2013-2016 Idaho Kokanee Fishing Reports Quick Links
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metalheadgene
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2010
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- 85
They increased the SF flow from 600 to to 1800 CFS yesterday...pretty much all in shot. Anyone been up there to see the impact?
I called F&G yesterday and talked to a girl that did not much. However she said that the fires above AR had killed all the fish in some of the streams. The F&G had gone to AR and felt that the dead fish had washed down from streams. I did not see any dead fish in September or did see any murky water. Also the water was on the rise in September.
MackayGuy
Well-known member
Wow....nice fish!
gonefishing
Well-known member
Ririe is still good fishing
I have found that there is more than one type of Kokanee in Ririe this year. Some of them have black spots on their backs and they are green on the top. They are very active fish that fight harder and more fun to catch. It has been a good year on Ririe with significant numbers of 3 year fish. Some fish are starting to turn so there is not alot of time left to catch them. Many popular areas have been fished hard and the fish have have been thinned out in those areas. Usual summer colors are working, pink & orange colors are working well. There are still small to medium size schools of fish and they are very active once you find them. Depths have been between 25ft and 40ft for the fish.
I have found that there is more than one type of Kokanee in Ririe this year. Some of them have black spots on their backs and they are green on the top. They are very active fish that fight harder and more fun to catch. It has been a good year on Ririe with significant numbers of 3 year fish. Some fish are starting to turn so there is not alot of time left to catch them. Many popular areas have been fished hard and the fish have have been thinned out in those areas. Usual summer colors are working, pink & orange colors are working well. There are still small to medium size schools of fish and they are very active once you find them. Depths have been between 25ft and 40ft for the fish.
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kenbarb
Well-known member
Started the short journey to Dworshak at 5:00pm Tuesday, arrived at Freeman Creek Campground around 7:00pm, the place was pretty much vacant. Checked out our reserved campsite and headed for the boat launch, there was two rigs parked at the launch, not a soul around. I backed the trailer into the water, then Barb powered the boat off and headed for the public dock while I parked the motorhome at the campsite, then walked to the dock to help Barb put the bumpers out and secure the boat. This is a really neat dock, very roomy, with a swimming section built in, lot of space to tie boats up, and it's free. We just hung around the camp for the rest of the day. Our goal was to fish Wed. and Thur., then go home Friday morning, the plan was to catch 25 Kokanee per day for a total of 50, which is all we wanted to deal with.
It's Wed. morning, we get up pretty early but don't get the long lines in until about 8:30am, start fishing at the Canyon Creek entrance, no sooner are the lines in when Barb's rod starts to twitch, and she pulls in a nice 12" Kokanee. The bite continues with Barb catching 5 fish before I even get a hit, she's using a pink wedding ring type lure with a "hot tiger" spinner blade, I'm using the same except my spinner blade is pink, so I switch to the same that she has, and put the same on the third rod, we are using scented shoepeg corn, dyed red and pink, once again the red seems to get the most hits, tried natural, they did not like it. We continue trolling between Canyon and Indian Creek, the catch rate is pretty much consistent. Around 11:30am we head for the Canyon Creek Campground to give our little English Setter a break, and a snack for us. There is a very nice trail from the campground, to the end of Canyon Creek, we walked about a half mile on it, very scenic, with good views of the lake, very shaded, nice walk.
Back on the water at about 1:00pm, start trolling from the campground, not seeing many fish on the finder, from the campground to the entrance we only caught two fish. Did a large loop into the main lake and picked up a few more, at around 3:00pm we landed the #25 and pulled the lines in, then found a isolated cove to nose the boat into, and clean the fish.
It was a really nice day with a lot of overcast, ambient air temp. was around 75F, water temp. was 67F/70F, there was a little breeze at times, but mostly flat water, beautiful day and pretty good fishing.
We thought about setting the alarm and getting up early on Thursday, but decided to sleep in instead, woke up during the night to the pattering of rain on the roof. when we got up it was drizzling rain, love to fish in the rain if the wind isn't blowing, this looks like one of those days. Barb fixes breakfast. and I head for the boat to sharpen hooks, and get everything ready for the days fishing.
