KOKANEE!!!

[Caveman Jim]

Well seeing as my last adventure turn to utter Shiite, I figured I would start the next adventure on Kokanee fishing. A fishery that, like reloading, I have only been doing for a short time but man am I hooked, lined and sinkered.

It seems as though fishing on a lake has more of a relaxed appeal to me than then all the years of old plying the banks and water's of many rivers and small streams for over 30 years.

As they say never underestimate the power of hydraulics, meaning waiding across a fast shallow river will get you just as wet as falling out of a boat on a lake...
But with lake fishing I feel very comfortable wearing an inflatable PFD just in case I do fall out of the boat.

I no longer have that crazed look in my eyes then I had when I was on a steelhead River during the height of the Run or like the Drano toilet bowl...

I now just have a relaxing "oh yeah" type of aura about me on the water, and only get worked up when I spy a boat heading directly at me from afar (meaning that an old-timer just decided to take a nap and troll) and only needed to be awakened by an air horn. No biggie man I can handle that.

Now to the ins & outs of this addiction of chasing much smaller table fare than the salmon and steelhead that have ruled my existence for many years.

Troll in an area that fish are in, troll the correct speed (1.1-1.6 mph), the correct depth, use the right dodger/bait/lure combination of the day that they will attack & under any circumstances do not fall asleep while trolling. But the all-time most important aspect, for God's sake hold yer mouth right!!!

As far as lures go I make up my own from what I've seen on the water, online and many different fishing forums. Mostly just hoochies, beads and smiley blades on top and of course the hooks are tipped with shoepeg corn soaked in tuna or various scents.
Here are just a few but lately anything PINK will attract a bite.



Many of you may not know this but A LOT of fish are lost at the boat, that's why it is imperative to have a long-handled net like I have. It is a conversion of an old time smelt dipping net that extends to 10 and a half feet and has a hookless bag on it.



Summer's Here folks so get out here and partake in The Great Outdoors and don't forget to take a kid fishing. Be safe my brothers and sisters.

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[Caveman Jim]

More of the type of gear needed to tackle these bite-sized slime Rockets.
The dance floor...

The lure/bait/offering deployment apparatuses...



The battle arsenal (one rod is definitely not enough)...



The prize...

 

[Kurt82]

Never ate Kokanee or tried fishing for them. Thanks for the tips.

 

[KKG]

Thanks Ed; I'll go eat my Hot Dog now and "Remember When". But, Good Luck, anyway.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Never ate Kokanee or tried fishing for them. Thanks for the tips.

It's a kick in the pants, you should try it, some can't get used to it. Not enough casting & too much sitting.

I really love the scenery, this is a VERY popular and productive area.

 

[Argonaut]

In Pend Oreille lake one of the lakes I grew up on, there used to be commercial fishing for what we called Blue Back's They are a little smaller but essentially a Kokanee. The lake seldom freezes in the winter being so large and deep. Some of my earliest memories are of wooden skiffs with little cabins and wood burning stoves smoking away while the commercial fishermen handlined the fish in bitter cold winter weather. We sport fished them a lot. The limit was 99 fish (each fisherman) and when you found a school, you could limit out in an hour with a multi hook handline. There was a cottage industry that had grown up around the lake smoking the catch for fishermen, You would take your freshly caught fish and exchange them for already smoked ones. My mother would also can them in fruit jars. It is the best eating fresh water fish off all. My brother says that the introduction of Mackinaw in the lake has decimated the blue back. I haven't fished it for 50 years preferring closer and more productive lakes like Anderson Dam and Dworshak reservoirs.

 

[Argonaut]

I find it interesting (and curious) how my mind switch's so completely from hunting in the fall to fishing in the spring. It is as predictable as a bear waking from hibernation. It seems to be a force of nature uncontrollable by human applied seasons. I have no interest in spring bear or turkey hunting.......it is time for fish.

 

[Rem700..300]

Going to try Green Peter on Saturday. Wife wants to go! It was all her idea honestly!

