Lake Berryessa 8-08-09 - Family Fun!

[HiTechKoke]

Hit up Berryessa in search of some Kokanee action and we weren't disappointed. We got our first lines in the water about 6:30 and immediately we started out with a few furry trout.

All of a sudden a line goes off and given the line peeling I knew it was a Koke. That turned out to be a solid 17 incher so the Kokanee skunk was out of the box. Shortly after that commotion another line goes off and Karla wrestles it in for a nice 16 inch Koke. We were thinking this was going to be a stellar day when we already have these fish in the box...

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We hit a bit of a lull though and then we rotated some gear around and kept on eye on the Fish finder for some fish which were a lot more scattered than last trip. I brought up my deep line that had not been checked in a while only to find this monster dragging on the line... it was a King...

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Jenna decided to get in on the action and found this scrappy little guy that she was convinced was bigger than the one on my shirt!

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We then managed a few more in the mid morning hours...

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So when it was all done we had 6 Kokanee from 13 to 17 inches on a rather tough bite and they were all caught on Apexes from UV Purple, UV Pink and UV Orange. A mixture of scents was used in the range of garlic / carp spit / crawfish. Fish came from 51 to 65 feet and water temps were 58 degerees at 50 feet and 54 at 65 so that was a good range to be in. We pulled the plug around 1PM and had a mini BBQ with the FishingTrippz as the kids swam to cool off and then it was tubing time for them.

The kids shot some video during the day so here's an compilation of our action...enjoy the show...Click on the HQ button for higher quality. I'll put this one up in the KFF Video library as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5-Tt6jLXZ4


Kevin

[SilverBullets]

Great report HiTech, looked like you guys got into some nice kokes...and all on Apex's!thumbsup What speed were your trolling, looked like you put some additional bend in the dodger's for more action. I usually troll them around 1.4-1.6 with 8lb test, but last time out we had to kick it up a notch to 1.8-2.0 to keep them interested.

[HiTechKoke]

Hey SB..... Yep.... an odd thing happened in that it was a 100% Apex catch day.... nothing else got bit. I'm not much of an Apex guy but have been converting to them in the arsenal this year. 4 fish came on that one lure setup until we had a bit of a "net" issue and we snapped the leader and donated my one and only purple U.V. to the depths of Berryessa... and no spare one either!

Definitely that Dodger was bent a good deal and it was the special one that I think was exclusive to KokaneeMart with Red scale on one side and Hyperplaid on the other side. I was going 1.3 to 1.5 most of the time.

Kevin

[Full_Monte]

Hello HiTech,

Great Report! You have the family well-trained. Looks like you guys are a koke-catching machine! I've been hearing about bending dodgers a lot. It seems like the manufacturers should make them that way if they work better.

[SilverBullets]

Hello HiTech,

Great Report! You have the family well-trained. Looks like you guys are a koke-catching machine! I've been hearing about bending dodgers a lot. It seems like the manufacturers should make them that way if they work better.

Some dodger's are designed to be trolled faster than other's for the speed the kokes like in certain water's. If you want to use the same dodger where the kokes prefer the speed a bit slower, giving them more bend will get more action out of them. It seems most of the teardrop shape ones are for a faster troll, the ones like Vance's and Sep's work best for slower speeds. I'm sure if the teardrop dodger manufacturer's ever decide to come out with a pre-bent slow speed version dodger they wouldn't have a problem selling them.

[DLM]

Some dodger's are designed to be trolled faster than other's for the speed the kokes like in certain water's. If you want to use the same dodger where the kokes prefer the speed a bit slower, giving them more bend will get more action out of them. It seems most of the teardrop shape ones are for a faster troll, the ones like Vance's and Sep's work best for slower speeds. I'm sure if the teardrop dodger manufacturer's ever decide to come out with a pre-bent slow speed version dodger they wouldn't have a problem selling them.

If when you say tear drop you mean sling blade shape they can be bent easily. I always buy 2 of each color and bend one and keep one natural for higher speeds. If you only want to buy one, they can easily be bent back to near their original shape. I have done this many times and it works great.

Hey HiTech......Is that TWO watchs is see or one watch and some secret agent type koke finder......

[HiTechKoke]

Definitely the beauty of a sling blade style dodger is you can shape them to your needs for more action based on the speed you want to run. My problem is I tend to run a square dodger in the mix for historical confidence reasons as well as something different but you can't bend those. So I can't rocket up past 1.5 much without rolling those ones while the sling blades will stay happy up to a point.

That sling blade in the video that is bent won't go much above 1.5 in that shape and it will roll too. I bend them back and forth as needed and also depending on what I am running. An apex has a lot of pull on the dodger so it will pull the action out of it but that may not matter depending on the bite. After watching a lot of underwater lure video in general it really makes it easy to understand the action and speed differences a bit of bend can make.

It's just another thing to consider tinkering with if you are not getting bit or have a variety of setups out there and note the leader length / dodger bend / lure type on the fish you catch on a tough day and it may help you catch a few more.

[HiTechKoke]

DLM - I forgot to answer the two watches.. the second one is my wrist remote for the Minn Kota trolling motor up front. I usually cut the throttle down on a fish on the trolling motor and then keep enough speed with the trolling motor up front so we can ease the fish in on its terms. A lot of times in the videos you'll see me adjusting it on the fly when I am bringing in fish or other wise to keep the boat straight and the fish up the middle and out of the other lines. Good question and thanks for asking.

Kevin

[S.S. Fireball]

Some beautiful fish and a great report. Seems fairly consistent with expectations. Hopefully the bigger fish will continue to bite. On that subject, what is the latest time of the year the kokes will still bite at Berryessa?

Never thought to tune dodgers with a bend, but it makes great sense. I don't have any apex products in my tackle box but you guys make some pretty compelling arguments... although I do subscribe to the theory that confidence is key no matter what setup you are trolling.

Love the remote for your motor, I typicall use the tiller handle on my kicker when I'm alone. When I have a crew and we are rotating, I typically use a link to the main outdrive and steer from the helm, but still no remote throttle. That and a sounder are my two top choices for upgrades.

[HiTechKoke]

Tks Fireball - Historically The first week in September or last week of August is when I am usually done but have gone as late as the last week in September. It's always been a scratch bite and a hunt for few bigger fish nearing the end of their life cycle. We'll have to see how it ends this year.

Kevin

[Old School]

Great report and pics HiTech.
I'm going to UVR this weekend, but hope I can get another trip in to Berryessa after that.

[William Cooper]

Thanks for the report.

[HiTechKoke]

Great report and pics HiTech.
I'm going to UVR this weekend, but hope I can get another trip in to Berryessa after that.

Let us know how UVR goes. I wish it was closer to me as I've never fished it for Kokanee yet.

Kevin