2019 Eastern Idaho Kokanee Report (Ririe/Palisades/ Island Park Reservoirs)

[sawtooth]

Good luck to those fishing Eastern Idaho this year.

[Sunday Money]

Anybody got some good tips on where to start at?

Never fished Ririe, have a new boat, and fishfinder, so I will be trying to get the sensitivity and what not dialed in on it, while looking for fish at the same time, in a new lake. Not new to boating, but new to having my own boat, not much experience setting up a finder.

Any help would be greatly appreciated thinking about heading out next Saturday the 20th of March. Thanks!

[Armondo]

I usually fish across from the Juniper boat ramp. Look along the far shore and by the dam. If that does not work, cruise upstream to the picnic area. Good Luck. Give us a report if you go. I am getting antsy to get out this year.

[Armondo]

I fished Ririe on Friday from around 10 am to a little after 3 pm. I fished near the dam, across from the Juniper Launch and up by the picnic area. I ran a flat line with 1 oz of lead from 40 feet to 100 feet out. I ran the downrigger from 20-50 feet. I ran all kind of lure and color combinations. I varied speeds from 1.0-1.5 mph. I did not get a single hit. It felt good to finally get out, but it was frustrating. No one else I talked to seemed to do good either. Water temp was around 45 F. Maybe next time.

[Sunday Money]

Made it out yesterday, no luck other than a successful boating test. Checked out the whole lake it's a pretty cool place I will definitely be back!

[Armondo]

Fished Palisades Reservoir today from Blowout ramp up to Calamity ramp. Fished from 9 am until around 4 pm when the wind really kicked up. Caught a mess of cutthroats up to 16 or 17" and a few small rainbows, most on small spoons or small rapalas. No luck on kokanee. Tried different flasher and dodger combinations, on the surface, with 1 oz of lead, and DR from 20-40 ft.

[MMDON]

It appears Ririe lost a whole year class of fish for the 2nd year in a row. Very few Kokes being found anywhere on the lake.

[gonefishing]

I went out last week, Wed or Thurs. I caught 14 and lost one and also caught a few bows that got in the way. The numbers are poor but I found fish close to the shore line in spots. I had to go from spot to favorite spot looking. Largest 14 inch but most of them around 12 inch. The Kokes actually were starting to get the pink or red-ish shimmer to them. The quality of the meat on most of the fish was orangish. Less red that usual. I smoked them all because the quality of the fish was not like previous years. Ririe has for sure changed.

[Armondo]

We fished Ririe last Wednesday. It was slow and sporadic, but we did catch some fish. We ended up with 7 kokanee between the two of us. My friend Dave caught 6 of them including 1 that was 16 inches and one that was just under 17 inches. Those are very good fish for Ririe and made up for the slow action. The biggest ones had really nice orange fillets. For some reason I caught mostly rainbows, around 14-15 inches. We let most of them go, but kept a few. I lost track of how many we landed, probably around a dozen. The action was slow and sporadic. Long periods with no action, then 2 fish 15 minutes apart. Best action seemed to be North of the picnic area with the floating outhouse. No color seemed to be really hot. We started at 20-25 feet on the DR and ended up around 35 feet by afternoon. No kokanee on the long line, but several rainbows with 1 oz and 70-80 feet of line.

[MMDON]

Nice to see those guys who know where the plankton pools are located are still catching fish. That said the numbers are way down and now the net surveys confirm our worst fears. 2 years with major losses up to 70% of the planted fish to another infection of some sort. When Ririe is good it's great but being a very sterile narrow and deep biomass with little light penetration really hurts this fishery on the off years!

