2018 Arrowrock Reservior Kokanee Fishing Report

[sawtooth]

Lets hope that with normal snow and rain levels Arrowrock will be a little more productive this year.

[terek]

I saw a post on facebook by kokabo tackle, and they were out last weekend. They didn't say how many, but did say they did good on the kokes and trout. I'm headed up tomorrow to test out my new downrigger set up.

[tramos]

Alan said he would be trying to get a report out every week, so keep an eye on his website.

He said they didn't get limits but caught a ton of trout and a couple Kokanee per rod, big fat footballs.

You'll probably see him out there tomorrow. I'm planning on being out there in the morning in a 16' Lowe duck boat. Feel free to flip me off if you see me.

[terek]

Alan said he would be trying to get a report out every week, so keep an eye on his website.

He said they didn't get limits but caught a ton of trout and a couple Kokanee per rod, big fat footballs.

You'll probably see him out there tomorrow. I'm planning on being out there in the morning in a 16' Lowe duck boat. Feel free to flip me off if you see me.

laugh hyst will do, we will be in a 23' blue enclosed jet boat. Hows the water level? is the regular launch in the water? Boat is a little big to launch in the sand, or at the super low water launch

[tramos]

He said the launch was good and the water level was nearly full pool.

[tramos]

Got my 6 and off the water early today.

Lots of debris floating around

[Jasper]

I was out Thursday afternoon and it was very slow until 3:30, then hit a few 12-14" trout and a fat 15" koke. It made freezing my ass off for several hours all worth it.

[terek]

slow day sunday. fished from 10 to 2 and landed 4 total. fished every color I got at 10, 15, 20, and 25

[Pauli]

Tried to fish Arrowrock this morning but the road was snow covered most of the way to where the dirt road begins. Figured that the ramp also had snow and ice on it.....so we turned around and headed to Lucky Peak. The wind was kicking around quite a bit at Turner so we did the next reasonable thing....We headed to IHOP....tooexcited

Will try again in a week or so.

Pauli

[terek]

Tried to fish Arrowrock this morning but the road was snow covered most of the way to where the dirt road begins. Figured that the ramp also had snow and ice on it.....so we turned around and headed to Lucky Peak. The wind was kicking around quite a bit at Turner so we did the next reasonable thing....We headed to IHOP....tooexcited

Will try again in a week or so.

Pauli

Good to know. Was thinking of loading up right now and head up, but I doubt I'd make it with a 8000 pound boat

[Kokanee Hunter]

the middle fork road was graded this morning. 1/30/18

[terek]

the middle fork road was graded this morning. 1/30/18

welcome :) it was pretty nice last weekend. I think its more of smoothed out from the rain storms we have been having and people driving on it every day. They will grade it for real in the spring. Its a nice change compared to previous years, at this time of year. typically you have to drive 5-10 mph with a boat

[Kokanee Hunter]

I followed the blade up this morning then got around him below the dam. They graded way up past the boat ramp.

[fish4kok]

the middle fork road was graded this morning. 1/30/18

Welcome to KFF.
Fished Arrowrock yesterday (1st fishing trip this year) from 10:30AM ~ 2:30PM. There were 4 boats on the lake. Fishing was slow, I caught a 16" kok. at 20' DR. Other boat caught few trout and other fishermen on different caught 1 Kok. Saw the other boat fishing across the boat ramp, wonder if he get any luck. The reservoir is almost full, water temp 38 deg.F few debris by Cottonwood camping area.

[terek]

Welcome to KFF.
Fished Arrowrock yesterday (1st fishing trip this year) from 10:30AM ~ 2:30PM. There were 4 boats on the lake. Fishing was slow, I caught a 16" kok. at 20' DR. Other boat caught few trout and other fishermen on different caught 1 Kok. Saw the other boat fishing across the boat ramp, wonder if he get any luck. The reservoir is almost full, water temp 38 deg.F few debris by Cottonwood camping area.

