2017 Arrowrock Reservoir Kokanee Fishing Report

[Rush Rock]

If you like your boat and trailer

think twice about making a run to Arrowrock, (been here since 1973 and though my memory is not great i cant remember a time where the road was worse. I have some work to do before next spring now thanks to the road condition. We did good and actually finished the year well with a beautiful day on the water Sunday...didnt fish for Kokes much but got a couple, did really well on trout and have meat in the freezer! see you next year! if anyone was up there i have the super ugly 1973 blue tri-hull beach comber Fiberform...bought by dad in 1973 and still going!probably the best trolling layout fishing boat ever...so i will use this baby until she sinks! peace!

 

[Pauli]

I made it to Arrowrock today. There was a wreck on I 84 which delayed me for about an hour or so.... I didn't expect to get caught up in morning traffic from Caldwell thru Boise.....but it happens. I did get to meet fish4koke on the water. Looked like he was having good success. I managed to boat 4 Kokes and a few trout. 3 of the Kokes were 17 to 18 inches, while one was only 13 inches. The trout were about 15-16 inches. I fished up the reservoir near Nibbler Creek (I think that's what they call that area).... Very little wind but chilly early on. Thank goodness for the heater! I fished at mostly 14-15 feet, using pink wedding rings and a sliver/green blade. It looked like the older guys guys had the lake for the day. Being retired does have benefits. May take the wife up either Friday or Monday. She really doesn't like the cold too much....so we'll have to wait and see.

Pauli

 

[fish4kok]

Good fishing day

It was nice to meet you Pauli. I also talked with Physion on shore before he launched his boat. We start to fish at 10:00Am and quit at 3:00PM. We took home a 19" Chinook, 2 rainbow (bleed) and 8 Kok 13"-14". Released other 6 rainbow.
We didn't catch our 1st Kok until 1:00PM and the rest of them before 2:30PM. Long line pole 1oz sinker +3 blades half and half flasher + orange wedding ring, 75' out. DR fish from 14' ~ 20', we caught couple Kok at 14' and later caught them at 20'. 4" dodger copper + pink squid. White corn with anise or herring scent.
I didn't see the Chinook kiosk fin collector in Arrowrock. I stopped by Turner Gulch on the way home to put the Chinook fin in the envelope and wrote down the date, area of fish caught, lenght... When I got home the I read the info from IFGD that they set 3 kiosks in LP, Deadwood, and Anderson. I just wonder if this Chinook was from Anderson Ranch?
I might make one more trip to Arrowrock before winterize my boat.
Gook luck anyone!

 

[Pauli]

Hey fish4koke,

I'm really interested in how that Chinook cooks up. I haven't taken any home yet (I've only caught small ones). Just wondering if they taste more like trout or Kokes.

Pauli

 

[Physion]

I give up

Ok, I give up. Only 2 trout today. I can't go on Friday, so I'm going to dig out my downrigger and try again tomorrow. Pauli and Fish4kok have tempted me beyond what I can resist. The wind report is good for tomorrow, too.

Physion

 

[fish4kok]

Hey fish4koke,

I'm really interested in how that Chinook cooks up. I haven't taken any home yet (I've only caught small ones). Just wondering if they taste more like trout or Kokes.

Pauli

Hi Pauli,
In 2015, that was the 1st time my wife caught her 1st Chinook in Anderson, the fish weight 5 lbs+. We cook that fish and it was tasting good. The fish was large so she cut into steaks and sprinkle little salt on each side, brown the couple slides of onion in the fry pan first then fry both side of the fish until it brown. She made a tomatoes sauce added pineapple cut into cube size and fine chopped dill, few slices jalapeno (the sauce taste like hot sweet and sour). Put the tomatoes sauce on the fried Chinook serve with Alfredo noodle, steamed vegetable, garlic bread. The fish was tasted good when she cook that time. For sure it was not taste as good as Kokanee but it was good. We might try to BBQ this Chinook and hope that come out good
We plan to heading to Arrowrock tomorrow.

 

[Pauli]

Hey fish4koke,

Sounds good. Sounds like you have a real chef in your house hold..... I'm the cook here, so there is a lot of grilling and smoking around here. Nothing too fancy 101ok101. We got up early this morning, expecting to head up to Arrowrock for a day on the lake. I was surprised to see that the winds were already at or above 15 knots, so we decided not to head up. Our Boston Whaler is pretty open, with a console and only a small wind shield to hide behind. The cold is one thing that I can deal with....but the cold coupled with wind is a whole different story. In the Army we referred to that as an "Iteration of Misery Training"! Would be interesting to see just how windy it was up at Arrowrock today...being that the anemometer is down at Barclay Bay on LP. Let me know if the winds hovered around 15 knots or so....
Hope you and the Mrs. had a good day at the lake. We are going to head up again sometime early next week. We rarely go on the weekends anymore.

Pauli

 

[Physion]

report

A great weather day considering it was Nov. 30. I kept 3 kokanee and released 5 rainbow. I got some in Nibbler Ck bay and some at the confluence. I ended up doing better with my three bladed flasher, a spinner, 100 ft of line, and no weight. When I got out another brave fisherman had caught his kokanee limit fishing about 20 ft down opposite the ramp. The same place I tried Wednesday and got nothing. Kokanee do move around. Anyway, I had a good day. It may be my last for the year.

Physion

 

[Pauli]

Hey Physion,

Good to hear you had a decent day. I know how frustrating it can be to spend hours on the reservoir and not get much, while the guy right next to you slays them. Happens to EVERYONE! If you do put the boat away for the winter, at least you ended the season on a bright note thumbsup.

