2017 Lucky Peak Reservoir Kokanee Fishing Report

[F-Bomb]

Anybody take a chinook

Has anyone taken an LP chinook home to the BBQ? We reduced that decent one from Friday and I ate him Saturday. VERY DISAPPOINTING! The meat was white, somewhat mushy, and bland. Nothing even close to the same amount of deliciousness as the blaze orange and firm meat of the kokanee that we also brought home. I had visions of the same stuff that we get at the coast with the sea run chinook but this was almost exactly like the plain jane planter rainbow trout. I wonder if that is because they are hatchery gene stock? Maybe this one being 20" was not quite mature and maybe it's a dietary thing? Anyway we have been catching quite a number of the baby chinook and had visions of the lake letting go of a bunch of them each year in the two foot range but if that is what you get for dinner no thank you. I'll stick with the kokanee!

 

[SuperD]

It is in fact a dietary thing. Meat color not with standing, their protein source in fresh water is so much different that it doesn't make for good table fare.

 

[KokaneeJoe]

Has anyone taken an LP chinook home to the BBQ? We reduced that decent one from Friday and I ate him Saturday. VERY DISAPPOINTING! The meat was white, somewhat mushy, and bland. Nothing even close to the same amount of deliciousness as the blaze orange and firm meat of the kokanee that we also brought home. I had visions of the same stuff that we get at the coast with the sea run chinook but this was almost exactly like the plain jane planter rainbow trout. I wonder if that is because they are hatchery gene stock? Maybe this one being 20" was not quite mature and maybe it's a dietary thing? Anyway we have been catching quite a number of the baby chinook and had visions of the lake letting go of a bunch of them each year in the two foot range but if that is what you get for dinner no thank you. I'll stick with the kokanee!

I kept a 24" one earlier this year and it was sub-par at best. Very bland. No flavor. Trout are better tasting.

 

[F-Bomb]

hmmm

Well that is disappointing information. Maybe they will be incredibly fun to catch once they all grow up but one will never make it back onto my BBQ unless it's mortally wounded. (yuck) I can already envision the argument when one of my buddies lands a good fish and I demand to release it! If you see someone swimming to the bank from a black pontoon you'll already know the circumstances and that the mutiny was put down.

 

[KokaneeJoe]

The one big one I caught was a very impressive fighter but I don't think I will be targeting them. I like the delicious kokes.

 

[kodiak1]

That's interesting. The 12 #er I caught out of Anderson was as good....maybe better.....than the Chinook we catch at Sekiu in the Straits. Different waters maybe?.. Mike

 

[G3 longliner]

Fished Lucky Peak yesterday near the dam. Barely got my line in the water and caught a trout. Fished for two hours and ended up with 2 trout, 1 Chinook, and missed or lost 3 fish. All were caught between 8 and 10 ft at 1.8 to 1.9mph.

Maybe i can shed a little light. I commercial fished salmon in Alaska for 7 years - what i know is: the orange meat comes from the krill that they eat, thats why farmed salmon has to have dye put in food to get any color . also the rich flavor on Chinook ( we call Kings ) is the oil from the Herring, candlefish, and other creatures they eat. So landlocked chinooks are not going to have color or flavor that you would expect from the ocean . And by the way, it was the most rewarding seven years of my life

 

[fish4kok]

Long leader

Fished yesterday at LP from 11:30Am until 4:30PM and took home 3 fat 14" Kok. First time I fish with long leader and faster trolling speed and it worked. One long line pole with 1.1/4 oz. sinker + Mack's lure plastic flasher (red/silver) + Kokanee King (orange/white) + white corn and 56" leader. Most action on this pole. Had an other setup with green/silver flasher and orange WR that fish with DR from 10' to 15 depth and got few fish included 1 small chinook. We lost other 4 fish when it get close to the boat. It was hard to net the fish with long leader on 7'6" rod. Especially single hook on the lure that make the fish get off easy when it flipped on the air...
Thank F-Bomb for the info. With this setup the fish strikes very hard.

Wife had a good nap... Her pole that she setup as normal when we fish at LP. Fordfender + Kokabow with about 18" leader...She changed the lure few time and changing depth with DR, not a tap...

Water level drop about 95', portable boat dock wasn't on center of the ramp so only one side use-able. At 11:00 Am there were 3 boats on the reservoir that including mine.