I have heard from several people that the best times up there are in between sunup and 11 so you might have just missed them I'm headed up tomorrow at around 7 a.m. I'll make sure I put a report on here for the early morning bite

[fish4kok]

I have heard from several people that the best times up there are in between sunup and 11 so you might have just missed them I'm headed up tomorrow at around 7 a.m. I'll make sure I put a report on here for the early morning bite
Good luck Terek! I wonder if the "super blue blood moon" effect to their action?;) Don't let the drift woods get into your jet pump intake.

[Pauli]

The Wife and I gave it a try this morning. Fished from 8:15 to 1:00 and got blanked. We only got 2 bites. Started out up near the middle fork and trolled all the way down to the dam. We marked an amazingly small number of fish. The two bites we did get were up against the shoreline across from the ramp. The wind started to kick up around 11:00 so it was a little chilly. Talked to two other boaters. One boat had one fish on (they were fishing 6 people) and the other one (two fishermen) were also blanked. At least the road was in good shape tooexcited

Pauli

[tramos]

It sounds like I did pretty good today then. 6 kokes and 2 trout. Spent most of the time up by the south and middle fork. Fished from 730-230. Long day.

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

Fished arrowrock today for about 4 hours landed 1 Koke 13" and 2 trout. Just getting into Kokanee fishing and could definitely use some tips and advice anyone is willing to share. I mostly fish Arrowrock or Anderson with little success. Tried watching videos on youtube and read Alan from Kokabow Fishing Tackle Tips and Tricks article but still need help. Thanks

[Pauli]

Welcome AnyFish...... Glad to have you aboard. Please try to share what you have been doing while out on the water....like the type of bait....Lure Color and type, depth fished and trolling speed. That really helps some of the others out, and they are way more likely to share their trade secrets with you. It's an ever changing dynamic. You don't want to be like some of the folks who frequent this site that are standing around with their hands out...contributing very little to the effort, but dig for as much information as they can get. Just read the past several posts and you will figure out who I'm talking about. There are even some folks that troll the site to get the latest info and offer only that they left the lake early with a limit.....and that is their contribution. Be honest about your trip and most of us will do the same.

Welcome

Pauli

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

Yesterday we caught our fish on a kokabow watermelon tail feather dodger with a brads Kokanee cut plug watermelon color tipped with pink shoe peg corn I mixed up. We varied our depths from 20-25 on the riggers but only picked up fish on our surface rods at 75-100 ft back. At the beginning of the day we had a variety of color combinations but changed all poles to what was getting hits. I’m definitely not a troll just looking for information I will share as much as I learn. I just don’t know a lot but I will share my success and my defeat in hopes of gaining more knowledge from guys like you. Thanks again for the reply and good fishing to all

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

Dang auto correct changed pauli to paul.

[tramos]

Throwing daggers there Pauli. Nobody inquired about any of the gear. I'm an open book. I only run Kokabow, more than willing to share every detail about the trip.

Anyfish, all of the fish are in the top 10-15 feet right now. At Arrowrock I start with something green on one, and something pink on the other. I long line 70-90 pulls/feet back, then put the other on a downrigger about 40-50 pulls/feet back, then drop it to about 8ft. If I have someone with me I put two more rods out with the small dipsy divers to get them away from the boat, on each side of the boat, 20-30 pulls/ feet on those. I troll at 1.3-1.7mph.

I personally like to have about a 3 foot leader to separate the dipsy from the tackle, but I have a buddy who runs a snubber off of it and it works for him. They give the fish a little bit of an advantage, but it helps get your tackle spread out.

This way of fishing, will work fall-spring while the water and weather is cold.

That's my two cents. Let me know if you have any questions about how I do things. Everyone has their own way, and they all work for the most part.

Stay classy Pauli.

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

No daggers need to be thrown just Dodgers 😉 i think my biggest problem is time on the water,I started fishing for kokes last spring because spring chinook numbers on the snake and salmon were so low and I got tired of combat fishing, and with numbers looking similar to last year I will definitely focus more of my time on Kokanee. I’m an open book as well just ask me and I’ll share. Plan on hitting up either arrowrock or Anderson Tuesday or Wednesday next week weather permitting. All I can say is what a difference a day makes, yesterday was beautiful on arrowrock and today would have been a different story.

