2017 Dworshak Reservoir Kokanee Fishing Report

[sawtooth]

Hope your season goes well and you have lots to report from Dworshak.

[kenbarb]

Has anyone fished Dworshak this year for Kokanee (2017) ?

[amxerhull]

Hi Ken and Barb. We haven't been there yet but Toby Wyatt in his recent newsletter said that he caught a limit of 25 between 10 and 13 inches long. His letter had a picture and they looked nice and fat! He didn't include any details.

John

[kenbarb]

Thanks John, The Snake here in Hell's Canyon is high & cloudy, up until a week ago it was really good Steelheading. Think we may try Dworshak for a day soon, will make a post when we go, some fresh Kokanee would be pretty good. Will you please send me the email address for Toby Wyatt's newsletter, didn't know he put one out. Thanks again, Ken & Barb

[amxerhull]

Thanks John, The Snake here in Hell's Canyon is high & cloudy, up until a week ago it was really good Steelheading. Think we may try Dworshak for a day soon, will make a post when we go, some fresh Kokanee would be pretty good. Will you please send me the email address for Toby Wyatt's newsletter, didn't know he put one out. Thanks again, Ken & Barb

His website, reeltimefishing.com, has a short form in "contact" you complete to get on his mailing list.

John

[amxerhull]

We fished Dworshak for the first time this year last Thursday. We put 6 in the cooler, the biggest was 12" the others were 10". We made passes near the dam and Indian/Canyon creeks. Talked to a group who had landed 20 using 4 ounces of lead. The fish we caught were scattered between 20 and 60 feet on the downriggers.

[kenbarb]

Thanks for the report John, really sounds encouraging, Barb & I may give it a try this week. I sure like catching them using downriggers, and ultralite gear, but for numbers it seems like we catch about three times as many with weights, and a gob of spinners. How was water clarity, and debris in the water? Sure glad you made the trip. Ken

[amxerhull]

Thanks for the report John, really sounds encouraging, Barb & I may give it a try this week. I sure like catching them using downriggers, and ultralite gear, but for numbers it seems like we catch about three times as many with weights, and a gob of spinners. How was water clarity, and debris in the water? Sure glad you made the trip. Ken

Ken: Water was in very good shape, no debris. We never know from one trip to the next whether long lines or downriggers will work the best. A lot of times it changes during the day. We were going to go again this week but the weather has us hunkered down. Maybe next week.

John

[cpatchen]

I think I may have been the one that talked to you last Thursday there was three of us in my boat anyway we had a pretty good day and ended up boating 37 fish too bad I don't think the weather is going let us get back out this week...

[jumperzee]

Been up a few days this year, mostly getting a feel for my new boat. Not "seriously" fishing yet but caught kokes each time at Indian Cr. As mentioned above they're pretty scattered and you gotta hunt for them, but they're hitting. I was mostly fishing shallower, maybe down to 20' or so. Good size fish, looking forward to a great season. I can finally get the family comfortably onboard in my new (to me) 20' Duckworth. Once I get the DRs mounted it's going to be a koke hauling machine!

[icelander]

Managed to pick up 22 last Thursday. Varying depths. Smallest just under 10", largest just under 12". Sure was nice to be on the water. Hoping they don't get flushed as biggest concentrations seemed to be near the dam, and huge spills are forecast through April.

[Big Mack]

If you drive US 12 between Peck and Lenore you will see hundreds, if not thousands of dead kokanee that have been recently flushed out from Dworshak Reservoir. There appears to be two year classes present, 3-5" fish and 8-12" fish.

Hopefully IDFG will issue a salvage order, as it is possible to net some next to the shoreline, but the majority are in the main current of the Clearwater River.

[icelander]

Hey Big Mack, When did you see them? What a shame. Was looking forward to a banner year of fishing.

[stev7975]

That is not necessarily bad news. Remember 2013? The Corps dropped the lake down 120ft and flushed millions of kokanee. This relieved the population load and the fish grew like crazy and were much easier to catch in our experience. I am very excited to see what happens if 10-12" fish have less competition for food. This could be an incredible summer on Dworshak.

[icelander]

Hopefully not too many flush because the estimate of catchable kokes is less than 300,000 (about half of last year's) based on F&G test fishery last fall. Not millions. That's why many are pushing 12" already.

[microfish]

The Corps is going to cut back outflows to 8,000 cfs very soon. Hopefully the fish will quit being sucked thru. It this persists there will be a salvage order next week.

[Big Mack]

If you have a passenger in your rig and are driving westbound from Orofino they will see them from Big Canyon creek near Peck to almost Lenore. Many are stuck up in the brush near eddies. Looks like they are staying in main current for quite awhile half alive, but then they wash up on the shore when they die. A bump on flow on the main river would probably wash them away.

[Anthony]

March was excellent both times we went out - 10 - 11 inches......... April so far has been very poor by all fishermen according to the Game Warden check at dock. We caught 6 yesterday (all day fishing), and we caught more than anybody else. Last week we did poorly also. Freeman Creek dock is still out of the water. Heard they were catching them above Dent.

[Anthony]

That is not necessarily bad news. Remember 2013? The Corps dropped the lake down 120ft and flushed millions of kokanee. This relieved the population load and the fish grew like crazy and were much easier to catch in our experience. I am very excited to see what happens if 10-12" fish have less competition for food. This could be an incredible summer on Dworshak.

They are suppose to start putting the "nutrients" in the water in May according to the Game Warden.

[bigjim1992]

Anyone having any luck recently??

[amxerhull]

Anyone having any luck recently??

We fished for several hours yesterday and caught one fish. We worked Freeman Creek, Canyon Creek, Indian Creek, Dicks Creek, and Elk Creek. Surface water temp was 54 degrees.

[Elkchaser]

What will it take to change the bite? Pretty new to fishing for kokanee on Dworshak.

[jumperzee]

What will it take to change the bite? Pretty new to fishing for kokanee on Dworshak.

Elkchaser - if you read previous years Dworshak reports Microfish has some good explanations of fish movement around the reservoir. In summary, when they "pull the plug" to draw the lake down, the fish have a corresponding movement upstream/uplake. Once the cork goes back in the dam and the lake starts to rise, the fish return to the lower areas that most people with normal gas and time budgets fish.

I'm hoping that's still true and they're on their way back down cause the fishing is definitely off right now. Went up last Wed and never even found one on the FF which is a little disconcerting for this time of year. Tried all the usual spots at Dick's, Indian, and Merrys and not a thing. Pretty big fluctuations in water levels this year with a big purge to accommodate the spring runoff. A lot of folks talk about the fish getting flushed thru the dam, but I can't believe enough got sucked out to make a difference in the fishing over the season. I'm being patient...there's a nice predictable rise to the lake now and the fishing "should" follow.

