Does it really matter?

[crawler]

Got out early Saturday and started with white squids behind a 10' flasher. Maybe caught one or had a wobble or two. The bite really started for me around 9:30 or so after the sun had risen a bit. I had changed over to UV orange tail squids behind the same flasher. Did good for me... I only fish two rods. I think I ended up with around a dozen or so kokes. I keep thinking does it really matter what I have on? It seems when the bite is on it's on reqardless of the lure.

What worked best. I had some home made junk that consisted of mainly UV orange and silver beads. However, the white squid at 70' produced the best kokes! Real nice 3#-4# kokes, mainly males. By the way I fished Breeze Hill the whole weekend. I was happy with cathing my limit of nice kokes. I don't tend to worry about the 20 -30 fish days. If I get my limit I'm happy. Oh by the way... the black pearle isn't doing dirt for me!

Good luck and hope the info helps.
MinnMan

 

[SmokeOnTheWater]

101goodpost101

I like your perspective as I agree that when you find them and they're willing to play, it's all fun.

The WY Game & Fish report that catch and release of Kokanee it not a good practice. Although the reports of 20+ fish a day is fun, the actual mortality rate of released kokes is reported to be very high especially if caught deeper in the water column, later in the year, or brought on board to photograph. As the surface temp warms and fish go deeper, fighting them in the warmer surface water also may have a devastating effect on their survival.

Hopefully this info is beneficial to many? Once you get your limit of kokes, try learning the other species in the lake. I'd really like to hear and learn how to catch those elusive browns. I can pick up an ocassional brown during the Spring but it's usually by accident. I think the tactic is a bit different than river fishing?

 

[POk3s]

I think it does...only because I've had many days where the same setup is catching all the fish. Even this last weekend it was 2 poles on Saturday that caught all the fish...out of 4...even though the others were hovering around the same depth. On Sunday it the majority of the hits were on 2 poles with a few on the 3rd....only one hit on the 4th pole. I don't think it's just luck that one pole catches all the fish when the other side of the boat has a different color 3 feet above where the other line is....

Just my 2 cents.

 

[jacksonlaker]

I agree on the catch and release of Kokanee. They have a horrible survival rate when released, especialy in the summer. I have heard guys say if this were the case, you would see dead kokes all over the lake. I disagree. They dont die imediatly and not all fish float when they die. Next time look at the dead fish in your livewell. Are they all floating ?? No, some of them sink. The biggest threat to the Kokanee at Flaming Gorge are not burbot. It's big lake trout and catch and release kokanee fishermen !! There, I said it !

 

[platypus]

--if you only want to catch fish when the bites on... it probably doesn't matter.
--if you want to consistantly catch fish when no one else is or you want to catch bigger fish then lure selection is one of the pieces of the puzzle.
--depth, speed, lure presentation is also of significance.
--would be a bummer if it were true that lure doesn't matter, what would be talk about on the forum.

 

[POk3s]

I try to do the best I can when "catching and releasing"...it's pretty obvious to tell when you've got a little shaker on. I real them up to the surface quick, and keep them in the water while using needle nose pliers to undo the hook. Do some of them die...i'm sure of it...but I can't fill my limit on .5 lb to 1.5 lb kokes. If i'm not going to keep them i don't net them...simple as that. once again, i'm sure some die but that's the best i can do.

 

[crawler]

May it does!

I do notice that most fish come in and look but don't hit. If I can only fiqure out how to get that last piece of the puzzle!

Apparently I'm getting their curisousity aroused but not peeing them off enough to hit.

 

[smokepoles]

I've said this before, and will say it again: I believe to decrease the fishing mortality they should implement a keep-every-koke-you catch rule (like they did with perch at Yuba), but up the limit some. I hate to keep a 3 fish limit of shakers, but if the limit was say six there'd likely be some good ones in there. A harvest of six is still easier on the population than 20 released where even half do not make it.

 

[Targa165]

jacksonlaker I'm glad you said it and I agree. The guys catching 20 or 30 or even 40 kokanee each day of a trip and keeping a limit of 3 each are killing alot of kokanee. I don't know what the answer is but 2 or 3 fishermen in a boat shouldn't need to catch 40 fish to get 2 or 3 limits of nice ones. I know we have to release some fish because I don't want a limit of shakers either, but it seems wasteful to keep catching kokes after you have your limit of nice ones. There I said it, too.

smokepoles I think your idea of keeping every koke you catch but uping the limit to 6 would be easier on the population than what's going on now.

 

[RalphL]

shakers eat good, just takes more of them. If I put them in the boat they go against my limit, A thrown back koke is a dead koke and we shouldn't do that. Like I tell my hunters, draw blood, thats your bull.

 

[lowe1648mt]

Catch & Release

In Washington St. if you caught it on bait, scent or both, it counts against your limit. There is no catch and release on bait/scent.

