I wanted to introduce myself to the forums.
My name is Pat and I am from Long Island. I have been a kayak / canoe fisherman for about 15 years. For the last few years, I have concentrated on saltwater on Long Island (stripers, weakfish, tog, albies, fluke, etc.), but prior to 2006, I was almost solely a freshwater guy, and much of my freshwater fishing was in CT for trout - primarily fly fishing the rivers, but also trolling many of the lakes. I would also make a few trips per year to the north country to pursue landlocked salmon, lake trout, and splake.
My two primary lake spots in CT for trout were East Twin Lake and West Hill Pond - both are about a 2 hour drive from my home on Long Island. I have also fished Wononusuc and Crystal Lake. I like to troll for trout.
Although I fished both East Twin and West Hill many times over the last decade, I never targeted kokanee and forgot that the state even stocked them. This was because my efforts in targeting them in New York were a total failure! LOL! Back in the 1990s, NYS had a kokanee program in the Adirondacks which has since been discontinued for budgetary reasons.
I fished two of the lakes up there - Lake Colby and Polliwog Pond. . . . . although I tried, I never caught one, and the fact that they were plankton feeders really psyched me out, so after a few unsucessful tries, I gave up.
So, earlier this week I was researching places that I could take my wife on a day trip with our kayaks, and was thinking of west hill pond, so I did some research to see what the fishery is like there currently since I don't think I've fished there in about 8 years . . . . and then I saw that there is still a kokanee program there. Kokanee is something I have never caught, and the niche style of the fishery interests me greatly.
Later, I found this site, and can't tell you how informative that the posts are. I've learned a huge amount about kokanee fishing in only a few days and am starting to get the fever myself - looks like speed, depth, and presentation are all very unique - salmon are very different than trout, and I know when I target landlocks, it is a whole other ballgame than browns and rainbows.
Anyway, I am here to learn and will likely be making a couple of trips to west hill this year. Although I have had good success trolling trout over the years in East Twin, I thought west hill would be a better choice - slightly shorter drive for me and a smaller lake. Plus, East Twin has gone down the tubes over the years for trout for me, since they introduced alewives in there - I started fishing there in 2000 and every year got worse - but maybe it is the fisherman and not the fish.
I hope to meet some of you guys out on the water this spring. I have even orded a book about kokanee fishing.
I don't have a downrigger but am very adept using leadcore line. I see most people use downriggers. Any advice for a leadcore guy? Also, I have a fishfinder gps on my yak - seems like that is very important too - when trolling, are you looking to mark fish and just troll through them back and forth, or is it all a searching game throughout the lake?
Although I have caught landlocked Atlantic salmon from the kayak, I never caught a koke and it will be a real highlight of the season for me to just catch one! Any advice for a newbie would be greatly appreciated!
My name is Pat and I am from Long Island. I have been a kayak / canoe fisherman for about 15 years. For the last few years, I have concentrated on saltwater on Long Island (stripers, weakfish, tog, albies, fluke, etc.), but prior to 2006, I was almost solely a freshwater guy, and much of my freshwater fishing was in CT for trout - primarily fly fishing the rivers, but also trolling many of the lakes. I would also make a few trips per year to the north country to pursue landlocked salmon, lake trout, and splake.
My two primary lake spots in CT for trout were East Twin Lake and West Hill Pond - both are about a 2 hour drive from my home on Long Island. I have also fished Wononusuc and Crystal Lake. I like to troll for trout.
Although I fished both East Twin and West Hill many times over the last decade, I never targeted kokanee and forgot that the state even stocked them. This was because my efforts in targeting them in New York were a total failure! LOL! Back in the 1990s, NYS had a kokanee program in the Adirondacks which has since been discontinued for budgetary reasons.
I fished two of the lakes up there - Lake Colby and Polliwog Pond. . . . . although I tried, I never caught one, and the fact that they were plankton feeders really psyched me out, so after a few unsucessful tries, I gave up. So, earlier this week I was researching places that I could take my wife on a day trip with our kayaks, and was thinking of west hill pond, so I did some research to see what the fishery is like there currently since I don't think I've fished there in about 8 years . . . . and then I saw that there is still a kokanee program there. Kokanee is something I have never caught, and the niche style of the fishery interests me greatly.
Later, I found this site, and can't tell you how informative that the posts are. I've learned a huge amount about kokanee fishing in only a few days and am starting to get the fever myself - looks like speed, depth, and presentation are all very unique - salmon are very different than trout, and I know when I target landlocks, it is a whole other ballgame than browns and rainbows.
Anyway, I am here to learn and will likely be making a couple of trips to west hill this year. Although I have had good success trolling trout over the years in East Twin, I thought west hill would be a better choice - slightly shorter drive for me and a smaller lake. Plus, East Twin has gone down the tubes over the years for trout for me, since they introduced alewives in there - I started fishing there in 2000 and every year got worse - but maybe it is the fisherman and not the fish.
I hope to meet some of you guys out on the water this spring. I have even orded a book about kokanee fishing.
I don't have a downrigger but am very adept using leadcore line. I see most people use downriggers. Any advice for a leadcore guy? Also, I have a fishfinder gps on my yak - seems like that is very important too - when trolling, are you looking to mark fish and just troll through them back and forth, or is it all a searching game throughout the lake?
Although I have caught landlocked Atlantic salmon from the kayak, I never caught a koke and it will be a real highlight of the season for me to just catch one! Any advice for a newbie would be greatly appreciated!
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