[Elkchaser]

That makes sense. Thanks for the reply and I hope we're both catching fish soon.

[FishOn]

Elkchaser - if you read previous years Dworshak reports Microfish has some good explanations of fish movement around the reservoir. In summary, when they "pull the plug" to draw the lake down, the fish have a corresponding movement upstream/uplake. Once the cork goes back in the dam and the lake starts to rise, the fish return to the lower areas that most people with normal gas and time budgets fish.

I'm hoping that's still true and they're on their way back down cause the fishing is definitely off right now. Went up last Wed and never even found one on the FF which is a little disconcerting for this time of year. Tried all the usual spots at Dick's, Indian, and Merrys and not a thing. Pretty big fluctuations in water levels this year with a big purge to accommodate the spring runoff. A lot of folks talk about the fish getting flushed thru the dam, but I can't believe enough got sucked out to make a difference in the fishing over the season. I'm being patient...there's a nice predictable rise to the lake now and the fishing "should" follow.

Thanks for the update from so many locations. We are hearing the same from a few other Kokanee gurus that have been striking out in April despite decades of success on the reservoir. Unfortunately work got in the way earlier this spring and we were unable to go before the reservoir level was drawn down. Everyone we talked to that fished prior to the reservoir level draw down was catching double-digit numbers every outing. Perhaps the difference now is that the draw down this year came later and had to be done faster than is typical due to some maintenance on one of the turbines at the dam. We were told by one of the folks working on that project that the Corps would have liked to have started drawing the reservoir down earlier and thus more slowly to prepare for the large snow pack this year, but the fish hatchery requested they wait as long as possible before starting the draw down this year which may have led to the repeat of the 2013 Kokanee effect.......? Reading the reports of two year classes of Kokanee floating past Peck recently would suggest a repeat of 2013, which led to some great dip netting below the dam but some slower fishing for the next couple years above it. Things picked up pretty good in 2015 (two age classes later) and were as good as most people could remember last year. Fingers crossed that we don't have to wait till 2020 to put as many in the cooler as last year.

[Elkchaser]

A friend was at Dworshak yesterday and ended up bass and trout fishing. No kokanee on the graph he said. Anybody else hear of any catching?

[stevec]

Went out yesterday just to try out my little boat. I had read that the kokanee were not on the bite &, so, was not expecting much. After launching at Bruces Eddy around 10 am, I let out long lines & headed into Merry's Bay. My first hit was about 10 minutes after launching with quite a few more soon after. As usual, I lost about twice as many as I netted. I took home 3 and lost 6 in the 3 hours I fished. Fish are good in size and hit hard. I think it's on the upbeat. Time to bring out the big boat!

[JDfisher]

Sounds like it may be about to start. Were you fishing on top or on downriggers??? If you don't mind sharing.
JD

[stevec]

Sounds like it may be about to start. Were you fishing on top or on downriggers??? If you don't mind sharing.
JD

I was long lining using 3 oz at 50 feet. I was in my 12 ft boat using my electric trolling motor so I don't know how fast I was going. Plenty of fish in the lake to share when I have good luck. You just have to find them!

[kenbarb]

Went out yesterday just to try out my little boat. I had read that the kokanee were not on the bite &, so, was not expecting much. After launching at Bruces Eddy around 10 am, I let out long lines & headed into Merry's Bay. My first hit was about 10 minutes after launching with quite a few more soon after. As usual, I lost about twice as many as I netted. I took home 3 and lost 6 in the 3 hours I fished. Fish are good in size and hit hard. I think it's on the upbeat. Time to bring out the big boat!

Thanks for the report stevec, we will give it a try next week glad you had some kokanee to take home. We were going to fish Dworshak this week, but the dismal reports changed our mind, will let you know how we do. KenBarb

[jumperzee]

Got a local report yesterday that things are picking up. Guy caught 17 in Merrys Bay. That's enough for me to give it a try this weekend. Didn't hear any specifics about what he was using though.

[microfish]

yesterday when I was bass catching I saw several koke's jumping and popping at the surface. First time in a while. They aren't in mid lake but closer to shore. Every bay had some going off. Most of them were very nice!

[lee wolford]

Fished hard for 2 days, 14 hrs a day and caught only one limit each day. It was tough, hard to find fish, marked very few. Deffinetly tough still, usually we get 2 limits a day very easy, sometimes before noon. A lot of small sticks in the water still, a real pain for jet boats, we sucked sticks whenever we moved locations. Gonna be awhile before we go back.

[Elkchaser]

Hey Lee,
How deep were you fishing? Do you use downriggers or longline and weight? I'm pretty new to this and never have caught a limit so that sounds like pretty good success to me.

[Anthony]

What will it take to change the bite? Pretty new to fishing for kokanee on Dworshak.

Hey Elk chaser, they finally are starting to hit! Had good luck early in the year, but things went cold. We could only catch about 10 or 12 a day mostly about 11 inches. Went out Wednesday and we both limited out at Indian Creek. We were about 40 feet down. water was kinda murky and roamed around 58 degrees. Day was partly cloudy and a little windy at times. We started at 6AM and had our limit by 2:30PM. There were 7 or 8 - 12 inchers, but most were 10 - 11 inches. Fish looked nice.
Good Luck!

[Elkchaser]

Anthony, I went out yesterday and fished about 6 hours between the two marinas and caught 10. I had 2 poles out and twice I had fish on both poles. I was fishing with corn on one and maggots on the other, didn't seem to make a difference. 3 oz. lead out about 60 ft. Went 2 hours at one point without a bite. Talked to some other folks who had not done as well. Not familiar with the reservoir all that much, where is Indian Cr? I would like to get enough to fill my smoker. Also, curious about what everyone uses for gear up there. My buddy that showed me how to troll last year for kokanee uses a 3 oz. hunk of lead to a gang of spinner blades and then a wedding ring spinner tipped with maggots. Anybody jig or have another method for catching these fish in Dworshak? Also, what is the ratio of lead to line length to reach a certain depth? I saw that graph somewhere and can't find it again. I don't have downriggers.

[ricks]

Anthony, I went out yesterday and fished about 6 hours between the two marinas and caught 10. I had 2 poles out and twice I had fish on both poles. I was fishing with corn on one and maggots on the other, didn't seem to make a difference. 3 oz. lead out about 60 ft. Went 2 hours at one point without a bite. Talked to some other folks who had not done as well. Not familiar with the reservoir all that much, where is Indian Cr? I would like to get enough to fill my smoker. Also, curious about what everyone uses for gear up there. My buddy that showed me how to troll last year for kokanee uses a 3 oz. hunk of lead to a gang of spinner blades and then a wedding ring spinner tipped with maggots. Anybody jig or have another method for catching these fish in Dworshak? Also, what is the ratio of lead to line length to reach a certain depth? I saw that graph somewhere and can't find it again. I don't have downriggers.