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

I’ve read that after yr 2 or 3 they return to creeks to spawn. Anyone have any insight on what year most of these fish will be in.

[Physion]

Hi, anyfishanytime,

I sent you a personal message a day or two ago. You can look at the very top of the sign in page for notifications. I asked you a couple questions you may not want to put on the general forum.

I asked where you live and suggested the possibility we might be able to find a date we can fish together. I am an old fashioned fisherman--I long line most of the time with older style lures. I have fish in the freezer and that's good enough for me. I am gradually learning how to use some of the more recent additions to our kokanee arsenal. One of these days I might even get proficient with a downrigger!!!

If you want to contact me directly, click on "Physion" at the top of this entry and send me a personal message. I try to check it at least once a day. You can also look at my personal profile on line. You might want to fish with a partner who is more up to date, but I'm willing to share what I do to catch a few fish.

[tramos]

There is normally a cycle of ages. The fish we are catching right now will be a three year fish that will spawn in the late summer. You will catch some of last years plant which will be a few inches shorter than the 15-16" average we are catching now

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

I’ve got more information in 1 day from you guys than I have in a year of doing my own research, really glad I joined this forum. Thanks again

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

I tried to send you a pm reply but I’m not sure if I did it right still working on getting acquainted with this page

[sawtooth]

Welcome to the forum Anyfishanytimeanywhere. Glad that others could help you with some of your kokanee questions. If you have further questions that are not Lake or Reservior specific. Fill free to start a new thread with those questions. Lets try to keep the Reservior specific Kokanee Report threads open for comments that are specific to that lake. Thanks.

[Physion]

anyfishanytime,

You might want to keep in mind that we are fishermen. Some of what we say might actually be true!?!?!? Are all fishermen liars or are all liars fishermen? Speaking only for myself, of course.

Anyway, many of us are willing to share, especially one on one. It can sometimes be frustrating to find a really hot spot one day, mention it on line, and return another day, only to find the area overcrowded with too many other boats for anyone to be able to fish comfortably. The flip side, the more successful fisherman we have, the more support there is for our Fish and Game people and the work they do on our behalf.

My usual preference is to give enough info to help someone get started, but not necessarily all the details. Conditions change and kokanee can be fickle. Part of the fun and challenge is figuring out how to win on any particular day. I do like helping others learn to enjoy some of the advantages we have here in Idaho.

When I fish Arrowrock, I usually fish opposite the boat ramps, in the confluence area, or in Nibbler Ck bay. Kokanee move a lot, so it helps to know about several areas that may be productive.

I hope we can find a time to get together.

Physion

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

I will definitely do that sawtooth sorry just learning how to navigate my way through the forum. Thanks for letting me know.

[nepetbutler]

Fished arrowrock today for about 4 hours landed 1 Koke 13" and 2 trout. Just getting into Kokanee fishing and could definitely use some tips and advice anyone is willing to share. I mostly fish Arrowrock or Anderson with little success. Tried watching videos on youtube and read Alan from Kokabow Fishing Tackle Tips and Tricks article but still need help. Thanks
I presoak pink Firecorn in procure anise krill oil, nuke mixture for 10 sec. Also I put a smiley or assassin blade above 1" green glow squid w/ from hoochie King 12" leader. Later i will use pink. I bend a silver slingblade to get more action. Longlinging bout 100'. The cannon drs are my favorite. Out 30' down 10'. I also teabag trap w/ 1 cotton ball soaked in anise/krill oil. Send that down the dr cable. When lines are set I clip on a bell to middle of pole so I can grab it off when I get a bite.then I cook sum bacon while listening for the bells. If you smell bacon WAVE.

[packgoatguy]

I can second some of the insight shared here. As having just entered the sport of kokanee fishing a couple years back, ive yet to feel like i have a grasp on any real rhyme or reason for how to catch em consistently (except for deadwood... i think ive got that one figured out for now). Ive been able to catch my fair share at lucky peak, and finally had a good day last summer at anderson... but despite several attempts, i have yet to catch a koke out of arrowrock. Hoping to get out here in the next week or two, so i will post what i learn. Only frustration is i finally got my boat all set up just right last fall, and then my fishing buddy up and decided to go back to school to get his masters degree, so he tells me he has no time for fishing. I normally like to take my boys or some scouts when i can, but they cant go during the week with school, and my saturdays tend to fill up with honey doos.