 

[mkwerx]

Trolling is fun when at least 1 of two conditions is met:

Good company with good conversation

Fish are biting frequently

If company is lousy, and the fish aren't biting, you're on a slow, agonizing boat ride to nowhere.

But provided one or the other is good, trolling ain't bad. I like to flatline when I can, and run riggers when I can't. Divers and weights kill the fun of the fight on anything smaller than a steelhead.

 

[bbbass]

Thanx Jim, you da man!!

When I still had my deep vee boat, I used downriggers, a small dodger, one of these:






A Luhr Jensen Kokanne troll.

Some Green Giant shoepeg corn

And a good fish finder.

I love trolling with a good friend or the wife (not both). Beer, snackies, and a coupla sammies. Just while away the hours enjoying the scenery.

 

[bbbass]

introduction of Mackinaw in the lake has decimated the blue back

Hmmm, my lake has Macs and standard kokanee... they don't seem to bother each other and definitely don't hang out in the same part of the lake. Interesting!

I talked to my local fishin bud this morn. He is jonesing for a trip to this lake. Now I'm starting to get all het up.

 

[Mister Bisley]

In Pend Oreille lake one of the lakes I grew up on, there used to be commercial fishing for what we called Blue Back's They are a little smaller but essentially a Kokanee. The lake seldom freezes in the winter being so large and deep. Some of my earliest memories are of wooden skiffs with little cabins and wood burning stoves smoking away while the commercial fishermen handlined the fish in bitter cold winter weather. We sport fished them a lot. The limit was 99 fish (each fisherman) and when you found a school, you could limit out in an hour with a multi hook handline. There was a cottage industry that had grown up around the lake smoking the catch for fishermen, You would take your freshly caught fish and exchange them for already smoked ones. My mother would also can them in fruit jars. It is the best eating fresh water fish off all. My brother says that the introduction of Mackinaw in the lake has decimated the blue back. I haven't fished it for 50 years preferring closer and more productive lakes like Anderson Dam and Dworshak reservoirs.

I love Pend Oreille. Very beautiful place. Have spent a little bit of time in the Bayview area and Farragut State Park.

 

[Caveman Jim]

In Pend Oreille lake one of the lakes I grew up on, there used to be commercial fishing for what we called Blue Back's They are a little smaller but essentially a Kokanee. The lake seldom freezes in the winter being so large and deep. Some of my earliest memories are of wooden skiffs with little cabins and wood burning stoves smoking away while the commercial fishermen handlined the fish in bitter cold winter weather. We sport fished them a lot. The limit was 99 fish (each fisherman) and when you found a school, you could limit out in an hour with a multi hook handline. There was a cottage industry that had grown up around the lake smoking the catch for fishermen, You would take your freshly caught fish and exchange them for already smoked ones. My mother would also can them in fruit jars. It is the best eating fresh water fish off all. My brother says that the introduction of Mackinaw in the lake has decimated the blue back. I haven't fished it for 50 years preferring closer and more productive lakes like Anderson Dam and Dworshak reservoirs.

I'll bet that the commercial fishing and very liberal sport catch put a big dent in them to.

There are lakes in Oregun (can't remember which ones) that have a 25 fish limit also.
Gotta love catchin a mess o fish like back in the day...

 

[Caveman Jim]

Going to try Green Peter on Saturday. Wife wants to go! It was all her idea honestly!

Yeah right...

 

[Caveman Jim]

Trolling is fun when at least 1 of two conditions is met:

Good company with good conversation

Fish are biting frequently

If company is lousy, and the fish aren't biting, you're on a slow, agonizing boat ride to nowhere.

But provided one or the other is good, trolling ain't bad. I like to flatline when I can, and run riggers when I can't. Divers and weights kill the fun of the fight on anything smaller than a steelhead.

You summed that up quite nicely but then again I have a secret weapon, I just turned my hearing aid off!!!
There was a guy I used to fish with quite regularly when I wood come home about every 4 or 5 months after working on the road and go fishing with a guide, that guy would never shut up until one day I wore a shirt and said are you going to be a talking rod holder all day? Shut up and fish!!!

 

[KKG]

Gotta love catchin a mess o fish like back in the day...