That gear is pretty much how I started. I never run 3 oz weight on long lines any longer, lose too many fish with that kind of weight considering how soft a koke's mouth is. So I added a cheap clamp on downrigger. Ran that until I could afford a couple nicer downriggers. You can pick up used ones pretty reasonable, people switch around downrigger models quite a bit and they are often on Craigslist or ebay.

You can see all the creek names on the Dworshak maps (http://dworshak.org/maps.htm).


I haven't fished yet this year. Got my boat ready yesterday though, so soon. Very soon.......

Rick

[Elkchaser]

Rick,
Thanks for the map link. Found my next destination. Anxious to fish that Indian Creek area. Canyon Creek boat launch open yet?

[ricks]

Should be open. Water level's at 1561.

[amxerhull]

Rick,
Thanks for the map link. Found my next destination. Anxious to fish that Indian Creek area. Canyon Creek boat launch open yet?

I can't verify that it is true but I heard that the road into the Canyon Creek ramp is closed. ???

[JDfisher]

I went exploring last Thursday, visited with a couple of guys launching at Freeman and then drove around to Indian creek. There was some areas of the road that had some erosion and a couple of county guys were marking areas to be repaired. The road was open at that time but will probably be closed when the work starts. The launch was closed but it was a great place to eat lunch and just sit back for a while.
This was last week so who knows if they have completed the repairs on the road.
JD

[jumperzee]

I can't verify that it is true but I heard that the road into the Canyon Creek ramp is closed. ???

Regardless - don't bother. Unless you're running only an electric motor you'll not save any time by putting in at Canyon, even if you can get there. You're time ahead to put in at Big Eddy and just motor up there. I put in at Canyon ONCE and won't ever do it again. Just fining the correct roads was an adventure, not to mention they're all steep and windy, slow going.

[kenbarb]

Barb and I finally made it to Dworshak Monday. The highway from Gibb's Eddy to Orofino has a lot of road construction going on, at one point we were held up about 45 minutes, took much more time than usual, but is going to be a very good highway when they are done. We took the Kendrick/Juiieatta route coming back to Asotin, it is a beautiful drive, the next trip we will take this route, and put in at the State Park.

Now for the fishing: We launched the boat at Bruces Eddy. Thought about fishing Merry's Bay, but there was a lot of woody debris on the surface, so we went straight to Indian/Canyon Creek. The plan was to long line three rods using 1.5 to 3.5 oz banana weights, a string of Jack-A-Loid spinners, trailed by a squid type lure with a 3 hook setup that I tie up, have found that using 3 hooks really increases the catch ratio, setback was 60'

Put three lines in and immediately started catching Kokanee, it was non-stop catching, and baiting, had many doubles and triples, the fish were all in the10"/11" range, very nice and plump, beautiful fish. We limited out around 11:00AM, would have cleaned the fish on the water, but the surface temp. was 75*F, so we kept them on ice, and cleaned them at home. The bait was Shoepeg Corn, started with white & red, but the red was getting the best bite, so we went all red, all the corn used was marinated with scent. Next trip we will try the downriggers, will be a little slower operation, but can use lighter gear, and have more fun playing the fish. It was a gorgeous day on Dworshak, sunshine, and just a light breeze, what a day to be on the water, and best of all what great fishing.

Tight lines..... Ken & Barb

[icelander]

Thanks much for the good report Ken! And the scoop on the road condition is helpful too. Hoping to be on the water early this Saturday to watch the sunrise and rod tips bounce. All the best!

[ricks]

Thanks much for the good report Ken! And the scoop on the road condition is helpful too. Hoping to be on the water early this Saturday to watch the sunrise and rod tips bounce. All the best!

Me toooo! See you there.

[stevec]

I'll be out too on Saturday with the rest of the holiday herd. Taking the blue fin & deck dollies in tow. We will NOT be out early! Tight lines everyone!

[Anthony]

Anthony, I went out yesterday and fished about 6 hours between the two marinas and caught 10. I had 2 poles out and twice I had fish on both poles. I was fishing with corn on one and maggots on the other, didn't seem to make a difference. 3 oz. lead out about 60 ft. Went 2 hours at one point without a bite. Talked to some other folks who had not done as well. Not familiar with the reservoir all that much, where is Indian Cr? I would like to get enough to fill my smoker. Also, curious about what everyone uses for gear up there. My buddy that showed me how to troll last year for kokanee uses a 3 oz. hunk of lead to a gang of spinner blades and then a wedding ring spinner tipped with maggots. Anybody jig or have another method for catching these fish in Dworshak? Also, what is the ratio of lead to line length to reach a certain depth? I saw that graph somewhere and can't find it again. I don't have downriggers.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Indian Creek is the inlet between Marys Bay and Canyon Creek. I would think 3 Oz would be to much, ( just my opinion). 1 oz. should be plenty- just let more line out. I fish with just the basics, Ford Fender and a green single hook wedding ring. (and of course a good snubber) I agree with whoever said more weight = more fish lost. We never use a net, just haul them in the boat. I believe they hit different with a single hook compared to double whammies and tend to get a deeper bite with single hooks. and treble hooks seem to be the worst of all for losing them. We will be going out again this week, they should be growing fast with the Nutrients they are adding to the reservoir.
Good Luck fishing!

[smartingale]

Has anyone fished Dworshak this year for Kokanee (2017) ?

i'm going up to dworshack june1-5 will report on fishing, i start fishing 20-30 feet early in morning, and deeper as upper water warms will give report when i get back , I love at lewiston,idaho if any can add today or tell may 31 please let me know thanks smartingale

[ricks]

Dropped in at Bruce's on Saturday at about 6:40 AM. Cruised on up to Indian Creek. Came across Icelander right off, in fact got right in his way as my son Tyler and I dropped a couple lines in the water and proceeded to get an instant tangle. While working that out we were worse than a derelict as every once in a while one of use would toss the kicker tiller left or right to correct the dizzying random twists and turn of a driverless powered boat. Most fun you can have at 1.2 MPH :D Afterwards, looked up and we were within talking range of a tinny that reminded of a post here, apologized for being a hazard and got to introduce ourselves and ask if he was a forum poster. Sure nuff, Icalander introduced self and we said our hello's and went to trying to be less of a hindrance to safe boating while we fished.