Also, im curious if anyone sees a difference in performance of various scents of corn in the different reservoirs? Seems like shrimp flavored corn always worked the best for me at deadwood, but plain corn at anderson? Any favorites for arrowrock?

[tramos]

I was always a pro cure kokanee special guy, but my buddy brought along bloody tuna a while back and it seemed to perform well on Anderson and Arrowrock. So now there is some of that on my boat

[Pauli]

Wife and I were thinking about going out to Arrowrock this morning (Sunday) to beat tomorrow's cold weather. Glad we stayed home. It's really blowing out here in Caldwell.....and it's hailing pigs and chickens!!101thumbsdown101

Pauli

[anyfishanytimeanywhere]

Went out with a buddy today in his little boat and froze our butts off, only had a few bites no fish this trip. Maybe next week will be warmer weather and better fishing.

[John1369]

Trolled from 11am to 3pm. Boated 1 15" kok lost 1. On long lines and black spoon. Bank fished till dark, landed 2 fat hawgs 14" & 15" bows on garlic mallows. FYI my first post.

Tight lines, don't give em any slack, or give me any flack. 😊

[kodiak1]

Welcome to the site, and thanks for sharing. Particularly interested in your bank fishing report! Mike

[terek]

I’ve read that after yr 2 or 3 they return to creeks to spawn. Anyone have any insight on what year most of these fish will be in.

seems to be a 3 year cycle up at arrowrock. 3 years ago we slammed them. 2 years ago, we never caught 1 koke. Last year we got a few, but not many. So I have high hopes for this year

[John1369]

FYI....I got my pathfinder windshield cracked by falling rocks just past the dam. So be aware. I'm glad that's all that happened. Oh the boat ramp is ice/snow free. Today fished from 9am to 3pm across from boat ramp.
Threw everything except the kitchen sink and Dupont spinners at them came home with one 15" trout.

[centurion]

FYI....I got my pathfinder windshield cracked by falling rocks just past the dam. So be aware. I'm glad that's all that happened. Oh the boat ramp is ice/snow free. Today fished from 9am to 3pm across from boat ramp.
Threw everything except the kitchen sink and Dupont spinners at them came home with one 15" trout.

I was up there a month ago with similar results. Three rainbows and no kokanee, fished from 8:30-3:00

[Pauli]

I've been out 3 times this year....only 6 Kokes and several more Rainbows total. Hopefully the plankton will start to "bloom" soon. Awful cold on the water for just a few Kokes. Shouldn't be too much longer.

Pauli

[nepetbutler]

I've been out 3 times this year....only 6 Kokes and several more Rainbows total. Hopefully the plankton will start to "bloom" soon. Awful cold on the water for just a few Kokes. Shouldn't be too much longer.

Pauligonna fish below arrowrock w/Paulina hoochies.

[nakinney]

Who's fishing tomorrow?

[Physion]

I hope to go tomorrow. I haven't decided between Lucky Peak and Arrowrock. Recent reports from Arrowrock have not been encouraging and there aren't any recent reports from Lucky Peak. Thoughts or great words of wisdom? I would prefer not to get skunked on my first trip out this season. That would be a bad omen.

Physion

[Pauli]

I went up to Arrowrock this morning and was on the water by 0730. Caught 2 16 inch Kokes right away. The next 2 took a bit of time to get. I ended up with 4 fat Kokes (15-16 inches) and 4 Rainbows (13-16 inches). All were caught across from the boat ramp. I did lose 3 right at the boat.....I'm pretty sure that 2 of those 3 were Kokes. Had 2 poles going....one with a blade and a pink wedding ring and the other with a blade and a blaze orange wedding ring. Hooks were tipped with a Big Gulp Maggot and 2 pieces of untreated shoepeg corn. Trolled at about 1.2 mph and used either a 2 ounce or 3 ounce weight at 30 pulls. The weather was just awesome early (but cold.....it was a propane heater day). At about 1130 or 1200, the wind kicked up....and the bite really turned off. Started across the boat ramp, then headed to the confluence of the South Fork (no bites) and trolled the Nibbler creek area (also no bites). Didn't make it over to the dam. I left at 1230.