This year I have been keeping some of the trout. If I bring home 4 or 5 Kokes, I make sure that I bring home 4-5 trout as well. This year we started throwing a trout on the grille with every Koke cooked. They really compliment each other well. It's just the wife and me, so one Koke and one trout is plenty. Give it a try. I season them the same..... and the cooking time is virtually the same (at least on a Traeger). Also.... I very rarely fillet these fish. I grill them whole....with the head attached. It takes a nanosecond to pull away the spine and all of the bones in one motion, and there is virtually no wasted meat. I just have to pull away the fin bones.....which also takes no time at all.

I'm pretty sure I have at least 1 more trip to Arrowrock this season. It's not time for me to put the boat up yet.

Pauli

 

[fish4kok]

Arrowrock, Friday December 01 2017.

Hi Pauli,
The anemometer at Barclay Bay on LP that fooled you Look at those 2 photos that I took today. There wasn't windy at all and the lake surface was like glass. I often check weather report from NOAA or the link below, but as the weather report that never be 100% correct. You can select the area in the map for forecast or the other chart by hourly.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-116.31463870580552&lat=43.53393264851479#.WiIQDlNryUk

We were there about 10:15 Am and start to fish about 10:45AM We caught 6 Kok in about an hour at 7' and 15' with DR, after that we caught couple more trout that we released. Same setup as was on last report.
There were 3 boats that included mine fishing in the Nibbler Creek.

From noon until 3:00PM no bite at all. There were few spot that indicated fish from 20' to 45' but they didn't bite. We changed lures, fishing depth, trolling speed...nada... So we quit at 3:15. We took home 1 person kok limit.

 

[fish4kok]

Did you find your DR?

A great weather day considering it was Nov. 30. I kept 3 kokanee and released 5 rainbow. I got some in Nibbler Ck bay and some at the confluence. I ended up doing better with my three bladed flasher, a spinner, 100 ft of line, and no weight. When I got out another brave fisherman had caught his kokanee limit fishing about 20 ft down opposite the ramp. The same place I tried Wednesday and got nothing. Kokanee do move around. Anyway, I had a good day. It may be my last for the year.

Physion

Hi Physion.
Glad that you had a good day yesterday. I fished on opposite side of boat ramp on Wed. too. I spent about 45 min and there was only 1 hit but didn't land the fish. Later we ran up to Nibbler creek and did well.

This morning saw a boat trolling in that area, that may be a hot spot. There were few boats on the lake today. Lake is about 84% full, water is clear but few areas cover with drift woods.

 

[Pauli]

Well..... I'm going to head up to Arrowrock tomorrow morning. I imagine it's going to be cold. Hopefully not too windy. I'd like to fish a little more before the ice comes. I'll check the weather before I leave the house to make sure that the the weather is cooperating.

Pauli

 

[Pauli]

Made it up to Arrowrock today. There was a little snow last night... cold, but no wind. Only managed to get one in the boat. I caught that one right off the bat at 8:15. After that I only had 2 or 3 bites. Ended up leaving around 1:00 pm. There was only 1 other boat out there.... could have been Physion, but I didn't investigate to find out. I think that I will head up again later in the week....if there isn't any ice by then. Water temp up near Nibbler Creek was around 45 degrees. All in all, a beautiful morning on the lake.

Pauli

 

[Physion]

not me

I spent the day working on tackle and doing some other chores. Every time I went outside I had thoughts of fishing. I hoped the weather would cooperate for you, but I decided to stay home. No wind was nice. Even a little breeze off the water can make it feel very cold. Will we see another day above 40 with no wind? I'd certainly like another trip or two.

Physion

 

[Trailbob]

My wife and I fished Arrowrock today, from around noon to 3 pm, from the start of the narrows to just past the South Fork. Beautiful day, temps in the mid to upper 30's with very little wind. Tried various offerings from the surface to 25'. No kokes, but caught four trout, and lost another (unknown what) near the boat. Only saw one other boat up near the South Fork. Water temp was 46 deg.

 

[fish4kok]

A good day on the boat without wind that make me feel great. Brought home 2 - 15" Kok. and released 5 rainbow. I fished on the opposite side of the boat ramp from 10:30AM ~ noon and caught a 15" Kok at 7' with DR and 2 trout @ 15'. Later I ran up to Cottonwood creek and have a whole area for myself, I caught 1 more kok @ 7' with DR and 3 more rainbow at 15'. No long line this time.

After loaded the boat on the trailer I drained the water in engine block and exhaust manifold. I might winterize my boat next week.

 

[Pauli]

I'm starting to get an itch again..... Anyone know if the ice has taken over on either Arrowrock or Lucky Peak??

Pauli

 

[DocDan]

I fished Arrowrock last Friday, almost completely full, no ice, no other boats or even bank fisherman, fishing was awesome but very cold, fish from 8 to about 30 feet. There is ice on parts of Lucky Peak in the coves. I don't if any of the main body has iced over since then.

 

[Pauli]

Thanks Doc..... I'll probably venture out there within the next few days.

Pauli

 

[fish4kok]

Happy New Year

I drove up to Arrowrock after watching those people jumped in freeze water at LP Spring Shores Marina. The reservoir is 92% full and the water is open. The road has many places with potholes. Didn't see any boat on the reservoir. Just few bank fishermen along the shore. Good luck to all for fishing in Arrowrock this year.

Red x mark is the boat ramp area

Bank fisherman​

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