We marked some nice clumps around Indian. Dropped a couple of long lines in and went to work on rigging the downriggers. Wasn't long until we had several nice 12 inch fat boys in the ice, all on long lines. I noticed the fish were in small clumps and you could hit them in the same area and go hitless most everywhere else. We were also losing LOTS of fish. I have never lost that many. As well, lots of times get solid hits that never turned into hook up. Really weird day.

With marking fish around 35 foot we stuck the downriggers at 28 and 32. Never once, in the entire day, did we get a hook up on the downriggers. Nada, nuthin. Up, down, different gear. Even running identical gear as the longlines and working the depths up and up. The long lines ruled and the downriggers were silent.

On the long lines we ran chrome, brass, scarlet, green, black, UV, whatever. Most hit was fancy multihued taped up 4 pop with a half green half red wedding ring with a scarlet smilie. At first red dyed corn was best, later on no dye with Mike's kokanee lotion. As the day went by we swapped our pop gear to shiny and bright as we could and kept hitting fish. We ran mostly 3/4 to 1 ounce weight on 60 foot of line. Largish and bright for the pop gear, the littler pop gear was pretty quiet. The dodgers and squids and super light gear hanging on the downriggers never got a hit, as far as I could tell. And I tried almost everything I own.

Trolled on up to Canyon to see how the circus was doing. Generally I won't join the circus, I'd rather find a quiet place and tempt fate my own way. But saturday everyone was going kind of around each in random directions, no order at all, which is always amusing as long as you don't get run over. So we stayed for an hour or so to see if anyone had a wreck, ran aground or got sunk. Next the sheriff boat showed up and pulled up next to almost everyone for a check, which kept making things even more chaotic. Nothing extraordinary happened though. What finally drive us off was the fish we were catching were significantly smaller than what we were catching down at Indian, so back down we went. On the way, watched another boat pull a couple nice ones out about 100 yards off the big rock pile beach 3/4 of the way back to Indian, so headed in ourselves and hit all three long line in the water simultaneously. One of those was a 14 incher. Nice. Made a second pass, got one, kept going to the dock and pulled everything out and headed back before noon. Total catch was 16. Lost at least twice as many, which is something hasn't happened to us in a long time. And had dozens of hits that only amounted to cardio workouts with no fish on the line.

A beautiful day on the water. Nice to meet ya Icelander, thanks for being so forgiving.

Rick

[Elkchaser]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Indian Creek is the inlet between Marys Bay and Canyon Creek. I would think 3 Oz would be to much, ( just my opinion). 1 oz. should be plenty- just let more line out. I fish with just the basics, Ford Fender and a green single hook wedding ring. (and of course a good snubber) I agree with whoever said more weight = more fish lost. We never use a net, just haul them in the boat. I believe they hit different with a single hook compared to double whammies and tend to get a deeper bite with single hooks. and treble hooks seem to be the worst of all for losing them. We will be going out again this week, they should be growing fast with the Nutrients they are adding to the reservoir.
Good Luck fishing!

Thanks Anthony, I will try all of that next time up. I probably can't get much more than 5 mph out of my motor and boat, so going to Indian cr. from Bruces might take a while. I would hate to get caught back there in a wind storm.Looks like a short distance from Canyon cr. but sounds like there are road issues getting to that launch.

[icelander]

Dropped in at Bruce's on Saturday at about 6:40 AM. Cruised on up to Indian Creek. Came across Icelander right off, in fact got right in his way as my son Tyler and I dropped a couple lines in the water and proceeded to get an instant tangle. While working that out we were worse than a derelict as every once in a while one of use would toss the kicker tiller left or right to correct the dizzying random twists and turn of a driverless powered boat. Most fun you can have at 1.2 MPH :D Afterwards, looked up and we were within talking range of a tinny that reminded of a post here, apologized for being a hazard and got to introduce ourselves and ask if he was a forum poster. Sure nuff, Icalander introduced self and we said our hello's and went to trying to be less of a hindrance to safe boating while we fished.

We marked some nice clumps around Indian. Dropped a couple of long lines in and went to work on rigging the downriggers. Wasn't long until we had several nice 12 inch fat boys in the ice, all on long lines. I noticed the fish were in small clumps and you could hit them in the same area and go hitless most everywhere else. We were also losing LOTS of fish. I have never lost that many. As well, lots of times get solid hits that never turned into hook up. Really weird day.

With marking fish around 35 foot we stuck the downriggers at 28 and 32. Never once, in the entire day, did we get a hook up on the downriggers. Nada, nuthin. Up, down, different gear. Even running identical gear as the longlines and working the depths up and up. The long lines ruled and the downriggers were silent.

On the long lines we ran chrome, brass, scarlet, green, black, UV, whatever. Most hit was fancy multihued taped up 4 pop with a half green half red wedding ring with a scarlet smilie. At first red dyed corn was best, later on no dye with Mike's kokanee lotion. As the day went by we swapped our pop gear to shiny and bright as we could and kept hitting fish. We ran mostly 3/4 to 1 ounce weight on 60 foot of line. Largish and bright for the pop gear, the littler pop gear was pretty quiet. The dodgers and squids and super light gear hanging on the downriggers never got a hit, as far as I could tell. And I tried almost everything I own.

Trolled on up to Canyon to see how the circus was doing. Generally I won't join the circus, I'd rather find a quiet place and tempt fate my own way. But saturday everyone was going kind of around each in random directions, no order at all, which is always amusing as long as you don't get run over. So we stayed for an hour or so to see if anyone had a wreck, ran aground or got sunk. Next the sheriff boat showed up and pulled up next to almost everyone for a check, which kept making things even more chaotic. Nothing extraordinary happened though. What finally drive us off was the fish we were catching were significantly smaller than what we were catching down at Indian, so back down we went. On the way, watched another boat pull a couple nice ones out about 100 yards off the big rock pile beach 3/4 of the way back to Indian, so headed in ourselves and hit all three long line in the water simultaneously. One of those was a 14 incher. Nice. Made a second pass, got one, kept going to the dock and pulled everything out and headed back before noon. Total catch was 16. Lost at least twice as many, which is something hasn't happened to us in a long time. And had dozens of hits that only amounted to cardio workouts with no fish on the line.

A beautiful day on the water. Nice to meet ya Icelander, thanks for being so forgiving.

Rick

No worries Ricks. Didn't even notice as we were busy hitting the schools of bigger fish (thx for sharing your fish finder intel)! Pleasure to meet you too.
We found Kokes shallower early, then 3 oz and 45' after wind died down around 8:30. They seem to be softer this year so added rubber bands, and kicked into neutral to bring more fish into the boat. Limited by noon. Joined the mob at Canyon and like Ricks said smaller fish; except for bigger farther in Canyon Cr bay. Gotta hunt for the bigger fish! If you figure a way to stay on em' let me know!