We go back to Canyon and Indian Creek, it is absolutely beautiful on the water, cool, slight drizzle, and fish showing on the fishfinder, not another boat in sight. Right away we start catching Kokanee, after about two hours we have caught twelve, then the bite slows so we decide to go back to the Freeman Creek Campground for a snack, then try a location between Freeman and Dicks Creek. After the break we are back on the water, have found a small school of fish that are pretty nice size, we have caught about five fish when we see this very nice jetboat heading for us, they pull in close and ask if we are Ken & Barb, what a surprise to find out it is "amxerhull" John, and a couple of buddies, what a delight to meet John out there, had never talked to him before, except here on the forum, John I'm sure glad you stopped. We all fished the same area for a little while, the bite was good enough to finish catching our self imposed 25 fish limit. Pulled into a cove, cleaned the fish and headed for the dock, will pull the boat out in the morning and head for home, beautiful rainy day on the water, with good fishing. Now it's back to camp for a glass of wine, and Barb's favorite crooner Rod Stewart.
Ken & Barb
It's Wed. morning, we get up pretty early but don't get the long lines in until about 8:30am, start fishing at the Canyon Creek entrance, no sooner are the lines in when Barb's rod starts to twitch, and she pulls in a nice 12" Kokanee. The bite continues with Barb catching 5 fish before I even get a hit, she's using a pink wedding ring type lure with a "hot tiger" spinner blade, I'm using the same except my spinner blade is pink, so I switch to the same that she has, and put the same on the third rod, we are using scented shoepeg corn, dyed red and pink, once again the red seems to get the most hits, tried natural, they did not like it. We continue trolling between Canyon and Indian Creek, the catch rate is pretty much consistent. Around 11:30am we head for the Canyon Creek Campground to give our little English Setter a break, and a snack for us. There is a very nice trail from the campground, to the end of Canyon Creek, we walked about a half mile on it, very scenic, with good views of the lake, very shaded, nice walk.
Back on the water at about 1:00pm, start trolling from the campground, not seeing many fish on the finder, from the campground to the entrance we only caught two fish. Did a large loop into the main lake and picked up a few more, at around 3:00pm we landed the #25 and pulled the lines in, then found a isolated cove to nose the boat into, and clean the fish.
It was a really nice day with a lot of overcast, ambient air temp. was around 75F, water temp. was 67F/70F, there was a little breeze at times, but mostly flat water, beautiful day and pretty good fishing.
We thought about setting the alarm and getting up early on Thursday, but decided to sleep in instead, woke up during the night to the pattering of rain on the roof. when we got up it was drizzling rain, love to fish in the rain if the wind isn't blowing, this looks like one of those days. Barb fixes breakfast. and I head for the boat to sharpen hooks, and get everything ready for the days fishing.
We go back to Canyon and Indian Creek, it is absolutely beautiful on the water, cool, slight drizzle, and fish showing on the fishfinder, not another boat in sight. Right away we start catching Kokanee, after about two hours we have caught twelve, then the bite slows so we decide to go back to the Freeman Creek Campground for a snack, then try a location between Freeman and Dicks Creek. After the break we are back on the water, have found a small school of fish that are pretty nice size, we have caught about five fish when we see this very nice jetboat heading for us, they pull in close and ask if we are Ken & Barb, what a surprise to find out it is "amxerhull" John, and a couple of buddies, what a delight to meet John out there, had never talked to him before, except here on the forum, John I'm sure glad you stopped. We all fished the same area for a little while, the bite was good enough to finish catching our self imposed 25 fish limit. Pulled into a cove, cleaned the fish and headed for the dock, will pull the boat out in the morning and head for home, beautiful rainy day on the water, with good fishing. Now it's back to camp for a glass of wine, and Barb's favorite crooner Rod Stewart.
Ken & Barb
Goldknight
Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2014
- Messages
- 9
Great reports all. We finally made it to the new house. and yep had the boat in the water the next day even though the house needed lots of works. grin . Poor boat motor did not fare well in the move. Would only give me half power so off to the repair shop she went. You can see the house from the lake if your very near the dam. The view from the back porch is straight over the dam down to the river. Cant weight to get out there fishing.
