West Hill Up-Date 6/22/2014

[SeaDog]

Hi,
Well besides last Monday, I got out on West Hill Wed., Fri., and Sat. (last night).
Kokanees for West Hill this year are Monsters !
Smallest so far I've caught is 15 inches.
All are very very strong and very fat.
Seems the norm is prevailing - Hook 3 - Land 1 - Lose 2
Got the biggest Kokanee I've ever landed at 17 3/4 inches last night, definitely over 2 lbs.
Fished from 7:30 to 11:30 using same west coast rig I've used the last 3-4 years (Kodiak glow jig - Pink Mackerel 6 gram weight, with 2-3 inch dropper with #8 or #6 red Gamakatsu octopus hook, baited with shoe-peg corn and maggots)
Have also tried using the Little Atom ice fishing plastic tails in the Atomic Glow Red and Blue (with corn and maggots) - seems to be getting more bites with it !
I now have 5 Kokanee frozen in water - Waiting till I get a total of 8 before I fillet and brine them in my "RUM brine" and smoke them with a 50/50 blend of apple wood and pecan wood. (See my "OMG recipe" in the recipe forum - page 1 - 4th line down).
If these babies are this big now at mid June - We might see a 19 incher or above by July or August.
Again my new rod and reel rig is working out fantastic !thumbsup
So nice to be retired and able to fish for Kokanees at my favorite pond 8 minutes from my house. signfishin

Best regards,
Seadog

[jbmagi]

Sea dog.
Found the forum looking for info on kokanee dosing in West Hill. I have been on one side of the pond or another for about 25 years now. Currently have a small on shore cabin nestled in with the scout camp.
In all those years I have never tried for the salmon, but just got the itch this year. Mind giving me a run down on pointers for some jigging at night. Hopefully we will meet up one evening.

[Trout Tracker]

The kokes might be big this year at the Hill but the catch numbers are drastically down from previous years.

[SeaDog]

Hi jbmagi,

Boat
2 anchors - one forward and one aft to prevent boat from swinging. (Jigging at night is vertical jigging so line has to be straight up and down)
Rod - 4-5 ft. and very limber (soft) - Kokes bite only two ways jigging - Very very soft or WHAM !
Reel - Ultra light with 9 or more ball bearings with very smooth drag
Line - I recommend Berkly NANOFIL in 6 lb. test
Lures - Hali ice spoons/Kodiak perpetual motion jigs (30mm)/Clams speed jig .... All in glow colors .. Pink being the best!
Dropper - 2-3 inches below jig.
Hooks - Octopus type by Gamakatsu or any other brand you like ... Size: anywhere from #10 to #6 - Right now I'm using #6 Trokar Octopus because of the size of the Kokes.

Here's my jig set up .. Rod ----------Line-------Quick Snap -Jig - Quick Snap +2-3 inch Dropper (floro line 10 Lb. test) + Hook
Bait - Maggots + (specifically) Green Giant Shoepeg Corn
Must have a fish finder - Kokes will be deep and below the thermocline.
Floating light to attract the plankton that the kokes feed on.
When you find the Kokes - usually in West Hill at or below 30 ft. - use various jigging techniques (slow to fast or stationary) and find what works.
NEVER set the hook - Kokes have soft mouths - Just lift rod high and reel in - NEVER NEVER NEVER stop reeling in - Kokes have the bad habit of swimming up with the jig and you will not feel them on at all.
IMPORTANT: You will need a long handle net - NEVER TRY TO LIFT KOKE out of the water with rod - You will loose it !
LAST ! You need a "LOT" of Patients to fish for Kokes - Old saying ... Hook 3 ... Land 1

Good Luck !
SeaDog

[jbmagi]

Hi jbmagi,

Boat
2 anchors - one forward and one aft to prevent boat from swinging. (Jigging at night is vertical jigging so line has to be straight up and down)
Rod - 4-5 ft. and very limber (soft) - Kokes bite only two ways jigging - Very very soft or WHAM !
Reel - Ultra light with 9 or more ball bearings with very smooth drag
Line - I recommend Berkly NANOFIL in 6 lb. test
Lures - Hali ice spoons/Kodiak perpetual motion jigs (30mm)/Clams speed jig .... All in glow colors .. Pink being the best!
Dropper - 2-3 inches below jig.
Hooks - Octopus type by Gamakatsu or any other brand you like ... Size: anywhere from #10 to #6 - Right now I'm using #6 Trokar Octopus because of the size of the Kokes.

