T he big story here remains the cold water temperatures that we’ve had so far this summer and from the weather models I’ve seen I don’t expect any drastic changes to this pattern. Because of the current cold water situation it’s going to be tough to guess what will be the hot ticket this month but here’s a couple of solid options depending on the situation you encounter on your next trip.
The first challenge. Get out of bed early! If beach water temperatures are any colder than the mid 60’s start your morning near the mud line. The mud line is the area where the warm, stained river water meets up with the clear, cool lake water. Start by picking out your favorite standard and magnum glow spoons, mine are the Dreamweaver Blue Crab, Green Jeans, Shiznit and a Wonder Bread patterned spoon of unknown origin given to me by a customer. Moonshine and several others make some great choices. Everyone seems to have their own favorite so stick with yours or ask the guy at the tackle shop which ones are flying off the shelves and grab a couple. Along with your spoons, you’ll want a couple glow plugs in the water too. Ace High Double Glows, Yellow Lightning, Lucky Charms, Wonder Bread and a standard, non-glow Pearl and Black Dot Tomic are choices that are tough to beat.
For your wire Dipsy Divers and center downrigger, a meat rig like the MooMoo behind a Glow Frog Paddle are solid producers and frequently take the biggest kings this time of year. I like the plugs on my long lines and glow spoons on my high divers and outdowns. I usually have these baits set to fish above the thermocline, if there is one, in slightly warmer water early in the morning and troll a little on the slow side in the 2.2 to 2.6 mph range. As the sun comes up, I’ll work these same baits a little deeper into the cool water until the action slows down or stops. As the day progresses, I usually move out and look for younger kings and the various trout species that are a little easier to coax into biting on a sunny day. Switch to smaller, brighter baits and pick your speed up a touch but keep at least one meat rig down deeper. Meat rigs in yellow, purple and blue behind a white/dbl fish scale 10” Spin Dr. will usually produce nice fish all day long. If you’re headed out for the evening, just take that same paragraph and read it backward.
If the tourists are swimming and enjoying the warm water at the beach, you’ll want to start your day just inside the cold water which will probably be well out beyond the reach of the river plume. What you want to look for is where the temps are around 60 or a little cooler on the bottom. This is usually where you’ll notice some baitfish showing on your graph too. Set out the same spread mentioned above only you’ll want to have your highest bait about 10 – 15’ off bottom unless your graph says the fish are breaking the rules and hanging out in the warmer water higher up. Big kings will have a tendency to drop to the bottom shortly after daylight, and a strip of meat fished slowly in front of them is often more than they can resist so don’t miss out. Long coppers and Mag Dipsy Divers on wire are usually the top rigs for your meat strips under these conditions
Keep your coat handy and, if the fog doesn’t prevent it, I’ll hopefully see you on the water!