Favorite Kokanee jig

[spoons]

Heard about it, but never jigged for Kokes.
Going to attempt this year at LPeak and Arrowrock. What should I try?

 

[Mojo]

I have some very small diamond jigs in various colors I got off ebay. I also have some I recently "inherited" that are prototypes that are basically a hootchie with a bullet sinker wedged in them with a couple beads and a small treble hook... Cant's wait to try those. Litttle buzz bombs, kastmasters, and crocodile spoons work well too.

 

[kodiak1]

i would go with an R & K hoochie in pink. These can be purchased at Kokanee Tackle, whose ad can be seen above. They are in Meridian. Pull it behind a Shasta Sling Blade dodger. Or, a wedding ring behind flashers. Always with shoepeg corn on both. By the way, when you said you caught the CJ trout between the resort and the cove, which cove were you referring to? The cove beside Black Sands, where the ramp is? Mike

 

[SilverBullets]

For jigging you'll want to get some in 1/2 and 3/4oz. I'd recommend the Gibbs Minnow, the P-Line Laser Minnow and P-Line Kokanator. Pink, orange, and white are good kokanee colors to start with.

 

[KokeJunkie]

Heard about it, but never jigged for Kokes.
Going to attempt this year at LPeak and Arrowrock. What should I try?

Spoons, it is also my goal to boat some kokes while jigging this year at our local Idaho lakes and reservoirs. Gotta look for ways to cut down on increasing fuel costs associated with using a 90 hp trolling motor (trolling plate). Unfortunately, while searching for koke jigs at our local sporting goods store (not a sponsor so I think I can only say that it rhymes with Ca-smell-as), I was informed that we do not jig for kokes in Idaho. At least that was the reason I was given for thier lack of Buzz bombs or any other Koke specific jigs. Concerned that I, a 41 year Idaho native, may have overlooked some obscure, Idaho anti-jigging law, I checked the regs and as far as I can tell that must be a Ca-smell-as specific regulation. I think we are safe to be non-trolling, Idaho rebels and get jiggy with it.

I ended up buying some bannana-like weights in 1/2 and 1 oz and then went online and spent entirely too much on paint for them that may or may not work. $uck$ to be new at lure making. Prob going to check out those PLine jigs Bullets suggested or modify the Kastmasters I've used for trout in the past. Hopefully a little lure tape and maybe a hoochie tube will make them sexy enough for some local Kokes to munch on 101chromefish101.

 

[SilverBullets]

Spoons, it is also my goal to boat some kokes while jigging this year at our local Idaho lakes and reservoirs. Gotta look for ways to cut down on increasing fuel costs associated with using a 90 hp trolling motor (trolling plate). Unfortunately, while searching for koke jigs at our local sporting goods store (not a sponsor so I think I can only say that it rhymes with Ca-smell-as), I was informed that we do not jig for kokes in Idaho. At least that was the reason I was given for thier lack of Buzz bombs or any other Koke specific jigs. Concerned that I, a 41 year Idaho native, may have overlooked some obscure, Idaho anti-jigging law, I checked the regs and as far as I can tell that must be a Ca-smell-as specific regulation. I think we are safe to be non-trolling, Idaho rebels and get jiggy with it.

I ended up buying some bannana-like weights in 1/2 and 1 oz and then went online and spent entirely too much on paint for them that may or may not work. $uck$ to be new at lure making. Prob going to check out those PLine jigs Bullets suggested or modify the Kastmasters I've used for trout in the past. Hopefully a little lure tape and maybe a hoochie tube will make them sexy enough for some local Kokes to munch on 101chromefish101.

If you can't find what your looking for at the local tackle shops you can always make your own...

 

[spoons]

Thanks Kodiak1.
I meant the Cove campground on the way to the narrows from Black Sands.
2 weeks ago they were in 20 feet of water and hitting in front of the first Pump Station on the way to the cove campground. Last week they were not there but out in the middle in 65 feet of water where the temp changed from the snake to the bruneau water. This week they were in the 30 to 40 feet and hitting out in front of that first pump station again.

 

[KokeJunkie]

If you can't find what your looking for at the local tackle shops you can always make your own...

Those are some sexy jigs indeed Bullets! Someday I hope to have the skills necessary to craft jigs like those....and have a wife that is forgiving enough to ignore the cost in cash and time that it must take. Have you shared your techniques on jig building in any past threads by chance. I could use some tips for sure.

 

[SilverBullets]

Those are some sexy jigs indeed Bullets! Someday I hope to have the skills necessary to craft jigs like those....and have a wife that is forgiving enough to ignore the cost in cash and time that it must take. Have you shared your techniques on jig building in any past threads by chance. I could use some tips for sure.

Here's some info on the jigs in the first 3 photos...
http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/showthread.php?t=3053

The jigs in the next picture were made from cresent weights and the hoochie jigs were made with bullet weights.

 

[SilverBullets]

Here's a few other's made with barrel, bullet, and cresent weights. These were powder coated useing a old toaster oven to heat the lead. Most of them have never been tested... just something to try out if nothing else is working.

 

[kodiak1]

Thanks for the additional info, Spoons. Sorry about my response....I obviously didn't read your initial question very carefully where you were asking about JIGS! And I used to get on students in my class about not reading instructions carefully!!! Mike

 

[spoons]

No problem. The worm tipped with white corn was on the end of the wedding rings at strike also.

 

[spoons]

Bullets, those are sweet!
Make sure to let us know how those do. I appreciate the photos very much.

