Ah, a new year! 2015 kicked off with a sunny yet cold day. I met RAM Mounting Systems Sales Sensation – John Jackson and his brother in law Joe at American Lake. Both John and Joe had been successful in their last couple of outings and were willing to show me around the lake. We trolled the lake using lead core line (down about 15 feet). The bite was slow to start and we didn’t start marking fish until we hit the north side of the lake. We could see a few fish taking bugs at the surface (like Lake Sammamish this time of year – American Lake has a midge hatch going on). We all were dragging different set ups. John and Joe both were using small flashers and small squid. I wasn’t having much luck with my pink Apex, so I switched over to a green Wiggle Hoochie.
Almost immediately after getting my line down about 15 feet, my rod got slammed! John was yelling at me to look at the fish jumping 100 feet behind the kayak. I reeled in a few feet and he was off. Fifteen minutes later, I turned my kayak to make a loop and got slammed again. Big fish! Several jumps and a few moments of him ripping drag and another one spit the hook. WTF?! Hooks are sharp… back in the water my line goes. Another half our passed. We made our way around a point. I was working about 35 feet of water and my rod buckles over. Another big rainbow. A couple of jumps sounded like a cantaloupe being thrown in the water. This one made it to the net. A beautiful 23″ triploid rainbow.
We made a second pass. John’s rod buckles over and I hear him yell he’s got a nice one on. He took his time and got him in the net. Another beautiful 21″ fish. We had a few more strikes but that would be it for the day. I hope to get out there again to target these lunkers!
