Northwest Wild Country Radio Station

Equinox … not only the title to one of my favorite rock albums of all time, but a switch flicked by Ma Nature to usher out - as rudely as possible, as far as I’m concerned – winter, carried out Pulp Fiction style with a branding iron to Old Man Winter‘s privates.

The coldest, crappiest winter in many years. Other than a few bright spots on the blackmouth front, forget the fishing portion of this program. Bring on spring!!

Never have I been more ready for winter to dissapear like my 401k. However, I’ve not been idle during the snow, dark, cold and wet. My favorite flower is here: daffodils are my personal sign that winter has left the building. The Mariners are playing ball. I’m also very much ready for one of my personal highlights of spring, the beginning of kokanee and trout trolling in lowland lakes.

Even though time seemingly freezes during winter - like my windshield - the past, oh, let’s say 14 months - before you know it lakes have warmed to the point where thermoclines begin forming. Scattered landlocked salmon begin to school, cutthroat and rainbow are actively feeding and lakers (Mackinaw) are stirring in the depths. It sneaks up on you, and guess what, you’re not ready.

Your boat motor hasn’t been started in months. Your tackle is in moderate disarray, no leaders or terminals pre-tied, where are all my dodgers?!?

Not this cat. I’ve been sequestered in my dimly lit basement, feeling as though I’m on some sort of perverted house arrest, tying and rigging 200 mini-squids, 100 wedding ring spinners and 100 -inch Apexes. I’ve spent approximately 100 hours preparing for this spring and summer. My boat motors have been tuned, my trailer bearings and wiring have been checked, new line on all reels, bring on April.

What’s that? You haven’t checked out your boat, you haven’t tied any rigs, you’ve been trying all this time to catch steelhead that never bothered to show, and now it’s too late…or is it?

That’s why I’m here, kids. To remind you that it’s definitely not too late to prepare for springtime lake trolling. But your time is running out. Let’s make a checklist and quasi-time line for getting ready for spring’s bounty.

Pimp your ride!: Begin with your “working tool”, your pride and joy, the only reason I work: to pay for my boat. If you think your ride is not functioning up to par and needs a bit of preventive maintenance, take it in now before the mad rush in May, when everyone and his brother realizes they’ve neglected their boat and now it needs service for summer. Wait three more weeks, when service centers begin getting backed up, and you might not have a functional ride until July.

Have them check main and trolling motors, bilge pump, running lights and battery. Downrigger cables in good shape? Check ’em, kids. And possibly most important: wheel bearings on the trailer. This neglect may cost you hundreds and guarantee a ruined trip.

This boat/trailer maintenance is not only for lake fishing now, but primarily later in summer when salmon fishing gets ripping. I’ve suffered through my friends’ trailer malfunctions where wheels have flown right off at 60 mph. It sucks. There you are, waiting for the tow truck, weaving a tapestry of expletives that could cover Safeco Field and not even thinking of fishing.

The 30-foot high, 70-foot-long rooster tail of sparks made by a bare metal axle dragging on concrete in the pre-dawn darkness is pretty cool, though….

Doctor, is it terminal?: Hmm. No terminal rigs tied up? No panic, do five or so each night after dinner. Rig up a different lure each night - say pink mini squids tonight, UV ones tomorrow, green wedding ring spinners the following and so on.

One month from now, when lakes begin to break loose, you’re ready.

Tie your mini-squids on 10 inches of 18.5-pound Grand Max fluorocarbon, dual No. 1 red Gamakatsu drop shot hooks on the business end. The shorter, stiffer leader imparts 10 times the action of soft mono behind a 4/0 dodger.

Tie your “wedding ring” spinners on 6-pound Maxima Ultragreen, also tandem No. 1 red Gamakatsu drop shot hooks, leader approximately 32 inches. This is just long enough to get separation from the 4/0 dodger, yet it gives the spinner a slight side to side wobble without disturbing blade spin.

Your Apex’s, tie on 8-pound Ultragreen, approximately 4-foot leader. You do not want the dodger to affect the action of the Apex, only attract, hence the longer leader. Tie the end of all terminals on clips for fast replacement on the water; use a No. 10 black swivel and a No. 56 “hotshot” clip. Knot tying on the water is down time.

Roll them all on that cheap black pipe insulation for storage (you can buy it at Lowe’s for a dollar for 5 feet).

Jiffy lube: Look at your reels: Dirty, clogged with black whoozits. The line on the spool cloudy and fuzzy, like November through June. Lube your reels - not cool losing the first few fish of the season due to a faulty, sticky drag. Change the line! Fresh line means quality knots and no vaporized terminal tackle from hard strikes.

Ready to rawk: There is something very satisfying about standing back, looking at what I call “a fully functional Death Star”, to quote Star Wars my Smokercraft, “The Edgar” tuned to ultra efficiency, full of state-of-the-art tackle and ready for any water condition.

All this preparation not only gives this angler a tremendous edge on the water, it gives me something money cannot buy: peace of mind knowing chances for a trip ruining malfunction is exponentially remote.

What am I doing now, since I have everything ready for lake trolling? I’m tying up jigs and polishing my nickel and copper BC Steel spoons for summer steelhead…until it’s time for July saltwater Chinook…until the massive hordes of pink salmon arrive, then the largest coho run prediction since 2001….and on it goes, this thing of ours.

Until next time, kids: In the next blog installment, we’ll be discussing a spring blackmouth fishery in the Strait of Juan DeFuca that has been the best, well, EVER!

Light up, everybody. Join us in this celebration!

Metal To The End.

-Bill Herzog