[jumperzee]

Dropped in at Bruce's on Saturday at about 6:40 AM. Cruised on up to Indian Creek. Came across Icelander right off, in fact got right in his way as my son Tyler and I dropped a couple lines in the water and proceeded to get an instant tangle. While working that out we were worse than a derelict as every once in a while one of use would toss the kicker tiller left or right to correct the dizzying random twists and turn of a driverless powered boat. Most fun you can have at 1.2 MPH :D Afterwards, looked up and we were within talking range of a tinny that reminded of a post here, apologized for being a hazard and got to introduce ourselves and ask if he was a forum poster. Sure nuff, Icalander introduced self and we said our hello's and went to trying to be less of a hindrance to safe boating while we fished.

We were also losing LOTS of fish. I have never lost that many. As well, lots of times get solid hits that never turned into hook up. Really weird day....

......Total catch was 16. Lost at least twice as many, which is something hasn't happened to us in a long time. And had dozens of hits that only amounted to cardio workouts with no fish on the line.


Rick

Think I pulled into Indian right as you were wrapping that up scene up Ricks. I was in the white Duckworth with a couple little girls. Recognized your boat from your profile picture, was going to troll up and say hi, but you outpaced me up to Canyon. We did a few generally unproductive laps in Indian then headed down to Merry's where we found the motherlode and action was non-stop between 15 and 30 feet. I was running 2 downriggers, with a shuttle hawk off one and one long line off the back. Most of the fish were on the DR and shuttle hawk. Pink was the color with the most strikes, regardless of where we put that rod.

Glad to hear someone else was having trouble with landing fish too. Never been so frustrated myself. Probably lost several limits at the side of the boat over the course of the weekend. Lost 12 in a row boatside yesterday and got to the point that I wasn't even interested in trying to mess with popping the rod out of the DR and reeling in the fish till they were on there for a while. And then, most would be gone by the time I got them to the surface or they'd flop off just out of net range. I was about ready to huck a rod into the water! I have no idea what is causing that, but I'm not doing anything different....

Nice sized fish though (the ones that came home) and still managed enough for a worthy canner and smoker session.

[ricks]

jumperzee,

Thanks for the tip on Merrys Bay. Sorry we missed you - next time for sure. This last Saturday was my first trip of the year, so I don't mind trying different stuff and not limiting out. Maybe someday I'll get to be a good kokanee fisherman. Until then, I'm having a blast learning.

My son is going to work for Columbia Grain full time, and playing Legion Baseball with the Orofino team - which travels all over the PNW. I doubt I get him on the boat again for a while. I guess I'm gonna have to find a regular fishing partner who likes 1.2 MPH.

Great times ahead this year! Thank all of you on this forum for sharing techniques and equipment. Helps us poor folks who are addicted.

Rick

[stevec]

Fished further in Canyon Creek & found a couple of honey holes. Lost, at least, one limit & brought home 20 in about 3-1/2 hours of fishing. 10:30 - 3:30 w/lunch break. Since I don't go anywhere else, I'm going to get moorage at Big Eddy.
While I'm here I'd like to get a recipe for canning kokes? I smoke them but would like to add a little extra by canning a few.
Thanks

[ricks]

I brine overnight. Don't like sweet, so I just kosher salt water bath and 12 hours in the fridge. Many like to use some brown sugar, I just never had a taste for that. I then cold smoke for 2 hours. After smoking can easily skin them and pull the fin bones. Then pack 1/2 inch shy of top, pint widemouth jars with lengths of skinned fish that fit, bones and all. 90 minutes in the pressure canner. I do not add any liquids or other spices. Not needed.

9051

[jumperzee]

Fished further in Canyon Creek & found a couple of honey holes. Lost, at least, one limit & brought home 20 in about 3-1/2 hours of fishing. 10:30 - 3:30 w/lunch break. Since I don't go anywhere else, I'm going to get moorage at Big Eddy.
While I'm here I'd like to get a recipe for canning kokes? I smoke them but would like to add a little extra by canning a few.
Thanks

Steve - as far as canning, I just cut off heads and tails (gutted and de-scaled of course) then cut them in half and put 2 kokes worth into a wide mouth pint jar with a dash of salt. Can for 110 min at 15lbs. I don't care for the extra work of smoking them first before canning and the texture isn't the same. Have also tried modest amounts of other spices in each can but never have been able to detect a noticeable difference in flavor and have always been worried about changing the Ph or something else that could spoil them, so I go simple and follow the directions in the canner booklet.

Mostly used the canned kokes for patties which are a family favorite/staple all year. Great recipe is a can or two of smoked kokes, crushed tortilla chips, egg, plain yogurt or sour crème, finely chopped red onion and a little black pepper. I personally like bigger lumps of meat in my patties so I don't mix the heck out of it, just enough o get the egg/crème mixed in. Great with a dab of wasabi. Now I'm hungry, darnit!

[icelander]

Had 3 hours of great fishing last Saturday around Indian Creek. Youngest Granddaughter had the hot rod and boated her first kokes! She's hooked. Hit several on the surface early, then went to 15' to finish.
Noticed lots of trailers at the Big launch but few boats as far as we could see including Canyon Creek. What's the news? More people fishing above Freeman Creek, Elk Creek?
FYI: A Fisheries biologist at Dworshak recommended we NOT scale kokes. Said their scales are natural oils, dissolve quickly, and are tasty to boot. Anyone concur by experience?

[hooknhunter]

Had 3 hours of great fishing last Saturday around Indian Creek. Youngest Granddaughter had the hot rod and boated her first kokes! She's hooked. Hit several on the surface early, then went to 15' to finish.
Noticed lots of trailers at the Big launch but few boats as far as we could see including Canyon Creek. What's the news? More people fishing above Freeman Creek, Elk Creek?
FYI: A Fisheries biologist at Dworshak recommended we NOT scale kokes. Said their scales are natural oils, dissolve quickly, and are tasty to boot. Anyone concur by experience?

I personally don't care to eat the scales or the skin......

[letsgo]

Plan on going to Dworshak Sat; first time this year; does anyone have a report where the hot spots are?

went kokanee this morning (Sat) was raining cats and dogs at 0700; fished Mary's Bay for couple of hours; caught 10 then went to Indian Creek; got 10 in couple of hours then storm moved in and quit. wasn't bad fishing for the weather condition. all nice fish; running 10/11 inch.

[Elkchaser]

Hey, we are camping at Dent this next week and need to know some of the best spots for catching kokes near there. I don't have a big motor and don't want to run very far from there to fish if we don't have to.