Thurston
Thurston
Camped at Curlew for the weekend and fished from there to lime creek. I caught most of the fish on a pink hoochie or pink crappie jig. All were caught between 20 and 30 feet at 1.5 mph with a 10 foot set back. The fish were very spread out all the way across the reservoir so it was fairly consistent fishing all day long. The fish were very aggressive with a lot of jumping, rolling and laughing at me when they threw the hook. We were only trolling two rods and only fished for a couple hours before and after breakfast and just before dark. We brought 68 fish home and lost more that that, with the biggest one at 14 inches.
All the other boats were trolling with wedding rings and flashers, and were catching fish all day also.
All the other boats were trolling with wedding rings and flashers, and were catching fish all day also.
I too was at Anderson over the weekend, we camped at Deer Creek. I'm pretty sure we passed each other on the lake a time or two. I ended up bringing 35 home with the biggest right at 13 1/2" and most averaging 11-12". Fished hootchies @ 20 & 30' with scented shoe peg corn. Beautiful weekend on the lake that's for sure!
nepetbutler
Well-known member
Helped a guy start his boat today at springshores. In return he gave me 2 pink hoochies. tipped wth yellow firecorn . I stacked my d/r and started nailing kokes at 20 ft. Tomorrow I will attempt to troll and cook bacon at the same time. if you smell bacon wave
Ken and Barb: Sounds like you had a great time. It was god to see you, maybe we can share a bottle of wine with you someday.
We went back yesterday (Monday) and it was pretty slow. We put 15 in the cooler but worked hard at Canyon and Dicks to get them. Lots of boats, few nets.
The impending hot weather and holiday will probably keep us off the lake for a few days. We have never fished above Dent so we are considering an exploratory run up the lake for our next trip.
John
We went back yesterday (Monday) and it was pretty slow. We put 15 in the cooler but worked hard at Canyon and Dicks to get them. Lots of boats, few nets.
The impending hot weather and holiday will probably keep us off the lake for a few days. We have never fished above Dent so we are considering an exploratory run up the lake for our next trip.
John
ricks
Well-known member
Wish I was there to greet amxerhull and kenbarb. I don't get many weekdays on the water though.
I went to the lake sunday. Seemed the perfect conditions with no moon and after a storm. We put in at Bruce's at 6:30 AM and powered on to Canyon Cr. Only one boat there. Dropped lines in and worked in and out of the bay but nothing on the finder, so picked up and went all the way up to Dent. Worked hard for a few fish across the lake from Dent Acres, so trolled on up to the bridge. Couple other boats there. This whole time I am running a DR at 25 and at 50 and a couple long lines. Swapping gear every 20 minutes or so trying to find colors. Around midday the two teenage boys stripped down to suits and leaped off the boat under the bridge - while we're trolling mind you. Once I picked them up the weather took a turn and we had a tremendous downpour for about 25 min. Tried to keep working but finally hid under the bridge. Trolled a half mile or so above the bridge and then back. Right around 2:30 we were back to the bridge and I promised the boys I'd wrap it up. Right then things got hot. I had all 4 lines on the downriggers at 50 and 35 foot and all of them hit at once. This was maybe 50 yards up lake from the bridge. We were able to boat a dozen on the day, all nice 10-12 inchers. All in all a perfect day but a bit slow. Hard work filling a cooler, for me, anyway. Wish I was a more talented kokanee fisherman. Best I can say is 'addicted'.
Rick
I went to the lake sunday. Seemed the perfect conditions with no moon and after a storm. We put in at Bruce's at 6:30 AM and powered on to Canyon Cr. Only one boat there. Dropped lines in and worked in and out of the bay but nothing on the finder, so picked up and went all the way up to Dent. Worked hard for a few fish across the lake from Dent Acres, so trolled on up to the bridge. Couple other boats there. This whole time I am running a DR at 25 and at 50 and a couple long lines. Swapping gear every 20 minutes or so trying to find colors. Around midday the two teenage boys stripped down to suits and leaped off the boat under the bridge - while we're trolling mind you. Once I picked them up the weather took a turn and we had a tremendous downpour for about 25 min. Tried to keep working but finally hid under the bridge. Trolled a half mile or so above the bridge and then back. Right around 2:30 we were back to the bridge and I promised the boys I'd wrap it up. Right then things got hot. I had all 4 lines on the downriggers at 50 and 35 foot and all of them hit at once. This was maybe 50 yards up lake from the bridge. We were able to boat a dozen on the day, all nice 10-12 inchers. All in all a perfect day but a bit slow. Hard work filling a cooler, for me, anyway. Wish I was a more talented kokanee fisherman. Best I can say is 'addicted'.
