Home made kokanee lures

I have been tinkering with making my own kokanee lures, I actually caught a koke at lucky peak on my home made one over a kok a nut of the same color. Curious if any of you guys out there would be intrested in swapping ideas. I have made some pretty creative lures

D_Luck said:

I have been tinkering with making my own kokanee lures, I actually caught a koke at lucky peak on my home made one over a kok a nut of the same color. Curious if any of you guys out there would be intrested in swapping ideas. I have made some pretty creative lures

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nice going D_Luck, its fun to make your own, I caught many kokanee last year in lucky peak on squids I purchased in bulk and then added my own hooks and line

lets see a photo of that kok a nut lure, was it the one that kokaneetackle.com sells called the "kokanut lure"?

check out some of my posts, also check out the moderator "Kokonuts" (tackle craft section), tons of info

if you have questions let me know with a PM

D_Luck, lots and lots of ideas already available on our tackle craft forum. We have some talented guys here when it comes to great looking tackle.

SuperD is one of the most talented non commercial makers on the boards!

Don, you left me speechless most of the morning and all I've managed to come up with is thanks for the nice compliment.

MMDON
SuperD is one of the most talented non commercial makers on the boards!

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SuperD
Don, you left me speechless most of the morning

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Congratulations Don, Your pushing buttons now. laugh hyst

SuperD said:

Don, you left me speechless most of the morning and all I've managed to come up with is thanks for the nice compliment.

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If someone asked me Dave, who do you feel would stand the best chance of making lures successfully in the commercial market place, you would be my choice out of all the people I know. You have a list of qualities that it takes to do it well. You love making tackle. You create things that no one else has and they work! You aren't afraid to fail. You understand the science and your target species.

I'm always impressed with the tackle you come up with and your innovations in the tackle world have made a lot of people very good money by copying your designs. Sadly, you should have been paid for your work. JMHO

This sounds like FUNN!! I love to head out to the shop & make up something new.
Right now I am working with Glow Inc. paints on Lures & Dodgers. So far they are looking pretty good on these Rainey Days at Merwin! You can check thenm out at: www.glowinc.com

Kokonuts

Some of you guys are absolute experts with great imaginations when it comes to making Kokanee lures, so I am going to put a question out and hope to get some answers. What is the best hook combination to use, treble or single, one hook or two hooks, treble in front with single in back, or single in front with treble in back, same size hooks, and best size to use, some lures such as wedding rings come mostly with only one hook? I need to re-tie a few lures, and would really like some good advise.

kenbarb, your question was a great question but unfortunately will likely be a personal preference type answer. For myself, I prefer tandem single hooks. For size, #4 would be the most common. I've taken a liking to sicle hooks because I think they are a lot easier to tie.

At this point I use size 8 hooks on everything I make up. Sometimes I use double, and sometimes I use single. The landing rates don't seem to be much different. I change some of the lures I buy to a size 8 and I occasionally use a size 12 treble.

Having a sharp hook seems to be more critical than the size or whether it's single or double. If a hook doesn't pass the thumbnail test it's time to sharpen.

kenbarb said:

Some of you guys are absolute experts with great imaginations when it comes to making Kokanee lures, so I am going to put a question out and hope to get some answers. What is the best hook combination to use, treble or single, one hook or two hooks, treble in front with single in back, or single in front with treble in back, same size hooks, and best size to use, some lures such as wedding rings come mostly with only one hook? I need to re-tie a few lures, and would really like some good advise.

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I've always had good luck with double #4 octopus hooks spaced 1/2in (the bend of the top hook to the eye of the trailer hook) apart, lots of catching with double hooks and not as much releasing, everything above is great advice as well and keep em sharp and you'll get fish in the boat for sure no matter what you use

Kenbarb I've been chasing kokanee for a very long time I personnel don't like treble hooks I have and use double hook set up I like # 4 I like to use sickle hooks red in color and also use the power coated pink or white gamo Got to start thinking out of the box there are other wobbler out there beside swing blades/ Paulson cascade/ alvins/ etc. there are numerious tube flys out there they are extremely more affective then rubber hoochies these fly fisherman been using artificial flys for a long time there color patterns are to die for/ with crystal flash I've tied up over 100 teaser I call them teaser tube teasers they aren't a jig and they slid up and down your line no hooks attached so they aren't a fly check out your local fly shop/this year I also added between my two hook set up a small ball of yarn for scent they have been really big this year for steelhead they call them yarn balls. I down sized them to very small yarn ball to add my scent to as scent or oils have a tendencie to matt your hoochie or crystal flash so I went with this yarn ball for scent of course nothing been tryied yet waiting for the lakes to open so I can go up and lower the kokanee population. Hope this helps

Interesting thread...I have tried many things...I also prefer the tandem single hook rigs at about 1/2" between them...Octopus or circles do best...I seldom lose fish once they are hooked...I used to use hand made hoochies I assembled myself...I even have a bunch with color coordinated Colorado blades in front of a bead to spin against...caught many a koke on them...Then I found these little wiggle wart things at Kokanee Tackle before they moved to Oregon...have been slayin em ever since...Now I cant recall what they are called...I will have to dig it up cuz I only have a few left. They seem to work when hoochies don't. I think the biggest issue has been how far behind the dodger you put them...also on a side note...when I make my hoochies I use a piece of tubular shoe lace inside the hoochie to hold the scent...a few beads here and there and I started snelling my hooks as well...that makes a big difference as well....

I had some "leftover" parts cluttering my desk so I decided to see if I could make anything out of them. Here's what I came up with.

Tandem #4's. Either Octopus or Sickle. I tie them so the front hook almost touches the eye on the stinger hook much like Dave has pictured.

jimbojump said:

Interesting thread...I have tried many things...I also prefer the tandem single hook rigs at about 1/2" between them...Octopus or circles do best...I seldom lose fish once they are hooked...I used to use hand made hoochies I assembled myself...I even have a bunch with color coordinated Colorado blades in front of a bead to spin against...caught many a koke on them...Then I found these little wiggle wart things at Kokanee Tackle before they moved to Oregon...have been slayin em ever since...Now I cant recall what they are called...I will have to dig it up cuz I only have a few left. They seem to work when hoochies don't. I think the biggest issue has been how far behind the dodger you put them...also on a side note...when I make my hoochies I use a piece of tubular shoe lace inside the hoochie to hold the scent...a few beads here and there and I started snelling my hooks as well...that makes a big difference as well....

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Is the plug you are using a "wee tad"? Did well on them a few times last year on to catch some of my larger kokes.

A lot of companies make minis. I prefer the mini Lymans but all of them work.

sawtooth said:

Is the plug you are using a "wee tad"? Did well on them a few times last year on to catch some of my larger kokes.

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Not the wee tad...its a Crystal Basin Lil' Devil...they have been my go to lures since Todd turned me on to them...my hoochies took the back seat to these lil guys...

...my hoochies took the back seat to these lil guys...

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The one thing about Koke fishing I'd bet a paycheck on is that today's hot lure will be tomorrow's back seat. Kind of like old clothes that just circle in and out of style if you keep them long enough.