[Elkchaser]

Plan on going to Dworshak Sat; first time this year; does anyone have a report where the hot spots are?

went kokanee this morning (Sat) was raining cats and dogs at 0700; fished Mary's Bay for couple of hours; caught 10 then went to Indian Creek; got 10 in couple of hours then storm moved in and quit. wasn't bad fishing for the weather condition. all nice fish; running 10/11 inch.

Letsgo, how deep were you fishing this weekend?

[letsgo]

started with 3 oz and 55 ft then they quit biting; talked to another boat party and they were using 1 oz and 60 ft; so switched to 1 oz and 60 ft and caught another 10
can't tell you why the difference

[Elkchaser]

Fished around Bruces Eddy today for about 5 hours and caught 19 really nice sized fish, many around a foot long. I was using 1 oz of lead and out around 70-80 ft. Different than last time I went out, I lost maybe around 6 or 7 fish and last time I lost at least half of the fish I hooked. I think they short strike sometimes when they aren't very aggressive and it results in a loss. Today they really smacked the spinner and I lost very few. I am new to this and have been told the kokanee will start moving towards the spawning grounds and I won't catch them where I was today. When will that start happening?

[Trailbob]

Hello-

My wife and I are heading up to Dworshak on Monday, it will be our first time there. We are camping at the state park, and will be bringing a truck camper and an 18' boat. I had a few questions that I was hoping someone could help with:

-Is Hanks Grade the best route out of Lenore to get to the state park? I don't mind gravel, as long as it isn't too rough.

-Is there mooring at Dworshak State Park, or do we have to take the boat out daily?

-Does anyone have a link to an on-line map of the lake (creeks, etc)? I looked, but didn't have much luck.

The kokanee fishing has been pretty slow down here near Boise, so were looking forward to trying something new. Thanks in advance for any help!

-Bob

[kokaneecowboy]

Trailbob,

http://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_149777004146613&key=9ac2bc7f46dc663dca2d52c4ef5c9b8a&libId=j42dlkqp010029hn000DAm5qna4ny&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kokaneefishingforum.com%2Ffis hing-forums%2Fshowthread.php%3F9231-2017-Dworshak-Reservoir-Kokanee-Fishing-Report%2Fpage2&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fdworshak.org%2Fmaps.htm&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kokaneefishingforum.com%2Ffis hing-forums%2Fshowthread.php%3F9231-2017-Dworshak-Reservoir-Kokanee-Fishing-Report&title=2017%20Dworshak%20Reservoir%20Kokanee%20Fish ing%20Report%20-%20Page%202&txt=Dworshak%20maps

If the above link does not work look on page two of this thread about halfway down there is a link to a couple of maps of Dworshak reservoir.

I can't speak to Hank's Grade as I'm unfamilar with it. When you say the "state park" do you mean Freeman Creek? If thats the case I would go up Hwy 3 from Hwy 12 through Kendrick. Turn just after Kendrick onto Cedar Ridge Rd then on to Southwick Rd which turns into the Cavendish Hwy then left onto Freman Crk Rd and it will take you straight to Freeman Creek State Park. Warning the road although paved is pretty steep and twisty dropping into Freeman Creek. Just go slow and downshift and you should not have any issues. Also I know these directions seem complicated but there are signs to direct you.

As far as mooring there is a dock that you should be able to tie up to that is close to the campground. If not there should be plenty of room to just beach your boat and tie off to a tree.

Nice choice in boats, I have a green Hewescraft Sportman 180 as well. I might be there this Monday afternoon as well with my sons trying to catch a few kokanee and bass.

Good Luck and hope this helps.

Mike

[microfish]

Hello-

My wife and I are heading up to Dworshak on Monday, it will be our first time there. We are camping at the state park, and will be bringing a truck camper and an 18' boat. I had a few questions that I was hoping someone could help with:

-Is Hanks Grade the best route out of Lenore to get to the state park? I don't mind gravel, as long as it isn't too rough.

-Is there mooring at Dworshak State Park, or do we have to take the boat out daily?

-Does anyone have a link to an on-line map of the lake (creeks, etc)? I looked, but didn't have much luck.

The kokanee fishing has been pretty slow down here near Boise, so were looking forward to trying something new. Thanks in advance for any help!

-Bob

You do not want to take Hanks Grade. Wash boards and rough. The very best way to get to the state park is out of Orofino. There are docks you can moor at, they are to the north of the launch. 2 docks. shouldn't be too far from the camping spots. http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Portals/28/docs/recreation/Dworshak/2016%20Reservoir%20Map%20Bl.pdf

[Trailbob]

Kokaneecowboy and Microfish, thanks so much for your reply. We should be camping at Freeman Creek starting Monday. We'll be in a brown Chevy 4 door PU with a pop-up camper in case you're in the area.

Thanks again- Bob

[letsgo]

anybody got a update kokanee fishing report?
plan on doing some kokanee fishing this coming Sat.

later
letsgo

[Elkchaser]

Letsgo,
I fished with some friends around Dent the last two days and we didnt do very well. 4 rods out one afternoon and fished for 3 or 4 hours and only caught 10. The next day we fished about 2 and a half hours and caught 2 trout and no kokes. I am going to try Bruces Eddy one more time and see if there are any still there.

[letsgo]

thanks for the info
think I will go and try Merry's Bay/Bruce's Eddy tomorrow.

[Trailbob]

My wife and I camped at Freeman Creek, and fished the mornings of June 20, 21 and 22. On the 20th we fished near Canyon Creek and caught 12, on the 21st we fished the same area and caught 18. On the 22nd we went about 3/4 of the way up to Elk Creek, but it was very slow and we only got one. We then moved to across from the Freeman Creek Campground and trolled to Canyon Creek. It was slow for us as we only got three more.

We used misc dodgers and hoochies (green, and pink), tipped with corn. Scent didn't seem to matter on the corn. The best dodger was silver and dark blue, but we also caught them on chartreuse, and watermelon. We fished from 10 to 25' deep. Two rods had lead core line, and the other two were on downriggers. Most of the fish were 10-12".

We really enjoyed our stay. It was a great place to camp and fish, and we look forward to going back next year. It was a pleasure meeting Kokaneecowboy and Icelander.

[letsgo]

thanks for the info
I think I will try Merry's Bay this morning and not any good will go try Canyon Creek.

will give a report tomorrow

[letsgo]

Yesterday (6-25-17) arrived Merry's Bay approx. 0630; was going to fish at Merry's Bay but lots of trash so motored up to Canyon Creek.
Fished approx. 4 1/2 hrs; caught my limit kokanee; all real nice fish; most were 10 inch with a few approx. 12 in. all nice and fat.