When I cleaned the catch, 2 of the Kokes had roe in them. That kind of surprised me. Thought it was a little early for them to have eggs yet. Oh yeah..... the road absolutely sucks!!! I think it was the worst right there at the dam, through the constricted area. Not sure if I have ever seen it that bad. Strange thing is that it wasn't really wash-boarded.... it was pot holed. 200 yards of clear sailing followed by 100 yards of potholes. Took me 25 minutes to get from the hard ball to the boat ramp.

Anyone know who to call to get the road graded? I have seen it mentioned somewhere that one can call and report the road condition.....and someone will send out the grader. I'll head up again later in the week......if the road gets graded.

Pauli

[DustinU]

I can second some of the insight shared here. As having just entered the sport of kokanee fishing a couple years back, ive yet to feel like i have a grasp on any real rhyme or reason for how to catch em consistently (except for deadwood... i think ive got that one figured out for now). Ive been able to catch my fair share at lucky peak, and finally had a good day last summer at anderson... but despite several attempts, i have yet to catch a koke out of arrowrock. Hoping to get out here in the next week or two, so i will post what i learn. Only frustration is i finally got my boat all set up just right last fall, and then my fishing buddy up and decided to go back to school to get his masters degree, so he tells me he has no time for fishing. I normally like to take my boys or some scouts when i can, but they cant go during the week with school, and my saturdays tend to fill up with honey doos.

Also, im curious if anyone sees a difference in performance of various scents of corn in the different reservoirs? Seems like shrimp flavored corn always worked the best for me at deadwood, but plain corn at anderson? Any favorites for arrowrock?


I've used Kokanee killer mix at Arrow Rock with some luck... I know of a guy that fishes Deadwood with a Corn mix that they call Holy Corn no one has the exact recipe.. Some say he adds Dr. Pepper to it...

[Pauli]

Fished Arrowrock Friday from 0700 to about 1400. Only caught 1 very large Koke and 4 fat trout. Koke was 18 inches. Trolled across from the ramp, Nibbler Creek and confluence of the South Fork. I did get TONS of bites but was not able to hook up. Orange and Pink were my colors of the day. LOTS of boats on the water.....most everyone I talked to did about the same as me.

Pauli

[snowman]

Fished Arrowrock on Wednesday mid morning to early afternoon from the boat ramp up to the south fork arm. No Fish. Fished with down riggers 10 to 25 feet, sling blades and arrow flash, hoochies, corn with Kokanee Killer and anise or shrimp scent. Also long line shallow with a Cousin Carl flasher and spinners with corn.

[Physion]

How is the road in? Last time I went it was full of potholes.

Physion

[H2Oguy]

I was there yesterday and it must have been graded recently because there weren't any potholes or washboards. Didn't catch any kokanee.

[GrimReaper]

Hasn't been much chatter on here about Arrow Rock so decided to go check it out for myself this morning after fishing Anderson last weekend. I was surprised to see the parking lot full at boat ramp and plenty of boats out fishing. Wasn't great fishing, ended up with 2 decent kokes (17" and 18") and released a little guy, of course had a few squaw fish and 2 small rainbows. Didn't see much action on other boats and the few fisherman I talked to hadn't caught kokes. Not sure why Arrow Rock has been so poor past couple years, should have fished Anderson instead.


Reaper

[terek]

Hasn't been much chatter on here about Arrow Rock so decided to go check it out for myself this morning after fishing Anderson last weekend. I was surprised to see the parking lot full at boat ramp and plenty of boats out fishing. Wasn't great fishing, ended up with 2 decent kokes (17" and 18") and released a little guy, of course had a few squaw fish and 2 small rainbows. Didn't see much action on other boats and the few fisherman I talked to hadn't caught kokes. Not sure why Arrow Rock has been so poor past couple years, should have fished Anderson instead.