There was a mallard swim toward our boat when we rigged up our fishing gear, we fed it some bread and when we start trolling it jumped on the step platform and had a free ride for half an hour.

 

[F-Bomb]

Now we "talking"

Thank you all contributors. It's nice to be able to learn, inform, compare, and converse in a positive and entertaining media while we pass the time to our next fishing day!

Fish4koke...
Excellent! I'm really happy to hear that you tried that technique and that it had some positive results for you. That is really encouraging. I have been switching the stock single hook to a very slightly larger treble on my wedding ring spinner setups and that seems to improve the hooked to landed ratio. I also switched some of the blades to a larger version about late summer.
One I painted orange and white and it's been getting some strikes pretty much along with the stock hammered silver.

I also bit the bullet and switched from Fenwick 7.5ft everyday rods to some way too expensive Lamiglas and once again it seems like we are landing a larger proportion of our hook-ups.

I use two 801GH which is an 8ft on the down riggers and two 9.5fters on the outside long line setups. Lamiglas has a sale on the CG GH80 right now for $113 per stick. I paid considerably more for a slightly different make-up but I bet the results would be as positive.

G3 great info..Your comments and experience correlates with what I have heard and read. I bet you do miss the good ole' days of Alaska fishing! I love seafood and would eat salmon and crab everyday if I could afford it. Of course it all goes better in the trifecta with a good steak!

 

[fish4kok]

F-Bomb
I often fish with the leader not more than 18" long on the spinner and ~ 12" leader with the squids after the dodger... We (Wife & I) often caught fish with our setup and slower trolling speed and enjoy the day on the lake. Somehow this year fishing at LP is getting more challenge...

I read your posts about the long leader and 2MPH+ trolling speed and many of your share information about fishing in LP. Stuffs that you used for your catching technicque that I also have in my tackle boxes so why don't I try? Now I have a better GPS echomap fishfinder that I can read the trolling speed and I can dial in. With in first 25 minutes I boated 1 kokanee and the 2nd took off with my Kokanee king single hook, the line broke right at the knot that tight to the lure. I replace same lure and that has more action so I didn't try the tripple teaser yet. First time I fish with long leader and I'm glad with the result. Thank you for the solution to use longer pole and tripple hook on the wr. I did tight some tandem single hook for the wr and I'm thinking to replace the single hook on the kokanee king, tripple teaser to the tripple hook. I don't know that will change the action of these lures?

Yesterday I bought couple more Macklure's flashers for my wife, one set with 2 blades, the other with 4 blades. Hopefully she will stay awake on our next fishing trip.

 

[nepetbutler]

Tuesday

Lucky peak was slow so went to arrowrock and nailed many Kokes and trout. Orange hoochie and pink hoochie.Firecorn and maggots. Down 26'

 

[hooknhunter]

How big were the kokes?

 

[nepetbutler]

How big were the kokes?

14-15". Really good fighters.

 

[tramos]

14-15". Really good fighters.

Any more details? How many kokes did you catch? Where and how fast were you going?

 

[formulaben]

slow but beautiful day

Went out yesterday on a friend's boat. We had issues with trolling speed since it was his first time out in the boat...so take this report with a grain of salt.

Anyway, we were too fast so we stopped for a while to jig. Caught a ~15" trout about 12 feet down with a Cabela's Jig-n-Spoon. My first time trying to jig for anything and came up with a nice fish. 2nd fish was a 16" trout caught on a longline flatfish while trolling fast. Both fish were caught South of Spring Shores in the narrows headed towards Gooseneck.

Overall a gorgeous day once we got around the corner from Turner's to Gooseneck bay and got out of the wind, but could have used more fish in the boat...

 

[nepetbutler]

Any more details? How many kokes did you catch? Where and how fast were you going?

1.4 mph zigzagging. Down 26'. Orange squid. Pink squid. Anise pink Firecorn, maggots
Back 30' 10-3 pm. No wind. Soo many bites. Landed 3 koke 7 trout. Next day 5 Kokes 3 trout. Heading up Sunday.

 

[Hoochie Bro]

First Time at Lucky Peak

Hey guys,
I am new to LP, but I've been reading these threads for a while and I figured I'd give it a go. I was the guy in the green kayak who trolled/jigged nearby the dam and that bay all day. That wind was impossible to row against early this morning, so I figured I would just really try to nail down that little area. I striked out today- thinking it was mostly a consistent depth issue, however, I did see some decent top action for trout today (Probably would have done better on the fly rod with a nymph/dry indicator...lol) Maybe I wasn't over the kokes and the close dodger was a bit too much for the trout?