[ricks]

My wife and I went sunday the 25th as well. Didn't put in at Bruce's until nearly 8 AM. (lazy bastid, I am) Wife and I motored up to Indian because of all the crap in the water. They opened the gates again since the lake is near full and too much snow still. Quite a bit of current, which will change fish behaviors usually, but not this time, other than all the crap floating between Eddy's and Merrys Bay, the fish seemed to act same as last week before they opened it up.

I only had a couple hours to fish, the wife's back is so bad, I'm just glad to be able to get her out on the water for a bit. We started catching fish soon as we got lines in the water. BIG ones, several right up at 14 inch. Big for Dworshak anyway. Never really marked more than the odd fish here and there on the finder. Never marked any schools at all.

I was running a couple long lines and a couple downriggers. Like Trailbob, didn't seem to matter what flavor corn on the hooks. Speed was nearer 1MPH than my normal 1.2. I was only hanging a 3/4 ounce weight on my pop gear rudders on the 60 ft long lines. And 27 feet was where I caught on the downriggers.

For the first time for me at Dworshak I hit more fish on a dodger and a homemade green squid than pop gear and spinners. That was the hot setup for me. Still caught fish on green weddin rings and hammered chrome pop. But the dodger and squid were best for me.

Not a lot of kokanee boats out. Plenty of idiots towing tubes with deep draft jet boats right up and personal where we and others were trolling. Make a guy wish to run out a couple 8 pound deck guns sometimes.

[Elkchaser]

Put in at Bruces Eddy on Monday and fished for 2.5 hours and did not catch a fish. Had 2 drive bys but zilch, nada. Loaded up and went home. What is going on, are the fish moving up river or is the release at the dam got them fouled up?

[ricks]

It would not surprise me if the fish have generally moved up and are not schooling at the dam. I fished the dam to Big Eddy last week and only caught three until we motored up to Indian. I didn't even try around the dam Sunday and had no problem catching fish from Indian to Canyon.

Yes, I expect the fish to change behaviors. Last time they released water the fish seemed to go much shallower alongside ridges instead of out at the mouth of the creeks. I do not think they are traveling a lot further uplake yet. IMHO the majority are still between Indian and Elk Creeks. That could of changed in the last couple days, but has been the case for me so far. Won't be very long before Dent Bridge gets hot though.

[stevec]

Heading up tomorrow for the day. (Friday) Any news about how far the fish have moved up? Last I heard was Canyon & Indian Creek. Any specific info would be helpful.
Thanks

[kenbarb]

Barb and I arrived at Bruces Eddy at 5:15AM, launched the boat then headed to Canyon Creek, water was flat, and was glad to see very little debris, beautiful morning with big white clouds. Pulled the boat off plane when we got to Canyon Creek, Rigged three rods for long lining with a string of pop gear on each, terminal lure was various colored squid lures tipped with scented shoe peg corn, 1oz to 3oz banana weight, with 60' setback. Started catching fish right away, most in the 10" range. Fished for several hours with a steady bite, then trolled toward Indian Creek, as the day got hotter the bite slowed, trolled past the mouth of Indian Creek, and along the shoreline toward Merrys Bay with a steady bite. The fish increased in size at Indian Creek, they were around 11"/12", and plump. We pulled the gear in at 11:00AM, it was getting pretty warm, and that was the time we had determined to quit. Ended up with 37 very nice Kokanee. We had clouds blocking the sun most of the morning, and just a slight breeze, what a great day to be on the water. Ken & Barb

[ricks]

My wife Laurie and I dropped in at Bruces at 7, headed up to Indian. Started fishing couple long lines with pop and a couple downriggers with dodgers and squid. Worked Indian for an hour, all over the place, trolled to the other side and then up Canyon. By noon we had 40 plus. Bigger fish around Indian and in the middle of the lake. Best hitting was a Jensen dodger with a green squid. It hit all day. I changed pop all day long, started green and brass, ended up with all sorts of stuff, hammered chrome pop and pink spinner later, early was green pop and green and orange spinner.

I was running 1/2ounce weight and 60 ft long lines. Fish were generally fairly shallow. Best speeds between 1.1 and 1.2 MPH. Downriggers hit all day between 25 and 30 ft.

Nice big fish. Going to smoke them tomorrow.

Rick

[stevec]

Barb and I arrived at Bruces Eddy at 5:15AM, launched the boat then headed to Canyon Creek, water was flat, and was glad to see very little debris, beautiful morning with big white clouds. Pulled the boat off plane when we got to Canyon Creek, Rigged three rods for long lining with a string of pop gear on each, terminal lure was various colored squid lures tipped with scented shoe peg corn, 1oz to 3oz banana weight, with 60' setback. Started catching fish right away, most in the 10" range. Fished for several hours with a steady bite, then trolled toward Indian Creek, as the day got hotter the bite slowed, trolled past the mouth of Indian Creek, and along the shoreline toward Merrys Bay with a steady bite. The fish increased in size at Indian Creek, they were around 11"/12", and plump. We pulled the gear in at 11:00AM, it was getting pretty warm, and that was the time we had determined to quit. Ended up with 37 very nice Kokanee. We had clouds blocking the sun most of the morning, and just a slight breeze, what a great day to be on the water. Ken & Barb

Thanks for the info. This steaming hot weather may have moved them up but intend on starting, maybe, at Elk Creek & work way back. Can't start that early though since coming from Clarkston :) If you're up there tomorrow I'll be in 19' old Blue Fin w/IO.
worthy12101welcomwhttp://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/images/smilies/welcome1.gif

[stevec]

My wife Laurie and I dropped in at Bruces at 7, headed up to Indian. Started fishing couple long lines with pop and a couple downriggers with dodgers and squid. Worked Indian for an hour, all over the place, trolled to the other side and then up Canyon. By noon we had 40 plus. Bigger fish around Indian and in the middle of the lake. Best hitting was a Jensen dodger with a green squid. It hit all day. I changed pop all day long, started green and brass, ended up with all sorts of stuff, hammered chrome pop and pink spinner later, early was green pop and green and orange spinner.

I was running 1/2ounce weight and 60 ft long lines. Fish were generally fairly shallow. Best speeds between 1.1 and 1.2 MPH. Downriggers hit all day between 25 and 30 ft.

Nice big fish. Going to smoke them tomorrow.

Rick

Thanks for the info. 101welcomw
19' Blue Fin

[ricks]

Go get em Steve. I would have liked to try Elk. I can see working the mouth area and off the point. Bet it is great. Green was my magic last two trips.

My wife's back is so bad this year that I have to choose a spot and then get there and stick to it. I installed fancy reclining seats this week. She loved them and was able to take a nap while I worked like a deck hand. Worth it. Those big 12-13 inch kokes are brining now and smoking tomorrow!

