Kayak Fishing for Monster Trout

[@HungryH1951]

Just the five 5 lb. rainbows. What a disappointing day.

[@spiltmilt]

😂

[@ryanmartin4978]

gotta love that tell tale run from those trout!!! Love how hard they fight

[@dorsalfishing]

I love how the other boats start creeepin in on you half way through the video. Also, that take off the downrigger...that's the stuff we life for when running trolling gear.

[@fishfool9934]

I am absolutely thrilled that you posted this! Thank you. I have never fished for, nor caught a trout in Merwin. I will definitely give it a try now. I fish the exact same area you do so- I’m hopeful. Thank you so much for sharing the gear you use. I’m close, but not exact so will make the changes. I do all catch and release for trout so targeting them would simply be for the thrill of catching a nice brooder. Love your videos. Thank you so much!

[@jbkokanee1796]

I took your advice and made a fishing youtube channel! My filming and editing skills need some polishing, but it's added a whole new level of fun to the hobby.

[@jonlobello7151]

More and more I have the tendency to smoke larger rainbows when I retain them. I can eat coho all day in a variety of ways, but I just can't eat rainbows often. I get tired of them too fast.

[@jb_19]

My local tackle shop said the kokanee bite has been bad. Well, not for me! Your formula is working! Trying out my downrigger this week too.

[@BC-ue3ku]

I think my last limit of trout weighed less than one of those big boys👍 I fillet mine and soak em in Yoshidas teriyaki sauce and then smoke.

[@pacificexcursion5846]

This lake merwin in Washington?

[@timconnors3211]

Beautiful trout, I can understand that if this is your "home lake" that you got hooked on fishing. looks like a pristine spot for sure. thanks for sharing.

[@fishfool9934]

I do catch Muskie on Merwin. Have you ever targeted them?

[@monarchpixels]

What are those lures you using

[@spiltmilt]

Micro-hoochies or micro-shrimps behind dodgers

[@deej9367]

Same here. It was rare to see more than a couple boats there.

[@boattothebelly]

Hoping the meat was decent. I tend to let brooders go because the meat is so soft. Hoping you got firm, pink filets! Can’t complain about a beautiful day catching hogs!!

[@spiltmilt]

It was decent

[@brittlanders351]

That looks like a lot of fun

[@kristoishere2293]

where are you fishing at?

[@spiltmilt]

Merwin

[@stingray4540]

Dang those were monster rainbows! Those are gonna cook up nice.

[@stingray4540]

With fish like that, I don’t know how you stayed away from that lake for 5 years...

[@blakejacobsonV]

Dude that’s crazy those are some nice looking fish

[@jessetharp6319]

I’d love to see a video with your smoked trout recipe

[@spiltmilt]

Same as I use for salmon kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnenfqCVbNFnlaM

[@jessetharp6319]

@@spiltmilt Thanks! Keep up the awesome content bud!

[@mauricebrown9094]

Great smokers Pal..

[@ocrun6765]

I've never seen so many giant rainbow in one session. Great job! Did you smoke or grill them?

[@spiltmilt]

I'm going to smoke them

[@ocrun6765]

@@spiltmilt good man

[@madfishing32]

Been wanting to get out on the kayak and get some nice bows, hopefully soon I can make a video my self in the kayak.

[@pdxfisher1]

Wow, those rainbows are slobs!! Did they throw a bunch of brooders in the lake? I saw an ifish post from this week where someone caught a bunch of huge rainbows. Before this week I have not heard of them being caught very often. Sorry guys. I am one of those who are new to Merwin. Got my WA license for first time in 2020 and made a couple of trips to Merwin.

[@spiltmilt]

They must have because the fishing was lights out.

[@pdx25rsti]

two weeks ago on 6/8 my dad and I were out there fishing for kokanee. when we came in a truck was dumping rainbows into the lake at the boat launch. We saw 3 trucks while we were there. I saw a bunch of HUGE fish come out of those trucks.

[@fishfool9934]

Can you tell me when the best time is to fish for the trout on Merwin? When does the bit shut off, if it does. Thanks so much for posting this.

[@spiltmilt]

Varies by planting schedules but generally spring and fall are best.

[@travis6923]

Awesome Bows!!!

[@reapergrim76]

Awesome!

[@Carlb328]

Awesome trout Tyler. You should do another Mackinaw video.

[@spiltmilt]

If I have time this year I'll make an effort to.

[@royholm485]

Beautiful fish man, Is Merwin productive like that in June?

[@spiltmilt]

For trout it's variable but June is generally a great Kokanee month

[@TacomaSteelhead]

Nice! Was out there yesterday amigo.