Reaper

for real. Wish it would go back to the way it was 3-4 years ago. We used to go there and expect 1-2 limits without question. Fish and game need to get involved, because there is obviously a problem

[voicebugler]

for real. Wish it would go back to the way it was 3-4 years ago. We used to go there and expect 1-2 limits without question. Fish and game need to get involved, because there is obviously a problem

The internet and over fishing, perhaps?

20 years ago, it was rare to catch a 14" kokanee in Arrowrock, L.P., or Anderson, but to catch a limit, without boats all over you was not rare. The quality of fish had steadily increased, which is a simple equation of the quantity in the fishery decreasing. As more people keep flocking and taking home multiple limits of big fish, something's gotta give. I know the lashing I'll take for stating the truth, as I've seen it before, but it's inevitable that eventually the bubble will burst. I know the fish are just going to spawn and die, so take em all seems to be the normal response, but spawn is a key piece of that ingredient. The same reduced number hitting your rods and heading to the smoker are the same reduced number going to spawn..

[metalheadgene]

It may be due to over fishing and the internet but I am not sure on this one. Typically you will hear of great reports early in the season and then over fishing will follow as soon as all the pics are posted. But something is weird with Arrowrock. From my view it has not been all that great for about the last 3 years or so with little or no reports of any success (including my own time on the lake)

But 3 years ago as I frequented the south fork of the Boise in the fall there were a ton of fish in the river spawning.

2 years ago, not so much. And last year I saw a few...and by the way they were all huge. I cannot help but wonder if the numbers are there but they dong something different in that lake, like moving up the rivers much earlier in the season.

[Pauli]

I think you hit the nail on the head. The immense pressure on this fishery has its consequences. Maybe the fish are moving into the rivers earlier than before....but that's a stretch. I remember late last fall saying that the pressure on both Lucky Peak and Arrowrock is too heavy.....and several on this forum just regurgitated the "three year cycle of the Kokanee" talking points. We can't expect to sustain this fishery with the number of anglers on the lake limiting out on fish from early spring until the reservoirs ice over. Fish and game needs to get involved and put the brakes on things...at least for a while. I think that we did this to ourselves.

Pauli

[hooknhunter]

I would suspect the big fire to be the problem before anything else. Wasn't the big fire 3 years ago? If it messed up the egg survival, that would explain a lot.

[G3 longliner]

I would suspect the big fire to be the problem before anything else. Wasn't the big fire 3 years ago? If it messed up the egg survival, that would explain a lot.

I think the big runoff / dump killed a lot of 1- 2 year fish last year - Fish and Game what you say? you have a clue? pretty quite on your end? HUH HUH ??

[pollackoke]

What I heard at an IF&G lecture (at Cabelas last year) is the Kokanee in Arrowrock (and the whole Boise R. system) are pretty much all planted via IF&G stocking program. Another tidbit was that tagged Kokanee planted in Arrowrock and later caught and reported by fisher-folk have all been recovered in Lucky Peak. Thus loss of Arrowrock Kokanee are in large part due to water management, not over-fishing. Consider also that the limit is 6 in Arrowrock; whereas Anderson has a limit of 25. And we haven't seen a large drop in numbers at Anderson.

[G3 longliner]

I think the big runoff / dump killed a lot of 1- 2 year fish last year - Fish and Game what you say? you have a clue? pretty quite on your end? HUH HUH ??

F and G was doing fish samples at Anderson yesterday checking for male / female and weighing/measuring about 10 of our fish - I ask a lot of question about all three res. Pretty vague about LP and Arrow. said a variety of factors on low count . they have more control on Anderson due to natural spawn . did get around 20 good day saw boat with over 30

[mowrus]

F and G was doing fish samples at Anderson yesterday checking for male / female and weighing/measuring about 10 of our fish - I ask a lot of question about all three res. Pretty vague about LP and Arrow. said a variety of factors on low count . they have more control on Anderson due to natural spawn . did get around 20 good day saw boat with over 30

If you look back at the stocking of kokes, they stock around 250K a year. Granted they are 4 inches or so. They've done that for the last 6-7 years. So??????

[mowrus]

If you look back at the stocking of kokes, they stock around 250K a year. Granted they are 4 inches or so. They've done that for the last 6-7 years. So??????

