THIS IN FROM BRIAN NOVEMBER 11TH:

This in from Brian Hudson..........

Bob Cramer (Steelheader Treasurer and old Alaska hand) and I formed up and left the house at 5AM (O'dark thiry) and headed for the West Lake launch on Siltcoos. Our first experience at a DARK launch went reasonably well and we headed east to Maple Arm using the trusty GPS. WE were the first boat out, but not by much. We trollled some spinners/wiggle worts around the Arm for awhile, saw a jack and 6lb Coho caught, and met up with Dean Hendricks (North Country Flies and Lures) in his boat. Things were slow, (water was only 48 degrees) so we trolled on down to the SE looking for warmer water and found a shallow area around some reeds where we marked a lot of fish. Anchoring and casting toward the reeds, Bob first caught a nice Jack, then I hooked into what I thought was another Jack, but turned out to be a 14lb Coho hen. She did it all - jumps, runs, back and forth under the boat, but finally slid into the BIGGER NET. I say bigger net because, we first thought all we needed was the little trout net, but like JAWS, we soon needed the BIGGER NET! We went on to Fiddle Creek Arm where we met up with Dean Again and he did a video commercial for his lures using us and our fish (he had just pulled a nice 8lb Coho from the Arm). Moving on again, the wind was picking up on the main lake, so we skirted Booth Island, and right after Bob released a Coho smolt, an 8 pounder jumped all over his wiggle wort. Not having learned from our earlier experience, we thought it was just a small Jack, until it got near the boat and took off like Coho like to do. Back to the BIGGER NET! Bob ended the day with a daily one Jack/one Coho limit and I had my nice Coho. The lesson in all this is that you may not need a bigger boat, but you definitely should start with a BIGGER NET!

Photos to follow, when Bob figures out his computer/camera thing.
Brian