Kokanee Fishing

[OffroadToy]

Just became a member here, and wondered if anyone else is into kokanee? I've been addicted to these fish for the last 8 years, and tow the 15' Smokercraft Alaskan with my Taco up to a lake around 6,000 feet in elevation in the caldera of a National Volcanic area every week. The remnant rim of the mountain that overlooks the crater where the lake sits is 7,998 feet above sea level. There's a great 4x4 road to the top. Anyway, I catch the kokes mainly trolling with downriggers and jigging. Anyone else here fish for kokes?

[Griztaco]

I went after them while they were on a spawning run. Real small stream and they were all bright red like sockeye... very cool.

[OffroadToy]

Originally Posted by Griztaco

I went after them while they were on a spawning run. Real small stream and they were all bright red like sockeye... very cool.

During the spawn they really change colors. Generally I stop fishing for them when they start to develop a hook jaw and are just starting to turn pink. Kokes have a 4 year life span. I normally start fishing for them right after ice off and call it quits around the mid part of September.. Early in the season you can get em up high, but as the water warms they head down. They like a water temperature of around 54 degrees. Usually you will see them (on the fishfinder) hang in the thermocline layer where the top and bottom layers of the lake meet...where most of the nutrients are. Most days as long as your at the right depth, right speed, useing the right color, the right scent, and in the right place your going to get some hookups. The action can be fast and furious when you troll through schools...like a Chinese fire drill!
Jigging is another way to get into them, targeting kokes on the bottom while anchored up in 50-100' of water, or going after suspended ones out in the middle. Some days you can do a slow drift with little wind, or throw out a sea anchor when the winds kicks up.
Shoepeg corn, gulp maggots, and pro-cure scent works well, and dodgers to give the lures some action. I attach a set a ball trolls to a 8lb downrigger ball, and then clip my set-up a few feet above. Since kokes aren't ball shy, I normally only am fishing around 10-12' in back of the boat...but straight down around 40-60'. Another benefit of fishing a short distance back from the downrigger cable is that you can put a positive charge on the wire to attract fish. This devise is called a "black box" and when adjusted attracts fish around the wire in about a 20' radius. Doing turns while trolling really gets their attention...and also produces a different action to the lures. When turning, the inside rod's lure will slow down and drop a bit, and the outside rod's lure speeds up and rises. You can then adjust your speed if they prefer one side of the boat over the other while doing these turns. Also, trolling away or perpendicular to the sun will gets more hits as opposed to trolling straight into the sun. Moon phases don't seem to affect koke fishing as much as when targeting other fish species.

[Terrier]

Did a bit of ice fishing for them last winter and am looking forward to catching some more of them tasty kokanee this winter.

[OffroadToy]

Originally Posted by Terrier

Did a bit of ice fishing for them last winter and am looking forward to catching some more of them tasty kokanee this winter.

Where did you fish for them, and what kind of tackle? Do you smoke them?
When jigging during the summer I use led jigs in 1/2 and 3/4 ounce. Some are store bought, and some are homemade. When trolling I run dodgers with trailing lures. Most of the lures are either homemade, or altered store bought ones. The lure I've had the most success with is the Apex, but when things get slow I like to experiment with Hoochies, Tubes, Spoons, Spinners, Wee-Tads, and a few other's...all tipped with ShoePeg Corn. The corn gets scented with a variety of different scents. Most productive scents have been Garlic, Vanilla Extract, Carp Spit, and Kokanee Special. Alot of the lures I use are either glow, fluorescent, or ultra violet. Contrasting colors seem to get hit more, and kokanee prefer a slow wobble action at a speed of around 1.2-1.4 mph. Different colors show up more than others as you go down the water column...reds and oranges work best in the top 20', then as you go down change to green, chartreuse, blue, and violet. The color pink is probably the most effective color overall. A great place to check out the different types of kokanee tackle is www.kokaneemart.com

[Terrier]

I caught them in Ririe Reservoir in Eastern Idaho. My first time ice fishing was last season. It was really cool with the Kokanee because they would come through in large schools and some of the more experienced ice fishermen were catching their limits in 15 minutes. I was using shiny jigs. You could see them come through on the fishfinder. They weren't very large, the largest being about 15 inches, but they were darn good eating. I just pan fried them. This coming winter, I think I will try cooking them on a plank on the barbeque. Yeah, I barbeque in the middle of winter with a gas barbeque and yeah, I'm optimistic that i will catch them.

I also caught some last spring at the same reservoir trolling with a "Kokanie Rig".

[jammdogg]

Offraod, what lakes in Central are you fishing? We have a cabin close to Crescent and Odell, and have hiked into Meek and Snell Lakes.

Jammdogg

[OffroadToy]

Originally Posted by jammdogg

Offraod, what lakes in Central are you fishing? We have a cabin close to Crescent and Odell, and have hiked into Meek and Snell Lakes.

Jammdogg

I fish mainly up at Paulina Lake. Last season Wickiup Reservoir was producing some of the best size kokanee in recent years...up to 18" and FAT!! They're working on extending the ramp and dock at the new launch at Gull Point, so I plan on trying it out next year. Last season the best area's in early season was in the Davis arm, then by mid season they moved into the Deschutes channel. The hot set up was a pink hoochie trolled behind a dodger. Also, small homemade spinners with beads in the 2-4 mm size worked well. A good trick to try out is while trolling with a short set-back with the downrigger, only put a slight tension on your rod while it's sitting in the rod holder. Then, grab your line every so often and give it a jerk. This changes up the action of the lure and drives em nuts. Another thing...try out gulp maggots instead of corn once in a while.