American Lake

[salmonking]

Fished from about 4pm to 9pm tonight and got no kokanee but had a really good time flatling a set of gang trolls for very above avg rainbows got to the point where I could really only keep up with one rod.. really windy and tuff to stay on a decent path until the wind laid down about 8pm.... over all considering it was my 1st time on AMERICAN LAKE .... I count it as a success.... now I am going to fig out how to get some red meated fish..........

Salmonkingthumbsup

 

[cowlitzsteelie1977]

Downriggers help.

 

[salmonking]

View attachment 7440
got down riggers just could not find the right type of FISH

 

[gfakkema]

Salmonking,
The first piece of advice I can give is to get rid of that gang troll if you want to be more productive with kokes. Gang trolls are great if you are targeting predatory species like trout because they imitate wounded or feeding baitfish. Kokanee will actually tend to shy away from gangs because they draw in larger predators that might actually feed on them (kokanee). Stick to a dodger and drop that line to the 25' mark or deeper at american and you won't catch near as many bows.

 

[cowlitzsteelie1977]

With utmost respect to gfakkema, I use pop gear as part of my release, and it seems to coax in bigger fish to the dodger and lure. Granted its tailing 12 to 15 pulls behind the pop gear. However, I am deep when I use it, 30 to 80 feet. Getting through the 'Bow column is a fun problem to have though some days...lol.

 

[SuperD]

You guys don't catch big enough Kokes to justify dragging all that hardware. I'd much rather feel the fish on the end of my line. ;-)

 

[cowlitzsteelie1977]

You guys don't catch big enough Kokes to justify dragging all that hardware. I'd much rather feel the fish on the end of my line. ;-)

I do SuperD. Pop gear attached to ball, release attached to pop gear.

 

[SuperD]

Ball trolls can be very productive at times. "Pop gear" in line with the rod, not my thing.

 

[gfakkema]

Ball trolls can be very productive at times. "Pop gear" in line with the rod, not my thing.

This is what I was getting at. He originally said he was flat lining with gang trolls, so inline with the rod. Ball trolls are a different story. I choose not to use them when fishing for kokes, but to each his own, especially if it works for you. I will NEVER use gang trolls for kokes (inline). Again, just a personal preference due to the reasons I stated above.
I will use them when targeting predatory species like trout and ball trolls or an "ace in the hole" (11" flasher tied to the ball) when targeting salmon in the salt.

 

[cowlitzsteelie1977]

Ball trolls can be very productive at times. "Pop gear" in line with the rod, not my thing.

Agreed big guy! signfishin

 

[salmonking]

before this gets out of hand .... I tried downriggers with all the standard stuf and came up empty on kokes and had just released my downrigger rod and was going to call it a day about 8pm... as I was reeling in my DODGER and kokonut fly it was just about riped from my hand by a very large rainbow.... at that point I said any bend in the rod beats no bend in the rod.. so I tied on the gang trolls and seeing that it was my 1st ever visit for the next 1.5hrs I had a blast... as far as getting the right type of fish no going to keep trying I know I will get the hang of it really soon ... you guys are good people for giving advice to the novice and I thank you for that.. salmon king

 

[salmonking]

ace in the hole" (11" flasher tied to the ball) when targeting salmon in the salt.

this is a good bit of info.. if this works in the salt why would it not work in the lake .... esp if you were to attach a rigger clip about 5ft up the cable and then 35pulls of line to the dodger/flasher and bait

 

[salmonking]

here is what I am thinking about correct me if I am wrong.. but this seems like a good ideaView attachment 7441

 

[Aha6289]

Thinking about fishing American this Saturday after striking out on Kings for the last two weekends...is anyone having any luck recently? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[cowlitzsteelie1977]

Thinking about fishing American this Saturday after striking out on Kings for the last two weekends...is anyone having any luck recently? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Buoy 10. Chinook launch bait stand. Order fresh herring night before. Blue Brine n' Brite. Agitator Flasher and cannonball. That's for the kings. For the Coho they going bonkers on those Shasa 4.5 Wiggle Hoochie in Ghost UV. FYI

 

[froggie]

Hey Super D i better chime in on this one. Can you use shoepeg corn on American??? Or do you use maggots?? We use the corn in CA and the maggots at Flaming Gorge. My favorite "go to lure" in CA is a Murphys lollipop bug with a Crystal basin watermelon wild thing. I also use pink corn with anise scent!! My hubby's fave lure is a chrome dodger with a chrome Apex. This year it has been amazing how many kokes we have caught with Apexes- chrome, watermelon, gold & white have ALL been HOT at the Gorge and here!!! Give them a try where you are at...ya never know!!

 

[tortuga]

Yep that chrome\chrome hasss caught kings koke trout ...several and even a few bass

 

[kokanee_slayer]

Fished from about 4pm to 9pm tonight and got no kokanee but had a really good time flatling a set of gang trolls for very above avg rainbows got to the point where I could really only keep up with one rod.. really windy and tuff to stay on a decent path until the wind laid down about 8pm.... over all considering it was my 1st time on AMERICAN LAKE .... I count it as a success.... now I am going to fig out how to get some red meated fish..........

This is a great site for sharing tips and information. I don't mind helping those who are new to Kokanee Fishing just as there were fellow anglers who helped me a lot when I was learning the basics. Although I’ve been fishing Kokanee for quite a few years, I’m always learning something new. American is my home lake and fish it frequently with good success. Everyone, has their own personal techniques and tackle which work for them. The following is what works for me: 1) Smaller dodger no larger than 5.5 inches (smaller early season and larger mid to late season). 2) UV Pink, Cotton Candy or Pearlescent Mini-Hoochies with a 12 to 14 inch leader (with a smaller dodger shorten the leader) 3) Green Giant White Shoepeg Corn tipped with live Maggots 4) Scent: DNA Kokanee Gel 5) Depth: Downriggers a must later in the season and trust your electronics. Lately, I've been picking most up at 30 - 35ft. 6) Speed: Typically 1.0 to 1.4 mph GPS - occasionally I’ve had to go into the 2 mph range. I primarily use Rocky Mountain Tackle products as their gear has always helped me put more fish in the boat. Attached is the latest limit of Koks I caught Sunday morning. Good Luck and Tight Lines!

Slayer

 

[cowlitzsteelie1977]

Hey Super D i better chime in on this one. Can you use shoepeg corn on American??? Or do you use maggots?? We use the corn in CA and the maggots at Flaming Gorge. My favorite "go to lure" in CA is a Murphys lollipop bug with a Crystal basin watermelon wild thing. I also use pink corn with anise scent!! My hubby's fave lure is a chrome dodger with a chrome Apex. This year it has been amazing how many kokes we have caught with Apexes- chrome, watermelon, gold & white have ALL been HOT at the Gorge and here!!! Give them a try where you are at...ya never know!!

Yes you can use corn in American Lake, if you're asking about Lakewood, WA.

 

[TrollNFisher]

Nice fish Mark!