” Kokanee that she caught with a Mack’s Lure Double D® Dodger and a Cha Like Us On Facebook! Cha® Squidder with a Smile Blade. Her dad is local guide, Jerrod Gibbons from Okanogan Valley Guide Service.

See more pictures by clicking here: Mack’s Photo Gallery www.MacksLure.com Page six