Was using a UV Sling Blade with a pink hoochie 6 inches back, tipped with Natural Fire Corn. Tried everything from 15'-60', but really focused on the 15'-30' range- nothing!

Not too discouraged, I'll probably try to convince the lady to go "camping" with me and hit Arrow Rock next weekend.

I believe I saw F-Bomb pull out there today. I'm curious if anyone around the dam caught anything..? Saw about 4 boats and a thousand seagulls congregate over there a couple times.

 

[F-Bomb]

imposter

Unfortunately it wasn't me that you saw at LP. I've been swamped for several weeks and have not been able to break away. My last trip was reported. Sadly it was one of the best of the year and a combo of this incredible fall weather, great fishing, and NO JET SKI and SURF BOATS makes for a perfect LP day. Such days are so rare that I have been itching to go up and repeat but no such luck. I do check in on this site regularly to see if anyone is having any action up there so that I can live vicariously.

A tip about LP and dealing with the wind....

There is an almost daily early am prevailing wind that rages down canyon (westerly) from Spring Shores towards the Dam. It is on sunny calm high pressure days. I'm guessing it has something to do with heat and pressure as the sun warms the area. It makes the dam area a mecca for sail and kite board riders and a PIA for early morning fishing. On calm early mornings that create these conditions you are miles ahead to drive up to the marina and fish the opening of Robie Creek along the bank under the tree farm and helicopter training station. This small area seems to be less affected and is the calmest good fishing area most mornings. As the sun goes up and the temperature warms up the entire lake calms and then it's wonderful everywhere.

 

[F-Bomb]

also

You mentioned "being over the kokes". I bet not and as a matter of fact I know not. For some strange reason the kokes at LP can be caught right up to the surface. Obviously there are a bunch of other factors in technique but 100% for sure people should be fishing LP much more shallow than the traditional kokanee fishing depths. On some days If I stand up on the seat of my pontoon the flasher is visible paddling along back there just below the surface. That is with the DR ball set at 5ft-8ft but with the paper flasher system the lure is slightly above the DR setting. You do need to be quite a bit further back from the boat fishing this shallow but it absolutely works at LP on some days.

I also guess that these fish are holding deeper but come up when they are attracted to the lure. Don't really know the exact particulars but you can deduct this all from the fact that we catch a consistent amount of kokanee fishing very shallow at LP.

I also don't know about "fire corn". I know lots of guys swear by it and I'm sure it works for them but.....
What I do know is that LP kokes like the following mixture. White shoepeg corn soaked with the oil squeezed from a can of tuna fish (vegetable oil version). Then when we get to the lake we add a very generous amount of Mike's Blue Herring oil (I found it at Walmart) and a little bit of Lucky Peak water. This bait combo 100% works up there and has now without fail for two seasons. I've concocted a bunch of misc combos of stuff including dying the corn bright colors, adding bloody tuna juice, bloody tuna powder, ect ect and none of them seemed to consistently produce action like the previously mentioned bait. Weirdly we got more action when I added the lake water. I read about that on the net and it ended up being real. The internet expert warned against using tap water.

 

[nepetbutler]

Kayaking

Hey guys,
I am new to LP, but I've been reading these threads for a while and I figured I'd give it a go. I was the guy in the green kayak who trolled/jigged nearby the dam and that bay all day. That wind was impossible to row against early this morning, so I figured I would just really try to nail down that little area. I striked out today- thinking it was mostly a consistent depth issue, however, I did see some decent top action for trout today (Probably would have done better on the fly rod with a nymph/dry indicator...lol) Maybe I wasn't over the kokes and the close dodger was a bit too much for the trout?

Was using a UV Sling Blade with a pink hoochie 6 inches back, tipped with Natural Fire Corn. Tried everything from 15'-60', but really focused on the 15'-30' range- nothing!

Not too discouraged, I'll probably try to convince the lady to go "camping" with me and hit Arrow Rock next weekend.

I believe I saw F-Bomb pull out there today. I'm curious if anyone around the dam caught anything..? Saw about 4 boats and a thousand seagulls congregate over there a couple times.

No wind at arrowrock. More water. All Kokess got off. Landed 13 trout. Great shirtless day trolling down 24 feet . Pink hoochie/ anise krill soaked pink Firecorn