[@bwon4440]

Great vdo....Love your channel

[@tedted2388]

What color Arrow Flash Dodger do you use for trout generally? Thanks in advance.

[@spiltmilt]

Silver moon jelly and silver pink work best for me.

[@JosephWarner]

What were you using?

[@spiltmilt]

Links in the description

[@dwayneivie3350]

sure enjoy todays video, i sure wish i could a have a dave like this.still waiting for the ice get off the two lakes here in Southern Utah. i suse enjoy the color of your videos.

[@fishmojo865]

Epic day! Didn’t hear what lure/color you had. Thanks for sharing. Let us know how the fish meat quality was, please.

[@reelphatties6426]

Great video! Are those triploids?

[@spiltmilt]

They are not

[@yourplayin]

I’ve been watching your Kokanee series and I have a question. You talked about location in you Kokanee part one video. I’ve been looking at topographic maps of Lake Merlin but I’m just not sure what I’m looking for to be honest. Do you have a video demonstration on how you scout a lake you’ve never been to? Or do you have any suggestions ? I enjoy your content, keep up the good work. Thank you!

[@davewhitney5649]

Have you ever fished Alder?

[@clemp3010]

Nice! Waiting for our kayaks to get here in July is brutal. Love watching your videos to get me through though. Those are some pigs! You said it was tough fishing, but i don't know how. you were only on the water for less than 9 minutes according to your video. Seriously though. great job!

[@spiltmilt]

😅😂

[@jamessivonen4993]

Quick question (hopefully you see this) in Washington state, do register your kayak as a boat with the government since it’s powered by a motor? I’m thinking of putting a trolling motor on my pontoon but don’t want to get a ticket

[@spiltmilt]

If you plan on fishing in any federal navigable waters (e.g. Columbia River, Puget Sound, Lake Chelan, Lake Washington etc...) you must register it

[@jamessivonen4993]

@@spiltmilt thank you!

[@tedted2388]

This may be a dumb question as I am just getting into trolling. But are the reels you use with line counters the same as bait caster reels? Making them very hard to use for beginners due to backlashing? I guess I'm just confused and trying to figure out the difference.

[@spiltmilt]

They are similar to bait casters but not designed to be cast. Backlashes are rare simply because you are just slowly letting line out.

[@michaelr4401]

Did you give Yale a try as well?

[@spiltmilt]

Not this time but soon

[@jacobhampton356]

Hey Tyler i got a quick question for you. I have a 13' lifetime canoe that i put a minn koda endura trolling motor on. I also have a garmin striker fish finder. Im wanting to start trolling for kokanee here in idaho and i wanted to get some advice on picking the proper sized lithium battery. I watched your video you did comparing lead vs lithium and i want to switch over but i dont know what size i need. The AH (amp hours) is very confusing to me and im just struggling in my research to figure that out. Any advice you have to give will be greatly appreciated.

[@spiltmilt]

You Endura will draw around 3 to 5 ah (amps per hour) at Kokanee trolling speeds but it will consume a lot more if you motor from the launch out to the fishing ground at higher speeds. If you only plan on doing a half days fishing then 50 ah will be more than enough but for full day fishing 100 ah is recommended. I use ReBel batteries which have built in bluetooth monitoring so I can see if the battery is getting close to drained. www.rebelbatteries.com?afmc=1d

[@jacobhampton356]

@@spiltmilt thank you for the info good sir.

[@vulcanez]

Aren’t we supposed to eliminate pike minnows ❓

[@spiltmilt]

No bounty on them in Merwin and they are native

[@johnneely1170]

How did the trout cut? I'm thinking about heading down there to get some meat for the smoker

[@spiltmilt]

Light pink and firm.

[@michaeldantini306]

What kayak is that your using

[@spiltmilt]

Old Town AutoPilot

[@charleslamphiear7979]

Hmm .. great video as usual. Did you say Merlin lake? Google can’t find a route to get there. Diff lake?

[@spiltmilt]

Merwin

[@fishing132006]

What color flasher are you using? Is that the silver or the nickel? Looks like Moon glow in the center

[@spiltmilt]

Moon jelly on nickel

[@fishing132006]

@@spiltmilt thanks so much

[@sov19871987]

What month was it? Want to go target trout in January, and not sure what to expect since the water is cold. Any advice?

[@spiltmilt]

This was in May. The trout should be feeding near the surface during the winter months so troll shallow.

[@8_MaD_24]

How are u liking the abu lc?

[@spiltmilt]

Love it

[@nicholasmatthews3723]

Is this in Washington state?

[@spiltmilt]

Yup

[@curtisyoungren3531]

Great to see you back on the west side!