STUMP LAKE
2020 fishing reports
Stump Lake is producing kokanee in the one to two pound range as well as some big rainbow trout. Read more about Stump Lake here
July 18, 2020
Derby day has finally arrived! I have been looking forward to this for sometime now. The derby rules forbid releasing kokanee, so all I can do is hope that one of my five fish are as big as last Monday.
The derby started a 6 am. I arrived at the lake at 4:45am, launched on the highway side then proceeded across the lake to the rec site where the derby was set up to await the horn blast that signaled the derby start. It was great to see so many eager fishers, all hoping for the big one!
From there, I headed back to the northeast end of the lake where I had caught my 3lb 2oz kokanee last Monday. I repeated my technique by trolling at 1.3 mph and at 35 feet deep, dragging Dogtail Dodgers with 12 inches of leader to a pink and chrome Chrome's single spinner. In the first hour I caught one small rainbow that I was able to quickly release. I changed one of my pink Chrome's spinners out for a pink Chrome's wiggle hoochie and over the next two hours I caught one kokanee on the wiggle hoochie and lost one on the pink spinner. I changed my other Chrome's spinner for a pink and glow Chrome's spinner with a pink scale blade and caught a nice kokanee almost immediately. That was the key!
I switched the wiggle hoochie to the same, and in the next 2.5 hours I caught four decent kokanee and lost three others. Some of the kokanee are starting to turn to their spawning colours, as you can see in the photos, but still tasted delicious! By 12 pm I had my limit of kokanee and just relaxed on my boat until the 3 pm weigh in time.
The derby was a success, it was a great time! My biggest kokanee was 2.63 pounds falling a little short of the prizes. The first place kokanee weighed in at 2.83 pounds and the first place rainbow was a whopping 8.77 pounds!
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A huge thank you to Kokanee Kings for hosting the derby!
the Strategy
Rod one: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a pink and glow Chrome's spinner with a pink scale blade tipped with shoepeg corn scented with garlic and anise oil
Rod two: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a variety of Chrome's custom lures tipped with shoepeg corn scented with garlic and anise oil.
PHOTO GALLERY
THE CATCH
Fun was had by all at the derby! The pink and glow Chrome's spinner with a pink scale blade worked best for me today.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 1
click to enlarge
July 13, 2020
Today was the final preparation day for the Kokanee Kings fishing derby on Stump Lake. I went out with a friend today to try and get everything dialed in.
We arrived at the lake at about 9:30am and proceeded to the northeast side of the lake. From there, we started marking kokanee in a fairly small area and if we trolled off that mark too far, the fish finder would not mark any fish.
Over the course of four hours we caught six very large kokanee between us by circling the small area where the fish seemed to be packed in. The biggest kokanee exceeded 3 lbs and is my personal best! We trolled at 1.3 mph and at 35 feet deep dragging Dogtail Dodgers with 12 inches of leader to a pink and chrome Chrome's single spinner.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a pink Chrome's spinner tipped with shoepeg corn scented with garlic and anise oil
Rod two: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a pink Chrome's spinner tipped with shoepeg corn scented with garlic and anise oil.
THE CATCH
What a day! We caught a personal best kokanee weighing in at 3 lbs 2.2 ounces
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
July 10, 2020
I arrived at Stump Lake at about 9:30 a.m. and found that it would be another windy day on the water, white caps and all- but getting out today was worth the effort! I headed towards the north end of the lake and fished along the east side. There was one boat fishing the area when I arrived, but seven boats by the time I left.
I started off with my line down at 25 feet and began setting up my second rod when I happened to notice that the fish finder was marking fish at 35 to 40 feet. I dropped what I was doing and dropped the first rod to 35 feet- and landed my first kokanee of the day within 30 seconds. It was a hog!
I battled the wind for the next two hours but managed two more nice kokanee and one small one. The pink Chrome's spinner with shoepeg corn is definitely my go-to on this lake. I caught three of the four kokanee on it.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a pink Chrome's spinner tipped with shoepeg corn scented with garlic and anise oil
Rod two: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a pink Chrome's spinner hoochie. tipped with shoepeg corn scented with garlic and anise oil.
THE CATCH
The pink Chrome's spinner for the win AGAIN today.
kokanee: 4
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
July 8, 2020
Today was a little more challenging than most fishing days. The wind was gusting on the lake and the algae was thick enough near the surface that I felt the need to reel up at least every 20 minutes to clear my line of algae so that it wouldn't clog my fishing rod eyes and potentially cause me to lose fish.
I got on the lake at 9:00am and started marking fish mostly near the surface only 15 feet deep, with the odd fish down at 40 to 50 feet. I setup my first rod with a Dog Tail Dodger with 12 inches of leader to a Pink Chrome's spinner tipped with shoepeg corn scented with anise oil and garlic- this gear has been most productive for me. I then let out 75 feet of line before clipping to my quick release and lowering the downrigger to 12 feet. In the first hour I caught a beauty kokanee, lost two others, and got two bites. One was lost due to algae getting caught up in my fishing rod eye, and the fish got away while i was trying to clear it.
On the second hour of fishing (10:00 to 11:00) I trolled in front of the houses and cabins on the south end of the lake. I marked very few fish but I did land one nice clean-looking rainbow about 3 pounds. By 11:00 am the fish seemed to be going deeper. I was marking quite a few fish in front of the main boat launch from 25 feet down to 50 feet. I caught one small kokanee at 37 feet that I was able to wiggle free by the boat without having to handle it, and got two other bites at the same depth. Unfortunately, three hours was all I had to fish today.
On my second rod I tried running a few other lures at a variety of depths from 15 to 50 feet. I used a pink, orange and yellow hoochie with a Wiggle Bill, and a pink Spin N Glo tipped with my scented shoepeg corn. These setups were not successful- all of my bites and fish came on my first rod.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a pink Chrome's spinner tipped with shoepeg corn scented with garlic and anise oil
Rod two: A Gibbs Dogtail Dodger 12 inches of leader and a variety of kokanee lures.
THE CATCH
The pink Chrome's spinner for the win today, catching all the fish and getting all the bites. This is becoming a trend.
kokanee: 2
rainbows: 1
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge