Kokanee Report from Andeerson Ranch

101chromefish101We boated 35 Kokanee today. Lost maybe 25. biggest was around a foot long. Silver chartruse wedding ring and Red with silver , wedding ring. Caught fish with hoochies pink and white, Orange, Pink, tipped with Yellow corn and white corn. From10ft to 40 ft. Nice day of fishing. Going after Crappie in the morning at CJ Strike, will have a fishing report on that trip tomorrow. My boat

Very nice day of fishing! If you don't mind sharing about where you were? I can't seem to catch more than one a day this year.

Crappie report

Three boats 9 guys fishing 40 fish thats it. Chartruse jig was the color. CJ Strike
Had fun.

Kokanee . Buzzpass- Troll after you locate a few fish. watch you depth finder. Stay in the 20 foot range. One fish a trip thats not very good. If you are new at it I suggest you go with someone who can help you learn. You will pick up a lot of good stuff off this Kokanee sight. So keep reading different posts and ask questions. No Question is a Dumb question.101chromefish101

Buzzpass,
I would suggest you take the Pine road in and begin fishing as soon as you leave the dock. Slowly work the whole area, heading towards the dam, until you see action, as Ken says. Watch the other boats, and look for bent rods. Mike

we're planning on an anderson trip next weekend. hope the bite is still on. lucky peak hasnt been overly productive lately. i'll sacrifice size for quantity right now!! plus, we havent fished anderson for quite some time.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm no rookie as far as the koke's go but I haven't made it up to Anderson this year. Lucky Peak has been....well.... unlucky. We've been cruisin all the honey holes and can't manage to find the fish but from what I've heard this year no one can. I just got me some buzz bombs for the first time. So I'll have to learn to fish those. Were you jiggin and then switched back over to trolling gear?

what size buzz bombs did you get? if they are small enough, i bet they would work. we use them every year when we go up to whidbey island to fish for humpies & cohos. we usually run a larger hoochie right above the buzz bomb. deadly combo!!

Landed 19 yesterday at Anderson. Pink was the color for us. All very nice fish 11"-13" and fat. We lost about 10 more. Looking forward to getting back up there soon.

Curious

Im wondering why everybody says they lost alot of fish in their reports...are you guys using snubbers and good hooks? I rarely lose fish if ever and if I do its cuz they freak out at the boat just out of net range....I tie my own hoochies and use octopus hooks and usually dont lose any fish that are actually hooked...like I said...just curious.. Tight lines fellas

We don't lose very many at all either. I bet these guys are using wedding rings with single hooks or some other kind of lure with a single hook to have that kind of hooked/lost ratio.

Loosing Kokanee

JIMBOJUMP- I loose a lot of fish, I use rubber snubbers, on all my poles. Jimbojump you say you catch most of your on Octopus hooks. Will you share what size hook your using. Yes I tie my own gear, I make up my own colored wedding rings and use a three prong hook bye eagle claw. Yes, I even loose Kokanees using a three prong hook. I also rig up Hoochies.101chromefish101

Hooks and Kokes

I dropped the rubber snubbers, went to tandem hooks size 4,about 3-4" apart. Hookup to landing ratio has dramatically increased.

we make all our own spinners/wedding rings/hoochies and we too lose fish. some days we do, some we dont. all made with double hooks. when those suckers decide to spazz out and get airborne, or flip out at the boat, it's not uncommon to lose them. with a double hook set up and a very parabolic rod, there is no need to use snubbers in my opinion.

Ken Jones said:

JIMBOJUMP- I loose a lot of fish, I use rubber snubbers, on all my poles. Jimbojump you say you catch most of your on Octopus hooks. Will you share what size hook your using. Yes I tie my own gear, I make up my own colored wedding rings and use a three prong hook bye eagle claw. Yes, I even loose Kokanees using a three prong hook. I also rig up Hoochies.101chromefish101

Click to expand...

Hey Ken...I use #6 red octopus or circle hooks...the little rubber glow beads to go over the knots and the rear hook is about 1 1/2" behind the front one...I know that in normal circumstances the circle type hooks find the corner of the mouth but with trout and Kokes not so much...but I think they set super tight and because of the hoop bend in them its harder for the fish to throw...also my hoochies are designed to let the skirt and spinner if equipped slide up the line once the battle is waged to not give the fish something to leverage against...I thought about putting a treble for the rear hook but since i dont seem to be losing fish im not doing that as of yet...as far as snubbers go...I dont use light line either...in fact im running 30lb power pro braid mainline and 8 pound mono leader on the hoochies about 2 feet long...and both my rods are medium heavy spinning rods with fast tips but they are by no means parabolic...dont know what to say there...my buddy bought a Koke rod that was supposedly limber enough to not need snubbers but after he lost the first 3 fish on it he added a snubber anyway and started landing fish...also I try hard to keep the fish down underwater til net time...the more airtime they get you risk losing them...anyway...there you go...
Tight lines and full stomachs!

LDR's Snubbers, etc.

Been my experience that several things can contribute to LDR's. Most fish I lose are the result of or a combination of:
Multiple poles, attention divided, busy cockpit, newbie along...
I lose most right at the point of takedown where the potential for slack is highest. A snubber is a blessing and a curse. More a curse at this point but a blessing when you are into the retrieve and against that soft mouth.
Removing rods from DR's or rodholders; especially when the DR clip has not released. Light, sensitive clips are a must.
Faulty or inexperienced netting. Touch that hooked area with the edge of the net and they are gone.
You know how crazy it gets when they start hitting and it catches you flat-footed.
I seldom go alone but when I do I learned to only fish one rod even with my two rod permit. Don't remember having a double while alone where I actually landed either fish.
I think that paying attention to the small details definitely helps.
If everyone in the boat has a designated task or job it goes smoother.
I'll never forget a pair of old guys (my age) at Lucky Peak. Going against the Kokanee angler traffic. Got a hook up and both guys were at the back of the boat as it head across everyone's lines. I lost two setups and almost got broadsided...
I personally leave the power alone if at . 9 - 1.4 maybe 2mph so as not to foul the other line or the DR. BUT I always have someone at the helm!!!
Then there are those days when you get the distinct feeling the kokanee were briefed before you got there to just play with us...
Just some more thoughts...

Thanks guys for your comments. I like them all. The guys I have been teaching how to catch Kokanee both have a hard time at the net. When I net fish there into the net. They'll get the idea in time. I will be at Anderson Ranch This thursday. I will have a report on are fishing thursday or Friday morning depends on how long we stay fishing. I have started using size 4 stealhead hooks for Kokanee. seems to be holding better than the smaller hooks. When I'm stealhead fishing I use a TroutBead setup. My hook on the bottom and bead above about 2inches. Will start putting bottom hook further be hind for Kokanee and see what happens. Also I use a size 12 bead for salmon.

hmm, a few interesting dilemmas for all of us I guess. I too, like Aluma165, loose more when bringing a newbie/too many lines in the water. But, to jimbojump (no harm intended) even though I may loose a few, in my defense, I hook quite a few on the line to begin with. I would have to say this year would have to be my worse for loosing fish, but I'm also including the tremendous amount of little 6-8"-ers that never hook well to begin with this year (next few years should be great).

I have tried firm/light poles, and even a snubber, and it never seems to make much difference. I usually don't loose many at the net, but it does happen. For me, my excuse is that they're just more pissed off this year. p

Right now, I'm in a boycott Lucky Peak mood, so maybe we can all join together and put the hurt on Anderson ranch for a while. )

Hit or miss, it's all great fun. )

Ken Jones said:

. I have started using size 4 stealhead hooks for Kokanee. .

Click to expand...

I have been using size 6 for a while, but was seriously thinking of using 4's, it makes sense (hopefully it doesn't hurt the bite ratio). thanks for the input. will give it a try.

Im gonna be camping and fishing arrowrock this weekend and had some success finally after three trips up there...hopefully it will hold and maybe even be better this weekend...also I guess I caught a 17 inch coho last out....didnt know it was one til I got it home and looked at the pics...it was fun and he fought hard! Fun City! Good luck gentlemen!

looong extendable nets a must!!!