When is it too much?

I have not read nor talked to anyone who can tell me when there is too much red in a koke to be illegal to keep after the close of possession. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.

All that I have heard and been told is that the more red they are, the mushier their meat is. Good Question. movie

Lunkerhunter2 said:

I have not read nor talked to anyone who can tell me when there is too much red in a koke to be illegal to keep after the close of possession. Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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at causey and porcupine its any red in color at all so that means if its turning pink turn it back.

Kokaholic said:

All that I have heard and been told is that the more red they are, the mushier their meat is.

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Kokaholic makes a good point. I don't know how many pink/red kokes you would want to keep because they never stop deteriorating once they start, even when frozen. Most guys I know won't keep them if they are even a little pink because the quality of meat is not as good. Long story short, I have no idea when it's too late to keep them, but I am not sure I would keep too many anyway (unless it was like that 5 lb red koke picked up earlier this year at the Gorge being mounted).

I think LH@ was refering to the red in the salmon to follow this rule in the utah proclimation

CLOSED to the possession of kokanee • salmon with any red color within the high water mark of the reservoir from August 15 through September 28.

I dont think a small small small amount of Pink would be a problem. I would put the reds back to spawn anyhow.

I kept one pinkie yesterday when he was hooked deep, and called it a season. His body was soft and very slimy/oily skin. I spoke with another angler and he said after I left he released three that were turning red and agreed the season was ending. I haven't seen any WA regs about posession with red kokes yet.

kokes

QUOTE(I spoke with another angler and he said after I left he released three that were turning red and agreed the season was ending. I haven't seen any WA regs about posession with red kokes yet.[/QUOTE]


If i understand the spawn thing correctly,correct me if i'm wrong, there still will be 1,2, or maybe 3 year old kokes (in some places) that are not going to spawn so there is no ending of the season other than places like the gorge that close to all possesion of kokes between certain dates, so you can still fish for kokes in most reservoirs but you might not be able to harvest the spawning year of fish. You may not be able to harvest the big ones because most of them will be turning but i think there still will be plenty of fish to catch/harvest you just have to be selective on your non red harvesting and practice proper C&R which you should be doing anyways. At porqupine the red spawners were the same size as the silver non spawners. I don't know if that could/does hold true at other reservoirs. So my opinion on Lunker hunters question would be fish for em and if there is a question about a fish you catch being too pink/red then release it. Use good judgement.

I agree with using good judgement with the spawners and C&R is crucial. For me it is a conservation aspect of taking a break and letting the spawn happen without the fish using their energy to fight. We have a great number of juveniles that will be prime after the spawn at the local fishing areas. I'll see them later in the year after they fatten up a bit.

I did not ask the ? to keep as red of kokes as i could get away with. I was trying to figure out if it is worth fishing for them anymore and if a tiny amount or pink tint would solicit a ticket. I will call and talk to the DWR bio and see what he has to say. I would really like to know the absolute answer. Thanks for all you inputs.

Ok, just got the official answer from the DWR law enforcement.
He told me that ANY koke with even the slightest pink tint will get you a ticket. Absolutely no red, pink, or orange color to any degree is legal to possess on those waters with restrictions. Hope this helps everybody. It sure did me.

Lunkerhunter2 said:

Ok, just got the official answer from the DWR law enforcement.
He told me that ANY koke with even the slightest pink tint will get you a ticket. Absolutely no red, pink, or orange color to any degree is legal to possess on those waters with restrictions. Hope this helps everybody. It sure did me.

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thats what i thought, thanks for making the call to get it official.thumbsup

Thanks Brody for taking the time to get the skinny on that question. At least now we all know where we stand. I am sure a ticket from the man would dig deep into our persoanl fishing $$$$ and could at least cost you a trip or two.

I'm new to the koke thing, can anyone tell me what waters you cant keep them on if they are red. Is it just Causey, and Porkcupine? When is FG closed to kokes? Thanks

BigIceHole said:

I'm new to the koke thing, can anyone tell me what waters you cant keep them on if they are red. Is it just Causey, and Porkcupine? When is FG closed to kokes? Thanks

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the gorge closes for keeping any kokes no mater the color sept 10th