 

[MMDON]

I've jigged over 400 Kokes this year. If you use a spoon with the hook attached you will be out fished by those who use the spoon as an attractor inline to a 1/32 oz. jig placed 10" under the spoon. For an attractor, Silver works better than any other color. It is more visible and seems tor represent a Kokanee which keeps the school your jigging into around for 20 minutes when they start biting. This allows for quick limits. Kokanee have a hard time grabbing the hook when it's attached to the attractor. We watch people make this mistake every year while ice fishing. It doesn't take them very long to change out their systems when they see us landing 5 to their one. Since boat guys generally aren't in the vicinity of other jiggers it's a lot harder for them to compare notes. We are using 5 rods at a time, dead sticking 4 and jigging 1 to ice fish in Idaho. With 30 other guys within a short distance, that's 150 rods with jigs to be able to compare notes.signfishin

For bait we use shoepeg corn dyed pink with Kokanee Killer Korn Dye and the scent attractant of your choice. Again, we spend a lot of time comparing baits to those who use worms, meal worms, waxies and other sorts of manufactured soft baits.

 

[Mojo]

I've jigged over 400 Kokes this year. If you use a spoon with the hook attached you will be out fished by those who use the spoon as an attractor inline to a 1/32 oz. jig placed 10" under the spoon. For an attractor, Silver works better than any other color. It is more visible and seems tor represent a Kokanee which keeps the school your jigging into around for 20 minutes when they start biting. This allows for quick limits. Kokanee have a hard time grabbing the hook when it's attached to the attractor. We watch people make this mistake every year while ice fishing. It doesn't take them very long to change out their systems when they see us landing 5 to their one. Since boat guys generally aren't in the vicinity of other jiggers it's a lot harder for them to compare notes. We are using 5 rods at a time, dead sticking 4 and jigging 1 to ice fish in Idaho. With 30 other guys within a short distance, that's 150 rods with jigs to be able to compare notes.signfishin

For bait we use shoepeg corn dyed pink with Kokanee Killer Korn Dye and the scent attractant of your choice. Again, we spend a lot of time comparing baits to those who use worms, meal worms, waxies and other sorts of manufactured soft baits.

MMM, what type of spoon are you using as an attractor, and are you using ice fly type jigs or something else as the terminal end. Great post and great thread with a lot of info by the way! 101props101

 

[MMDON]

After jigging up literally thousands of Kokes this is the only set up we use.

Line 4 Lb. mono/fluoro combo main line
Prism Chartreuse Swedish Pimple (Size 2CH) 1/10th Oz.
(Cabelas 097 Prism Chart)
Size 10 Swivel
8" 6 Lb. mono/fluoro combo Leader
RF8-015 Pink Rat Finkee, from Custom Jigs and Spins.
8" to 10" 6Lb. mono/fluoro combo leader
second RF8-015 Pink Rat Finkee, from Custom Jigs and Spins.
Bait:
Shoe Peg Corn
Wizard Kokanee Killer Korn Dye
Wizard Kokanee Killer Korn Magic
Smelly Jelly Sticky Liquid, Special Mix, Shrimp Anise

 

[spoons]

Wow MMM.
I really appreciate the assistance.
I'm hitting Lucky peak in the morning so don't have time to go shopping but I'll give it try next time.

Thanks

 

[skookum9]

I have had a lot of success casting jigs and fishing them on the surface. I don't usually fool around with vertical jigging because early in the year like this kokanee are found in sufficient numbers on the surface. Now if you're ice fishing then my information here is probably of little use to you. Over the last 20 years of fishing like this with a couple of friends of mine, we have honed our technique to where we often have our limit of 25 kokes in an hour or two. My favorite jig by far is a Gibbs Minnow, but I won't hesitate to use a Buzz Bomb, Zinger or most any other jig if a Gibbs is not available. The best ones for me have been the orange and the pink and white. I will typically fish the 1/2 oz model most of the time. The 1/4 oz seems to draw more strikes but unless the wind is mostly non-existent, those strikes will do you little good. Too much slack in the line and you won't even know you're being bit. I would go to a 3/4 oz model if I wanted to fish deep or if the wind really picks up hard. And even though the 1/4 oz does seem to draw the most strikes, the 1/2 oz doesn't leave you with a lot of wait time.

A couple of tips that have helped me land more fish are these:
Always keep the hooks sharp, and don't be afraid to swap the factory hooks out for ones of better quality.
The oval shaped split rings are less likely to come undone by a wildly spinning little silver dart.
Don't jig too erratically, it doesn't take a lot to get them to bite. Often times I just let the jig fall without any jig motion and sometimes I even let it suspend dead under the boat and the fish just go nuts. Don't let yourself jig in a hurry, it never helps your fish count.
If the koke goes for the surface, give him all the slack you can and try and get him to go back down a little.
I always, always, use a braided line. This gets the hook to the fish faster and I pretty much never lose a lure, at least not once I learned the Palomar knot.
And the one thing that has probably increased my hit to hook ratio more than anything else over the years is to not set the hook. Hold the rod up when he strikes and let the fish do all the hook setting. This one lesson learned took me from about 20% of my hits coming to the boat to over 80% of my hits coming to the boat.

Of course, there is the learning curve of getting the hang of feeling for the strike. Because I move my jigs very little and not very fast, it is a lot harder to detect the strikes. This can be learned but you will never feel them all. The more proficient you become at feeling the strikes, the more you'll be amazed at how many times those little fighters are really nailing your jig. I would guess that after 20 years of developing my skills at fishing this way, and spending far too much money buying the most sensitive rods, and the SpiderWire and FireLine to increase the sensitivity, I probably detect fewer than half of the strikes that I get. And I know that I sometimes get waaayyyy too excited to not jig too actively and that costs me fish too.

Good luck out there, I hope you have a great time.

 

[spoons]

MMM,

Are you baiting or just using the Swedish Pimple body in-line for an attractant and just baiting the finkees?