[Armondo]

My friend Dave and I fished Ririe Tuesday evening from 7:30 til dark. We caught 2 both on the East side, South of the Juniper Boat Ramp. We found a big plankton cloud at 50 feet, so we dropped the Down Riggers from 30 ft to 50 ft. That was when we caught the fish. On Wednesday we fished from 7:30 am to around 4:30 pm. We ran stacked lines at 50-55 ft and 30-40 feet. We caught 11, all but one at 50 -55 feet. Kokabow dodgers with a kokabow spinner worked best in the am. Pink/purple with a red spinner worked best, but they hit other lures as long as they had a dab of krill/anise scent on them. In the afternoon, watermelon dodger with an orange spinner seemed to do better. I also switched to garlic/bloody tuna scent. Biggest fish was almost 18", smallest was 12". Average was probably around 13-14". We had to work hard for the fish we got, but it was good to get out and catch some nice sized fish. Water temp was 70 F on the surface, perhaps that is why they were so deep. As MMDON said, look for the plankton and work around it.

[MMDON]

Good job staying after them! Love Kokabow tackle as well!

[G3 longliner]

Good job staying after them! Love Kokabow tackle as well!



LP yesterday Real slow two hits One big Koke Anderson tomorrow Any current reports at Anderson?

[Armondo]

We fished Ririe on Wednesday from around noon to 12:30. We caught 3 nice kokanee, all around 14 inches, south of the Juniper Boat Ramp. All the fish were at 55 feet and were hanging around a plankton bloom. No real preference for color, but they did seem to like a drop of krill/anise scent on the corn. It was my first test of my new Chamberlain down rigger releases. I did not get any fish on the stacked line, but the bottom release worked as advertised. No nuisance trips lowering the ball and the releases let go when we got a fish. I hope to get a few more test in before I put them away for the winter. Fish had slight hook in the jaw, but no color yet.

Since it was slow, we spent the afternoon fishing for perch.

[MMDON]

We fished Ririe on Wednesday from around noon to 12:30. We caught 3 nice kokanee, all around 14 inches, south of the Juniper Boat Ramp. All the fish were at 55 feet and were hanging around a plankton bloom. No real preference for color, but they did seem to like a drop of krill/anise scent on the corn. It was my first test of my new Chamberlain down rigger releases. I did not get any fish on the stacked line, but the bottom release worked as advertised. No nuisance trips lowering the ball and the releases let go when we got a fish. I hope to get a few more test in before I put them away for the winter. Fish had slight hook in the jaw, but no color yet.

Since it was slow, we spent the afternoon fishing for perch.

Thanks for the report! They are usually red by the 15th! Right around the corner.

[Macstumble]

Any luck in Ririe or Palisades for Kokanee after the spawn?https://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/images/icons/icon6.png

[MMDON]

Any luck in Ririe or Palisades for Kokanee after the spawn?https://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/images/icons/icon6.png

I haven't seen any posts on any of the boards about chasing the 2 year old fish this year. They should be in the usual spots if they didn't suffer the same catastrophe we've seen from the last 2 years crops.

[Armondo]

We gave it a go on Saturday from around 10 am to 5 pm. Water temp was 54 F. Air temps were mid 20's when we started out, but warmed into the 50's. We tried lures on the surface and a variety of lures on the downrigger from 20 ft down to 90 ft. Fished from Blow Out ramp to Big Elk. Caught some trout, all cutts or browns. No lake trout or kokanee. That is probably our last attempt for the year. It is time for me to focus on hunting.

[MMDON]

Thanks for the report. Browns and Cutts are usually the only game fish that are caught trolling Palisades.

[Armondo]

MMDON, We have caught kokanee in the past at Palisades. We don't catch many but they tend to run bigger. Unfortunately we did not catch any kokanee on Palisades this year. We have also caught a few lake trout in the past. I lost a nice one there a few years back. I hoped we might catch a big lake trout since they should be spawning now. I keep trying at Palisades. I don't seem to catch a lot, but I have caught some big fish, especially browns. It is just enough positive reinforcement that I try a few times a year. It was nice to get out one last time.

[MMDON]

The only guys that I know that have consistently pulled Kokes out of Palisades use bay shrimp, microwaved for a few seconds to toughen them a little. Don't know why that isn't used anywhere else but it works on Palisades.

[Armondo]

The only guys that I know that have consistently pulled Kokes out of Palisades use bay shrimp, microwaved for a few seconds to toughen them a little. Don't know why that isn't used anywhere else but it works on Palisades.

I will have to try that next year! I will let you know how I do.