Sorry I thought this was lucky peak

[mowrus]

If you look back at the stocking of kokes, they stock around 250K a year. Granted they are 4 inches or so. They've done that for the last 6-7 years. So??????

Sorry thought this was for Lucky Peak🐟🐟🐟

[GrimReaper]

This is going to sound kind of weird but here it goes anyhow...

Last year I put a brand new Humminbird 999ci fish finder on my boat and I've had issues with it now and then and was just about to contact Humminbird when I realized it only happens when I am on Arrow Rock. I will try and post a photo I took of the display during the problem...the unit will display vertical stripes of blue on and off like the sensitivity is turned up too high (but the stripes are very clear appearing suddenly and disappearing quickly), and the depth read out will display wrong. The attached image shows the depth display says 4.4 feet but I am in very deep water and the display of the bottom contour shows I am in at least 70 foot water. I fished Arrow Rock twice last year and twice this year and experienced the issue all four times. I have fished many days on other water such as Lucky Peak, Anderson Ranch, CJ, Cascade and reservoirs in other states and never saw the same issue even once.

Anyone experience anything similar? Anyone have any theories on the cause?


John

[Pauli]

Hmmm.... That's a tough one. Probably the best way to go about figuring out this thing is to start ruling things out what it's not. I know it would be a pain in the rear...especially now that the lake is getting busier..... but, next time you're up at Arrowrock, leave a little early and on the way down the hill, stop off and do a quick launch at Lucky Peak. See if the problem manifests itself again on the lower reservoir. It may help you rule out a few things. Seems to me it is probably an electrical, or radio interference on the boat itself. Is there an antenna or radio mounted near the unit??

Pauli

[SuperD]

GrimReaper, does your unit correct itself? I'm experiencing the same problems but the only way to get the screen cleared is to reboot the unit. I called Humminbird and they want me to make sure all the software updates are current and try resetting all the default settings.

[GrimReaper]

SuperD,

What I have seen is my Humminbird will usually vary between having this issue and then it will temporarily go away on its own, but sometimes once it goes crazy it doesn't seem to recover and I have to reboot the unit - it comes back up OK but will go back to having the problem, usually doesn't take too long. I have also reset defaults and again the problem still re occurs. Again it seems I only see the problem on Arrow Rock.

Does your unit only have problems on Arrow Rock or on other waters as well? I just got back from 4 days on Flaming Gorge and never had an issue even once while there. I fished 2 consecutive days on Anderson couple weeks ago and never had a problem.

I will be on Cascade this weekend and will see if it happens. Even though fishing has been poor on Arrow Rock I'm tempted to put the boat in there for couple hours just to see what happens and then pull out and put back in on Lucky Peak - just to try and verify it really is only on Arrow Rock.

I also have a 899ci for my bow, and last year hooked it up to my console (using the 999ci transducers) and if my memory is right I still saw the issue, so if true that would rule out the unit itself (but they might use same firmware or firmware that has same defect).


John

[Earl]

John, We have fished AR for 7 years. We have had 5 different fish finders and every time we leave the ramp and head to the Dam our finder will go nuts just like yours. We have tried to do all kinds of adjustments and its the same thing every time. We don't even think about it now. good luck.

Earl

[Tripleteaser]

I have a Humminbird fish finder and have the same issue at Anderson. Blue vertical specks. I am wondering what plankton looks like on the screen. By the way fished Anderson Friday and caught 5 Kokanee and one 20" rainbow that was packed full of cicada.

[GrimReaper]

Thanks everyone for the replies and information on sonar issues while fishing Arrow Rock. Sounds like I am not the only one experiencing strange fish finder issues at Arrow Rock, and furthermore sounds like some people have similar humminbird issues on waters other than Arrow Rock. For those of you who said they see similar blue specs while fishing other waters I want to point out I have seen lots of blue specs while on Anderson but I'm pretty sure that was plankton and/or other things in water making it more turbid and what was different with that versus what I experience on Arrow Rock is the blue specs did not appear and disappear in well defined columns on my display and also when I turned down my sensitivity it did reduce the blue specs.

