Thursday Jim Young and I headed to Strawberry to try our luck at catching some Kokanee Salmon. We arrived at the lake around 6:30 am and got on the water quickly and put lines out, just outside the marina. We took our time going across to the narrows.
We ran two long lines out the back and two light lines out the side with divers on them. We didn't get very far before Jim had a hit on the long line, but was just a bit slow getting to it and it was gone. I got the other two lines in. The divers were rated to 30 ft and that seemed to be where the fish were holding. We got another hit, this time on a diver. This time Jim hooked up the first Kokanee Salmon on a pink blade and squid. A nice Kokanee Salmon for Jim's first ever.
We continued through areas known to hold the Kokanee. Not to far down the lane I got my first hit on the long line and got it to the boat to see it was a cutthroat. Jim went after it with the net and the Cutty had another idea and it was gone. Setting the line and Jim got another hit on the diver and brought in a small Cutty we released it back. I got another hit on the long line and brought in a small Cutty and again quick released on the side of the boat.
We fished the morning away. With the changing wind we watched the progress of the "Dollar Ridge Fire". We watched as something blew up and sent a huge flume of smoke and fire into the sky. We found out later it was a transformer and took out the entire Strawberry valley, as the marina had no power when we loaded up. The smoke was blowing north, away from us, then all the sudden it changed directions and the smoke settled into the valley. It was eerie, all of the sudden the sight distance went to about 30 feet. Then it started "snowing" ash out of the sky. We had a few sprinkles, then out of the smoke and back into it. It was cold at times to the point we put on our jackets and wish we had long pants on.
We spent the morning trying to get a few more fish on the boat. I finally got one on the diver a decent Kokanee but smaller than Jim's. We ended up with a 7 fish on the boat but only two Kokes. Not the numbers we were hoping for but better than I thought for the Kokanee, since I am not set up for Kokanee fishing. It was still a great day on the water, so much better than working!!