Here's my jig set up .. Rod ----------Line-------Quick Snap -Jig - Quick Snap +2-3 inch Dropper (floro line 10 Lb. test) + Hook
Bait - Maggots + (specifically) Green Giant Shoepeg Corn
Must have a fish finder - Kokes will be deep and below the thermocline.
Floating light to attract the plankton that the kokes feed on.
When you find the Kokes - usually in West Hill at or below 30 ft. - use various jigging techniques (slow to fast or stationary) and find what works.
NEVER set the hook - Kokes have soft mouths - Just lift rod high and reel in - NEVER NEVER NEVER stop reeling in - Kokes have the bad habit of swimming up with the jig and you will not feel them on at all.
IMPORTANT: You will need a long handle net - NEVER TRY TO LIFT KOKE out of the water with rod - You will loose it !
LAST ! You need a "LOT" of Patients to fish for Kokes - Old saying ... Hook 3 ... Land 1

Good Luck !
SeaDog

Thanks for the tips. Going to make a true hit on them mid August when I will have enough moon light to get back to home base.
Going to try at dawn tomorrow just for fun. Alarm is set and I have some smelly corn ready for the jig. Only problem is the trolling motor battery died last weekend. Going to try from the kayak tomorrow morning.
Wish me luck for now, but I have a night trip planned for the 14th. See you then.

[captiva]

Thanks for the tips. Going to make a true hit on them mid August when I will have enough moon light to get back to home base.
Going to try at dawn tomorrow just for fun. Alarm is set and I have some smelly corn ready for the jig. Only problem is the trolling motor battery died last weekend. Going to try from the kayak tomorrow morning.
Wish me luck for now, but I have a night trip planned for the 14th. See you then.

Hi guys! I hit West Hill for the first time this season yesterday - trolled off the kayak for eight hours!

It was a bit of an unevental day - I caught one salmon and got it next to the boat and it was big for a koke! Last year, I caught three kokes in two trips, and my biggest was about 15" - this fish looked to be bigger than that, and I'd estimate 16" - 17" - it fought really hard including a jump with the flasher and all, and when I got it boat side, it saw me, turned around, and made another run that broke my line! it was the leader from my wedding ring spinner, so I would assume it was it was probably about 6 lb test but I was amazed by the power of the little fish.

I was really burned that I didn't land it!

Well, catching but not landing this fish made me stay for another 4 hours where I only caught one small brown trout.

I dropped about 4 other fish that day - never saw them, so I don't know what they were, but they felt more like kokes than trout, who give a much more spirited fight. It was very frustrating, especially since I live two hours away!

I was marking tons of trout at the top portion of the thermocline, anywhere from about 15' to 23', but it there was a different body of fish that were deeper and I was marking them between 28' and 35' - I would assume that these were the kokes. There were definitey more trout than kokes in there if you judge by the marks. The shallow marks were thick the entire day.

I think I am going to take one more day off and fish West Hill this month, and I'd really like to meet up with someone so I can do some night fishing as well. I'm not sure about the 14th, but definitely will clear my schedule for a day if someone is going out on that particular day. Is anyone going out over the next two or three weeks?

[jbmagi]

Captiva,
You already did meet up with someone, lol. That was me in the smaller kayak yesterday around 8am. Small world

[10weight]

Hey guys. I'm a kayaker too and just wanted to say hello. I won't be fishing west hill until this fall, but I did manage to try it twice earlier this spring. Killed the trout the first trip and had one Koke hit on the 2nd trip that convinced me that I needed a better fly reel and also bought a downrigger that I've yet to use. Anyway, hope to see you out there some time in the future and I'll keep a eye on this chain.

Tight lines!

[captiva]

Hey guys. I'm a kayaker too and just wanted to say hello. I won't be fishing west hill until this fall, but I did manage to try it twice earlier this spring. Killed the trout the first trip and had one Koke hit on the 2nd trip that convinced me that I needed a better fly reel and also bought a downrigger that I've yet to use. Anyway, hope to see you out there some time in the future and I'll keep a eye on this chain.

Tight lines!

Tight lines to you too!

What sort of fly would you use for kokes? I guess you need fast sinking line to get it down that deep. . . . . would you tip the fly with a piece of shoepeg corn? LOL!

[jbmagi]

SeaDog,

With things finally starting to warm up I was hoping you might be willing to meet up and show me the ropes some time soon. Would love any equipment or technique suggestions you could offer. I will probably start opening up the cottage in the next few weeks and will get the boat back into the water. Until then though I do still have access to the kayakes and opening day is the 11th this year.

Let me know