What is up with this Kokanee?

Big Enuff · Aug 19, 2009

Caught this kokanee last Sunday along with a bunch of males and females that all had spawning characteristics and colors. I originally thought it was a nice 5# female, but filleting revealed it to be a immature male. It looks more like a May or June Flaming Gorge Kokanee. I assume it is a 3 year old fish. Anyone know why it is so immature for this time of the year??

Kokanee Killer · Aug 19, 2009

late bloomer.

fish esp pacific salmon are like people all different body make up,, in our koke lakes back east i remember catching kokes just starting to color up ice fishing ,,when 2 months before all the kokes spawned and died already,,so i really think that fish was just a late to mature fish,, or a HUGE immature fish.

FISH · Aug 20, 2009

Big Enuff said:
Caught this kokanee last Sunday along with a bunch of males and females that all had spawning characteristics and colors. I originally thought it was a nice 5# female, but filleting revealed it to be a immature male. It looks more like a May or June Flaming Gorge Kokanee. I assume it is a 3 year old fish. Anyone know why it is so immature for this time of the year??

did he have milk or was it next yr's fish?the shell in lake spawners dont spawn till mid to late oct in to nov have caught red koke's through the ice in feb so it's hard to say have caught some great fish that wont spawn till next yr.

SuperD · Aug 20, 2009

Maybe it is just me but from that angle, the tail looks very suspicious. And the mouth and head are very trout like.

FISH · Aug 20, 2009

SuperD said:
Maybe it is just me but from that angle, the tail looks very suspicious. And the mouth and head are very trout like.

it's a koke for sure but is it a trans sexuel or what?

SuperD · Aug 20, 2009

I'm not convinced. Square tail and jaws are too short.

Mickey Thomas · Aug 20, 2009

I'd say Koke, but the mouth looks Trout like, the tail isn't round like a California trout (wink) female Koke.....

Big Enuff · Aug 20, 2009

The sperm sacs were under developed for a fall spawner. The sacs were less than half size of the normal kokanee for this time of the year.

This fish was definitely a kokanee. The scales are coming off like spring kokanee, the bone structure was a kokanee and most convincingly it tasted like a kokanee when I ate it.

Kokanee Killer · Aug 20, 2009

def a koke

100% kokanee all the way, scales,caudual penducle,anal fin lack of spots etc,,etc and so on still awesome fish thoughthumbsup

Ryno · Aug 21, 2009

Big Enuff said:
Caught this kokanee last Sunday along with a bunch of males and females that all had spawning characteristics and colors. I originally thought it was a nice 5# female, but filleting revealed it to be a immature male. It looks more like a May or June Flaming Gorge Kokanee. I assume it is a 3 year old fish. Anyone know why it is so immature for this time of the year??

Good looking koke and good question. Like FISH stated most of the kokes in the reservoir are late run and won't spawn until November. Another possibility is not all 4-year olds spawn. It's less frequent, but you will see some fish spawn at age-3 or even age-5. Based on your observation regarding the lack of gonad development and it's size, it could be an age-5 fish that would've spawned next year. The only way to really tell would be to age the fish using it's scales. The take home message is most kokes spawn at age-4 but there are those that break the norm.

HiTechKoke · Aug 21, 2009

Tks for sharing the photo... I'll go with a 5 year fish as that would have been a state record come next year!

It looks like it could have held out and like you I would have said it was a nice ripe female. I'm fine with the tail, scales, shape and the head looks a tad trout like but given it's size and immaturity it's probably one of those that made it in to the special gene pool.

What is up with this Kokanee?

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