Unfortunately, some of that "...back in the day..." stuff might be part of the problem. I personally know the Indians are the MAJOR part of the Problem out on the Coast. Them and the Judge Bolt garbage. I saw a Fish Hatchery that they spent $2M on that consisted of a two foot ditch running out of the River into a kiddy pool and then back into the River by way of another two foot ditch. I also pulled Four to Six Nets out of the River every Friday because the Indians were too lazy to do it. I had to kill everything that was in those Nets. And where I stored those Nets is now a Fancy Restaurant! I know they were taking about 25% more Salmon than they were supposed to. But the 25-50 fish limits didn't help any either.

 

[Argonaut]

I'll bet that the commercial fishing and very liberal sport catch put a big dent in them to.

There are lakes in Oregun (can't remember which ones) that have a 25 fish limit also.
Gotta love catchin a mess o fish like back in the day...

No, I don't think so. We always had Kamloop trout in the lake.........they are basically rainbow trout that get big enough to eat the blueback and then explode in size. My University of Idaho ichthyologist friends say the Mackinaw is a much more voracious feeder feeding on very young fish that really decimated the population. I don't know a lot about them, seems like they should be a a good game fish in there own rite but for some reason, they seem to be unpopular or difficult to catch.......maby someone here knows about them.

 

[Argonaut]

You some that up quite nicely but then again I have a secret weapon, I just turned my hearing aid off!!!
There was a guy I used to fish with quite regularly when I wood come home about every 4 or 5 months after working on the road and go fishing with a guide, that guy would never shut up until one day I wore a shirt and said are you going to be a talking rod holder all day? Shut up and fish!!!

I don't wear mine enough but last night nearly forgot to take them out before shooting on the back deck to call the dogs in.........that would have been bad.

 

[Argonaut]

Unfortunately, some of that "...back in the day..." stuff might be part of the problem. I personally know the Indians are the MAJOR part of the Problem out on the Coast. Them and the Judge Bolt garbage. I saw a Fish Hatchery that they spent $2M on that consisted of a two foot ditch running out of the River into a kiddy pool and then back into the River by way of another two foot ditch. I also pulled Four to Six Nets out of the River every Friday because the Indians were too lazy to do it. I had to kill everything that was in those Nets. And where I stored those Nets is now a Fancy Restaurant! I know they were taking about 25% more Salmon than they were supposed to. But the 25-50 fish limits didn't help any either.

There has been a traditional battle between sport fishing and commercial fishing. It seems to me all the farming should reduce the overall price of Salmon reducing the commercial fishing pressure. I worked around the Tuna fish farms off shore south of Ensenada years ago with one of my workboats setting anchors and other pedestrian stuff. At that time, all of those fish were going to Japan where the prices were the highest. I bought and sold work boats to British Columbia salmon farmers. Never had a chance to personally go to them. I think the biggest were on the north east coast of the island (Vancouver) at that time. The Sea Lion's can be very damaging on the resource as well. They are greedy, wasteful, smart and protected. They have all but destroyed (at least at one time) the run into lake Washington through the locks. All that being said, everyone has ideas and theories but there is a very natural eb and flow of all the earthly systems including the marine ecosystem that we are intent on controlling......good luck with that.......things we are familiar with are in constant change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Scientists say that at some point the earth will drastically and quickly change its axis's like it has many times before (that is why there is so much oil in the Artic) what are we going to do to then?

 

[Caveman Jim]

Thanx Jim, you da man!!

When I still had my deep vee boat, I used downriggers, a small dodger, one of these:

View attachment 458253

View attachment 458254

View attachment 458255
A Luhr Jensen Kokanne troll.

Some Green Giant shoepeg corn

And a good fish finder.

I love trolling with a good friend or the wife (not both). Beer, snackies, and a coupla sammies. Just while away the hours enjoying the scenery.

Yep all kinds of gear to fool the
fish erman.
I like the first one & I'll bet that it would also entice a steelhead to bite.
I get solitude on the water with my Lab, she's not that bright but she loves to watch me reel in fishes...