Rick
fishslayer13
Well-known member
Rick and kenbarb on sunday, we put in at dent and went up to cranberry was to slow so moved up to swamp creek. Swamp creek had fish but to much trash in the way and became tiresome to keep out of down riggers and lines. So moved up to the pinch and caught as many as we wanted. Left there and bass fished and ran up to gold creek and caught a couple and just toured around. The fish we caught were all very small at 10 to 11 inches but skinny. Have a friend that says the fish are fatter at grandad. Dont know, didnt fish up that far. Fish there were 18 and 26 feet on the line. Had a top line out a 100 feet out didnt get a tap on it all day. Red and green spinners did it all.
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ricks
Well-known member
Now that is what we needed to hear! Awesome. I've never trailered into Grandad, gonna have to do that next, I guess. Sounds fun.
Part of why I am always chasing fish is I never am satisfied fishing where everyone else is, I have to go looking. (why I don't do 'combat' fishing for salmon on the rivers) Grandad is next! Can't wait.
Thanks!
Rick
Part of why I am always chasing fish is I never am satisfied fishing where everyone else is, I have to go looking. (why I don't do 'combat' fishing for salmon on the rivers) Grandad is next! Can't wait.
Thanks!
Rick
fishslayer13
Well-known member
Im the same way I will rarely fish some where where there is more than a boat or 2. Swamp creek had no boats, magnus bay had no boats and we fished the pinch all to ourselves for an hour or so. Gold creek had 1 boat in it. Grandad will have more boats . I run my boat up from Dent to grandad when I go ,as the road beats your trailer and boat to pieces. Very rare to get a camping spot in there too. So we tent camp down the lake around silver creek. Gets us away from the people.
ricks
Well-known member
Thank you! Never been up all the way. Looks like about 30 mile from Dent. See you there one day.
Rick
kenbarb
Well-known member
John it was a pleasure meeting you out there, Rick maybe we can bump into each other too. Barb and I are retired, to avoid the crowds we only fish Monday thru Friday.
At this point in time, and in my humble opinion, I think the Kokanee can be caught from Grandad to the Dam. To avoid a lot of travel time with the boat Barb and I usually launch at Freeman Campground, and fish from Elk Creek to Indian Creek, If fish aren't showing on the finder we make short moves until something shows, then try to find the lure and color they like, also the color and scent on the corn. Sometimes it's a waiting game until the bite come on, then it's a Kokanee frenzy. One thing about it though, whenever you think you have it all figured out, you find out you don't. Rick we feel exactly like you about being a more talented Kokanee fisherman, but if we went out and slayed them every time it would not be nearly as much fun.
fishslayer13, a couple of friends went from Dent to Grandad last Saturday, plugged his American Turbine so bad he had to remove the inspection plate and clean it out, said the junk in the water was really bad, worst day he's had this year, he also lost a fishing rod, and a friend of his free spooled one of the downriggers, and tangled the wire, to the point that it has to be cut to get it off, pretty bad day.
Good luck to you guys,
Ken & Barb
At this point in time, and in my humble opinion, I think the Kokanee can be caught from Grandad to the Dam. To avoid a lot of travel time with the boat Barb and I usually launch at Freeman Campground, and fish from Elk Creek to Indian Creek, If fish aren't showing on the finder we make short moves until something shows, then try to find the lure and color they like, also the color and scent on the corn. Sometimes it's a waiting game until the bite come on, then it's a Kokanee frenzy. One thing about it though, whenever you think you have it all figured out, you find out you don't. Rick we feel exactly like you about being a more talented Kokanee fisherman, but if we went out and slayed them every time it would not be nearly as much fun.
fishslayer13, a couple of friends went from Dent to Grandad last Saturday, plugged his American Turbine so bad he had to remove the inspection plate and clean it out, said the junk in the water was really bad, worst day he's had this year, he also lost a fishing rod, and a friend of his free spooled one of the downriggers, and tangled the wire, to the point that it has to be cut to get it off, pretty bad day.
Good luck to you guys,
Ken & Barb
fishslayer13
Well-known member
kenbarb;52446 fishslayer13 said:
metalheadgene
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2010
- Messages
- 85
Any reports lately?