Last thing I will say is I fished Cascade for 9 hours Saturday and never had a single issue with my humminbird. Not sure what is different on Arrow Rock but for some reason my sonar only exhibits the odd behavior there.


John

[jimbojump]

I tried several Humminbird units up there and had many issues...in Auto depth mode it would lose the bottom and say I was in less than 2 feet of water when it was really 80 plus....then I called Humminbird and their tech guys did some research for me...
They claim that Arrowrock has a lot of lava rock on the bottom and it tends to deflect the sonar signal similar to what a stealth fighter body does...co fuses the computer...I switched to Lowrance units and its better...but still lose bottom quite often..the saving grace...is if you turn off auto ranging...set depth at 40-50' ....it will show the water column clearly even though it loses the bottom on its depth line...may say 2 feet and flash...but the screen will show bottom clearly...

[voicebugler]

We camped and fished Arrowrock last weekend and part of the issue with fish numbers could be directly related to the crazy amount of squawfish, err northern pikeminnow.

We caught a few kokanee, which a couple of were tanks, and a boat load of squawfish. They need to put a bounty on them.

[jimbojump]

In 2011, there was a Bull trout census taken...they caught and killed like 10000 pounds of squawfish...its been way better in that dept. since then...the kokes they planted a few years ago were dumped in at the boat ramp...then soon after they had a high water flow event that flushed the majority of them into LP...they've been trying some different strategies to get the fishery back on track...but it takes time.

[GrimReaper]

I tried several Humminbird units up there and had many issues...in Auto depth mode it would lose the bottom and say I was in less than 2 feet of water when it was really 80 plus....then I called Humminbird and their tech guys did some research for me...
They claim that Arrowrock has a lot of lava rock on the bottom and it tends to deflect the sonar signal similar to what a stealth fighter body does...co fuses the computer...I switched to Lowrance units and its better...but still lose bottom quite often..the saving grace...is if you turn off auto ranging...set depth at 40-50' ....it will show the water column clearly even though it loses the bottom on its depth line...may say 2 feet and flash...but the screen will show bottom clearly...

Thanks for the info Jimbo, that makes a lot of sense and probably explains the issue I am having at Arrow Rock. I manually set depth range do not use auto depth mode and you are right that most of the time when the display reads the wrong depth the unit still displays the bottom correctly.

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in, I think I understand this much better now and don't feel the need to contact Humminbird.



John

[hooked4life]

My friend went to Arrowrock last week and his downrigger fell off. He would sure like it back. Let me know if you happened to find it or know it whereabouts

Thanks

[Pauli]

Well that's two of them lost up there. Mine either came off on the road out or someone helped themselves to it while I was using the restroom. (Cannon Uni-Troll ST)...... Been looking on both Craigslist and eBay for it.

Pauli

[sturgeon8r]

The road in is OK! bad in a few spots. Took it slow. let some guy pass me. Still got in the water before they did. She did not look happy when i pulled in front of them pulled straps and backed in while they were still removing there covers, straps etc. HAHA.
Fished South fork. Marked SMALL pockets of fish. at 20-30 feet. Not a lot.
landed 1 small trout. 1 Koke I think is the biggest I have ever caught. and wait for it.............. 6 squaw fish..... Oh wait.. Northern pike minnow.
everytime the fish finder made noise. WHAM..... Squaw fish.........

NO one on Lucky peak when we went by around 6 am........
Thinking Anderson is next stop.

[terek]

The road in is OK! bad in a few spots. Took it slow. let some guy pass me. Still got in the water before they did. She did not look happy when i pulled in front of them pulled straps and backed in while they were still removing there covers, straps etc. HAHA.
Fished South fork. Marked SMALL pockets of fish. at 20-30 feet. Not a lot.
landed 1 small trout. 1 Koke I think is the biggest I have ever caught. and wait for it.............. 6 squaw fish..... Oh wait.. Northern pike minnow.
everytime the fish finder made noise. WHAM..... Squaw fish.........

NO one on Lucky peak when we went by around 6 am........
Thinking Anderson is next stop.

Anderson is dead. typical response from everyone I have been talking to is "only got a couple" some are even getting skunked