Long overdue report and much (ALL) credit goes to Ed for getting me off my ass reading reports and out catching!
I live a few blocks from the lake and I was hung up on fishing McCormick since I knew it had good action, when Ed suggested that Coho follow bait all along the lakefront. This was news to me and an hour later, I was out there drowning worms and slinging jerk baits. The weather was gorgeous and after looking at a depth map, I fond a suitable spot nearby. I headed that way and the first fish was on in no less than 5 minutes! Next fish came about 45 minutes later. Then my wife dropped by on her way home from work. I gave her the rod with the float to hold while I packed things up. Keep in mind that this is about 5 feet off the bike trail, which was PACKED with people enjoying the weather. Sure enough, she hooks up and lands the 3rd fish of the day, pregnant, wearing a suit with heels no less :shock: . That got some double takes and I'm sure we'll making into some tourists' vacation memories. One hour out, went 3 for 3. Crawlers took 2 and Glass Ghost XRD8 took 1.
The next morning I figured I should stretch my legs before work just to check out the bite. Again, landed 3 in about an hour. This time 1 came on Glass Ghost XRD8 , 1 on a Glass Ghost Clankin' Crank and one on the float. So far, all were 16" and 1.25-1.5lbs.
That afternoon, I decided to test my luck again. And the next morning. And again on Saturday afternoon. I threw everything in my tackle box with mixed results. No trip was longer than 1.5 hours and all yielded at least one Coho. The first trip I caught and kept three, all the rest were granted reprieves. I should have taken more pictures, but how the hell can you when coho flop so much. One even managed to jump into my bag as I reached for pliers.
![Photo 001.jpg]( "Photo 001.jpg")
Here's what I learned.
- Most bites came within 20ft of the shore, 2-5 ft down.
- Most success came on the Glass Ghost color, but I caught them on fire tiger, chrome/blue, others as well. Even hot pink got plenty of follows. Speaking of follows, I saw as many 4 follow my lure in, slashing at it, but not fully committing.
- 3" minnow lures produced most strikes. 4" and larger got more follows than strikes.
- I don't know how they measure up elsewhere on the lakefront, but my largest was 19", had one 18" and all the rest were 16". Heaviest was 1.75 lbs.
- 9-10 am was best. Around 4 pm was good as well. As it neared 5 pm I would start to see a lot of follows, but few strikes. After 5 pm doldrums.
- Joggers will literally run into you even though they can see you a quarter mile away. If you position your bag about 6 feet in front of you, they'll trip over it first instead of crashing into you.
- Nearly everyone is shocked that there are fish in the lake.
Each time I went back, I worried less about whether I'd catch fish. I started to bring different lures, everything from grubs to spinners to rattle traps to spoons, new colors and experimented with different retrieves. I knew the fish were there and that when I got things right I'd catch'em. The big epiphany for me came when I realized that once you know you're in the right spot doing the right thing, at the right time and consistently getting results, you suddenly gain the confidence to improvise and try new things. Cool feeling.
I live a few blocks from the lake and I was hung up on fishing McCormick since I knew it had good action, when Ed suggested that Coho follow bait all along the lakefront. This was news to me and an hour later, I was out there drowning worms and slinging jerk baits. The weather was gorgeous and after looking at a depth map, I fond a suitable spot nearby. I headed that way and the first fish was on in no less than 5 minutes! Next fish came about 45 minutes later. Then my wife dropped by on her way home from work. I gave her the rod with the float to hold while I packed things up. Keep in mind that this is about 5 feet off the bike trail, which was PACKED with people enjoying the weather. Sure enough, she hooks up and lands the 3rd fish of the day, pregnant, wearing a suit with heels no less :shock: . That got some double takes and I'm sure we'll making into some tourists' vacation memories. One hour out, went 3 for 3. Crawlers took 2 and Glass Ghost XRD8 took 1.
The next morning I figured I should stretch my legs before work just to check out the bite. Again, landed 3 in about an hour. This time 1 came on Glass Ghost XRD8 , 1 on a Glass Ghost Clankin' Crank and one on the float. So far, all were 16" and 1.25-1.5lbs.
That afternoon, I decided to test my luck again. And the next morning. And again on Saturday afternoon. I threw everything in my tackle box with mixed results. No trip was longer than 1.5 hours and all yielded at least one Coho. The first trip I caught and kept three, all the rest were granted reprieves. I should have taken more pictures, but how the hell can you when coho flop so much. One even managed to jump into my bag as I reached for pliers.
Here's what I learned.
- Most bites came within 20ft of the shore, 2-5 ft down.
- Most success came on the Glass Ghost color, but I caught them on fire tiger, chrome/blue, others as well. Even hot pink got plenty of follows. Speaking of follows, I saw as many 4 follow my lure in, slashing at it, but not fully committing.
- 3" minnow lures produced most strikes. 4" and larger got more follows than strikes.
- I don't know how they measure up elsewhere on the lakefront, but my largest was 19", had one 18" and all the rest were 16". Heaviest was 1.75 lbs.
- 9-10 am was best. Around 4 pm was good as well. As it neared 5 pm I would start to see a lot of follows, but few strikes. After 5 pm doldrums.
- Joggers will literally run into you even though they can see you a quarter mile away. If you position your bag about 6 feet in front of you, they'll trip over it first instead of crashing into you.
- Nearly everyone is shocked that there are fish in the lake.
Each time I went back, I worried less about whether I'd catch fish. I started to bring different lures, everything from grubs to spinners to rattle traps to spoons, new colors and experimented with different retrieves. I knew the fish were there and that when I got things right I'd catch'em. The big epiphany for me came when I realized that once you know you're in the right spot doing the right thing, at the right time and consistently getting results, you suddenly gain the confidence to improvise and try new things. Cool feeling.
It's pretty cool that your wife got in on the action too!