 

[Ryno]

I've said this before, and will say it again: I believe to decrease the fishing mortality they should implement a keep-every-koke-you catch rule (like they did with perch at Yuba), but up the limit some. I hate to keep a 3 fish limit of shakers, but if the limit was say six there'd likely be some good ones in there. A harvest of six is still easier on the population than 20 released where even half do not make it.

Smokepoles, that's actually been addressed and could be an option for future management. It would be a lot easier if it had the support of the anglers too.

I also agree the mortality rate on C&R kokanee is extremely high. It likely gets worse as the summer wears on and water temps increase at the surface. I look at every kokanee I put in my "deadwell" and have never observed a hooking scar like I do with other species I catch (lake trout, rainbows, smallmouth bass). There are hopes to do a kokanee mortality study in the future, but that takes some money and planning. It's obvious that Smokepoles would support a regulation disallowing the release of kokanee as long as the limit allowed for more fish. There is obviously some very devoted kokanee anglers on this forum that frequent the Gorge. Out of curiosity on my part and speaking hypothetically, the question is would you (devoted kokanee anglers) support a regulation that disallowed the release of any kokanee during the open season if you could also double your bag limit to six? Thoughts?

 

[Targa165]

Ryno, My answer would be, "YES I would support a regulation like that."

 

[POk3s]

I wouldn't mind it either. Make it starting like the middle or first of june or something so that hopefully before that since the water is cooler the mortality wouldn't be as high. Like I said before, the limit is 3 and I try to do the best I can with releasing them but I also like to catch fish. I try to find the middle ground the best i can. Like has been said before, "The mortality on kokanee is 100% of the ones that don't go back." I know not everybody here is spending money to go out and keeping the first 3 fish they catch and going home.

 

[RalphL]

YES In any state

 

[platypus]

--only if the rule is specific and effective management tool for the water and time it is used.
--all to often I see rule changes applied to all or most areas even when it is not required.

-each lake is different... if you have an area where the smaller fish are actually the same age as the few scattered larger fish... why not increase the keep limit on the smaller fish... we use slot size on some lakes for other species here if they is a target portion of the population that is healthy or needs to be reduced.
-when I hit a school with two rods and don't like the size I pull up or go to one rod, change gear, speed, depth, area to target other fish... for sure this doesn't always work... commercials call it by-catch and it is factored into their quotas.

--Get some C&R data.
--Note: these were spawning river fish thus cannot compare with none spawning lake fish... in a study we did last season we had several multiple catches of tagged fish... now obviously spawning kokes and sockeye can take a lot of abuse during the short spawn time and natural death.

--We are trying barbless trebles here on Okanagan lk this year as it was single barbless reg. as no kokanee were allowed to be kept on the lake for many years. Found the larger single hooks used for trophy trout often immediately killed the kokanee.. only plus for the fishery was the lack of people fishing.

--I have been experimenting with different hook sizes, shapes trying to come up with a hook or rig that would either allow quick no touch release or prevent smaller fish from easily being hooked... It may not be possible to come up with a technical fix but maybe if the same experts at winning derby's put their minds to this release issue... someone will at least point us in the right direction.

 

[SuperD]

One thing I'd like to add is the daily limit vs. in possession limit factor. I drive 850 miles from CA to fish the Gorge and I generally stay a week. With a daily limit of 3 and an in possession limit of 3, the fisherman doesn't have a lot of choice regarding catch and release. For the first half of the week I'm reluctant to even keep a fish. 3 a day and 6 in possession would be nice.

Regarding the laws of C&R, I would support some changing of the law but not outlawing it. I see far too many guys net and boat the fish for C&R. Those literally are all dead fish. I release at the side of the boat with pliers. No touching, no netting. A rule adjustment that states a boated fish is a kept fish, I'd support.

 

[DLM]

There are some loopholes in the "in possession" regulations.

If you are staying in an RV, an RV is considered a residence. You can have a handgun in an RV without violating concealed weapons laws, because it is a residence. You can deduct part of your payment just like a mortgage on your house or vacation home, because it is a residence.

There is no regulation about how many fish you can have in your possession in your home, or in your RV residence.

Now maybe there are some states that have taken this into account and made special laws that specifically address this issue, but in Oregon, this is the way it is.

There are many folks up here that spend several weeks camping at a lake, such as Odell and Diamond. It is not uncommon for these people to be seen canning their fish right in the campground. For us, we don't can yet, but our motorhome freezer sure is packed to the limit with vacuum packed fillets when we head home.

 

[SuperD]

Ive heard stories of F&G sting operations at the Gorge as people are leaving town. Can any of you old timers confirm or deny that happens? In California, "In possession" follows you into your garage freezer. Most poachers are busted at their residence so the freezer bounty can be counted against them and all the home possessions can be confiscated.

 

[DLM]

Glad I live in Oregon!!!!!

It would be interesting to hear from those old-timers, as long as it is first hand knowledge and not "stories" of things that they have heard.