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I fish my hoochies on 9 to 11 inch 10# leaders behind a 4 inch dodger. Occassionally will fish them behind a larger dodge or large salmon wobbling spoon or on heavier leaders (15#) if I feel I need more "dancing". Beads and spinners are almost all on 25 to 30 inch leaders; feel the spinner is...

There is only one absolute rule when it comes to kokanee and that is there are no absolutes!! Tight lines Curt

Welcome aboard Ice!! You will be a nice addition to our discussions. For those don't kown Iceshark he is a frequent poster on a couple other sites and a Lake Stevens regular. Clearly he has the Stevens kokanee dialed in. I too consider Stevens to be my home lake but can not come close to...

For years I have recommended to folks that they use the rule of 100 for establishing the drop back length from the downrigger. That is once the gear is set and fishing you should have a 100 feet of line out. If you are fishing say 30 feet deep then have the gear 70 feet behind the downrigger...

Rick - Rainbow trout and kokanee are two very different critters and planting strategies for the two species vary considerably - more about that later. As you have discovered the common planting strategy for release kokanee in the various lakes is to plant fry. Further those fry plants are...

Rick - See - http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01178/wdfw01178.pdf The last couple of years there as be a little less than 150,000 kokanee fry planted in annually in Stevens. To the question of "trophy kokanee" the answer is not so much a planting the fish or the stock of fish planted but the...

The "bite" has been "on" for better than 3 weeks now. However the fish have been extremely temperamental. The prefered presentation, depth, etc has been changing day to day even hour to hour. Over the last 3 weeks have been catching fish from the surface down to the mid-20s, at speeds from...

smokenkokes - Yes there were some very nice size (and chunky) fish in Stevens last May. Most of us were surprised that the winning weights were not larger for the derby. However it was clear that by late May those larger fish were mostly gone. The big fish seem to be more aggressive and...

Starting from the basics - Kokanee are very soft mouth and it is very easy to pull the hooks out of the fish. Do not set the hook on kokanee - on a release quickly reel in any slack and play the fish with a light hand. It has been suggested that regardless of the tackle used play the fish as...

Please do not use corn in any kokanee (or other trout) chum. Some items that have been successfully used for kokanee chum include chicken mash, cottage cheese, oatmeal, crushed egg shells, and the old reiable "feed eggs" EAch of the old timers I fished with seemed to have their own secret...

I have a reasonably large garden for some one living in town (Puget Sound region of Washington). Have planted most of my cool weather crops - spinach, chard, lettuce, peas, beets, potatoes, cabbage and califlower. While we had a very nice and warm late winter and I was excited to get the...

In reviewing Smokin' Kokes Merwin planting information I was struck at the large size at which the kokanee were planted. Fish that 4 to 8 to the pound are near catchable trout size (5 to 8 inches). Is it common in many waters that the kokanee are planted at such a large size? Up my way a...

Name: Curt Occupation: Retired Hometown: Marysville Lakes of most experience: Stevens Total years fishing: 60 Years fishing for Kokanee: 35 Methods: Trolling, though have caught them still fishing and fly fishing Boat - 16 foot Lund Alaskan with bow mounted electric trolling motor

Gene Smokin kokes has provide some great advice. your gear looks to be a good start. As mentioned 10 inch leaders (8 to 12 inches) is about right for the hoochies and other lures that rely on the dodger/blade to provide the action. For my spinners I typically run about 30 inch leaders. If I...

I'm another fan of drop shot hooks. After experimenting with at least 8 other hook makes/style the gammi drop shot out performed ( in terms of landed to hooke ratio) all of them by a pretty wide margin. Tight lines Curt

Gene - The most commonly used dodgers are 4/0 in either silver or half and half (silver and brass). I like to have either reflective tape or "dimples" on my dodgers. I usually fish on wedding rings on 30 inch leaders. I strongly advise that you re-tie your pre-packaged wedding rings. Cut the...

From the side of my can of WD-40 - Danger Extremely Flammable, (propane) keep spray from: hear, sparks, open flame ... Harmful of fatal if swallowed Contains: petroleum distillates, if swallowed do not induce vomitting, call physician immediately... Back to Kokanee Kid's question - With 3...

Lowe/CRW- Have done a little more poking around and from what I'm hearing progress in getting adult fish passage at the diversion dam on the Middle Fork is still stalled (lots of money for limited benefits). If true that would mean that for at least the short term we should see status quo with...

CRW - The Nooksack "supports" two spring Chinook runs; both of which are in serious trouble. The Upper South fork sees less than 200 returning adults a year while the North/middle fork population is a little larger. In addition 15 or so years ago some of the wild spring Chinook from the North...

This is a huge issue for those of us that enjoy kokanee fishing here in Washington. The Whatcom kokanee were the source for the vast majority of kokanee in this State (and much of the country for that matter). The Whatcom kokanee are a native fish to the lake. If I recall correctly the...