Enjoy your trip. Let us know how is goes further up.


BTW< no excuses coming from Clarkston. We drive from Grangeville and get there early enuf!

Rick

[letsgo]

arrived Canyon Creek approx. 0630 yesterday (Sat). trolled along the East side to Indian Creek. Caught my limit in 4 1/2 hrs; at 1100 hrs the bit went off and it got hot so I went home with a limit. all the fish were 11 inches and really good shape.
Wasn't many boats around Canyon and Indian so don't know if they were fishing further up the lake or not.
Has anyone got a fishing report from the Dent Bridge up?

[fishslayer13]

Fished Saturday the 8th. Started at dent bridge was slow--moved up to the off side of cranberry creek ---slower yet. Gave it 30 minutes each spot. Moved to Reeds creek. ok but still slow. 30 minutes later went to magnus Bay on the upper end of Bay. Great fishing 38 in the boat in 2 hours or so had doubles on multiple times.they were hitting hard only lost a few. Than was to hot so went swimming and ate lunch in a cool cove and caught a few bass and went back to camp.
Downrigger at 32 feet with anything green or red in a spinner
Long line out back 1 o/z lead and 60 feet of line out. Hot color was a white spinner.

[ricks]

Wow. Hot at Magnus. That far up. I would not have expected that already.

Thanks

[letsgo]

Fished Saturday the 8th. Started at dent bridge was slow--moved up to the off side of cranberry creek ---slower yet. Gave it 30 minutes each spot. Moved to Reeds creek. ok but still slow. 30 minutes later went to magnus Bay on the upper end of Bay. Great fishing 38 in the boat in 2 hours or so had doubles on multiple times.they were hitting hard only lost a few. Than was to hot so went swimming and ate lunch in a cool cove and caught a few bass and went back to camp.
Downrigger at 32 feet with anything green or red in a spinner
Long line out back 1 o/z lead and 60 feet of line out. Hot color was a white spinner.

checking to see if you was having any luck using 2 or 3 oz of lead; like 60 ft out.
I didn't have much luck with 1 oz of lead.
I am heading up to Magnus Bay on Sat. to give it a try; would like another 25 so I can smoke and canned for this winter.
later

[fishslayer13]

Didn't try any other lead. The 1 oz worked so stuck with it. Don't forget to try all the other spots on the way up to magnus. On any given day they can be amazing fishing. I just kinda move around until I find fish that like what I do lol ! Kokanee are all over the lake all year long. They just start to congregate this time of year.

[letsgo]

thanks for the info
motored up to Magnus Bay yesterday afternoon; it was one hot mother.
got my limited in 3 1/2 hrs; the fish was smaller than down at Canyon Creek last week.
never got a fish on 1 oz and 60 ft; was fishing with 2 1/2 oz of lead.
did mark several schools and they were all around the 20 ft depth range.
later

[fishslayer13]

Good deal letsgo ! Glad it was worth your trip.

[stevec]

Didnt do too badly, landed 34 between 3 of us. Had thunderstorms, wind and rain along with hot weather. As always a couple of idiot boats buzzing fishermen! Like the lake isnt big enough to stay clear of us!
Planning on going up on Wednesday.

[fishslayer13]

Dumb video wife and I made of last trip to dworshak.


https://youtu.be/e-4q-6G1FDg

[ricks]

Dumb video wife and I made of last trip to dworshak.


https://youtu.be/e-4q-6G1FDg

Great! Looks like ya all were really roughin it. Nice video, thanks for sharing. Heading up tomorrow, see if we can find a fish or two.

[fishslayer13]

Are going for just the day or the weekend ? Im going to try and get down tomorrow night and stay the weekend. Thought maybe would run into you somewhere.

[ricks]

Just for the morning. We are headed now up to Dent. Wish we were camping. The weather is perfect for it. Have fun!

Rick

[icelander]

We did well between Dent Launch and bridge. 4 oz and 60-70'. Near limits each day by noon then quit and stayed cool in the ac camper. Averaged 12" according to the F&G guy that measured them at the launch. I didn't think they were quite that big but he tweaked the tail and gained a bit ;-) A few stretched 13". Nice to be able to fillet and bbq! Looks like good numbers of next years 6-8" fish too. The troller and sonar is up reservoir doing their estimate studies.
As of yesterday there were still fish at Dent but we had to work for em', but the majority and faster fishing is farther up for sure.

[ricks]

Good deal Icelander. Weather was sure nice for camping.

I put in friday at Dent and tried here and there all the way up to Magnus. Did't drop in until a ways uplake from the bridge though. I only caught one 8 incher at Cranberry, so headed all the way into Magnus. Did good there with big fat fish on the north side. Tried the south side of Magnus and only caught one little fish, wasting the pull all the way across. The mouth of Reed wasn't bad either as we headed back down.

Has everyone noticed that this week almost all the fish are males? I caught two females out of 28 fish. Thought it strange. The females were lots bigger too.

[letsgo]

We did well between Dent Launch and bridge. 4 oz and 60-70'. Near limits each day by noon then quit and stayed cool in the ac camper. Averaged 12" according to the F&G guy that measured them at the launch. I didn't think they were quite that big but he tweaked the tail and gained a bit ;-) A few stretched 13". Nice to be able to fillet and bbq! Looks like good numbers of next years 6-8" fish too. The troller and sonar is up reservoir doing their estimate studies.
As of yesterday there were still fish at Dent but we had to work for em', but the majority and faster fishing is farther up for sure.

know it is a little late in the day but plan on going to the lake tomorrow for some kokanee fishing.
any good reports where to start?
thanks

[ricks]

know it is a little late in the day but plan on going to the lake tomorrow for some kokanee fishing.
any good reports where to start?
thanks

Soooo... the last few posts are the place to start. Can't get any fresher than that, nor more detailed.

[letsgo]

Soooo... the last few posts are the place to start. Can't get any fresher than that, nor more detailed.
will go give it a go tomorrow at those locations
thanks

[letsgo]

yesterday (Thursday) fishing report
put in at Marys bay; motored up to Dent Bridge; fished 1/2 hr caught one, motored up to Ladd Creek; fished 1/2 hr no fish, motored up to Magnus bay; fished 1 hour caught 3, motored up approx 1 1/2 mile above Silver Creek; caught the rest of our limit in 2 1/2 hrs. long ways to go for 50 but was good fishing after we found them.

[stevec]

So whats happening lately? Hoping to go up early next week. Anybody still fishing Indian or Canyon? Haven't heard anything about Elk Creek either.

[amxerhull]

letsgo's report should give you everything you need to know.