Jumping in with Both Feet : Getting set up and ready to go: THANKS FOR THE HELP.

[KokeRook]

Being an AVID Steelhead and Salmon River Angler (Bank mostly)..I decided I really wanted to branch out to lakes and get in on Some of this Explosive Kokanee action.

Blessed with a GREAT deal on a little 14' Lund from an old neighbor that came with a couple manual riggers I started talking to some lake fishing Vets seeking help for what I needed to get into this.

Added a 50# Minkota Endura Max
Group 29 Deep cycle and group 24 deep cycle (for electronics and troller back up)

In the attached picture you will see the completion of my initial set up to get me into this game:
*2 Lami Jared Johnson 8' Team Kokanee rods ($54.88 on sale currently at Sportco in Fife WA...normally $75) ( currently equipped with Shimano Calcutta 251 and Abu 5601 C4 from my salmon and steelhead arsenal...may change reels in future once I get the basics down).
*Lowrance Elite 7 HDI Gps, Sonar, Down imaging: May be overkill for kokes? Plan on using this for other fishing as well.
*Assorted Dodgers , hoochies, baits, and Drop shot hooks (recommended by some on this forum and Tom P down at sportco in Fife WA)

Now just to install the Electronics (first time doing this, so going to do it slow to do it right)
Tie up some lures (add more as this is a constant in fishing as we all know).

A big thank you for helping this Kokanee rookie so far...I'm sure I'll have more questions.
Great site: One thing I've noticed about this forum is that it does not seem to have much of the EGO battles and other "STUFF" that many other fishing forums have.

Big thanks to Eenakook (David) and Winter Run (Joe) (and several others on the board) for their Copious amount of assistance to help me expand my fihing obsession.

 

[Kokanee-Toni]

Good catching wishes for you! I have found Dick Nites Pink Splatter dodgers very helpful. You might not be able to find them locally but http://www.kokaneetackle.com/p-584-dick-nite-dodgers.aspx has them.

 

[Mike]

I've been looking at the same fish finder for my new rig... they sure seem nice! Hope it serves you well glad to see you got a nice set up. I just put my little 14' smoker craft on the market today!

Tight Lines

Mike

 

[KokeRook]

Thanks Toni and Mike.... BTW...dick nite dodgers are on Sale as sporcto right now for $5.88..I picke up a couple.

REgarding the electronics...I was STRONGLY told by several kokanee vets...DO NOT skimp on Electronics. Granted...you can spend Thousands on these things...this one seemed to have the most bang for the buck for the features I wanted.
Those units can be tough to find...they are selling like hot cakes. The guy at Cabelas (who showed the unit to me a couple weeks ago) said they had sold 18 in two days.

West marine, sportco, etc..(up here in WA) .none in stock. I'm sure Lowrance will get the inventory up and there will some sales/rebates at some point...

 

[Kokanee-Toni]

Pink

Thanks Toni and Mike.... BTW...dick nite dodgers are on Sale as sporcto right now for $5.88..I picke up a couple.

I didn't see a Pink Splatter that is why I mentioned it. They didn't have any at the store when I was there earlier in the week.

 

[Scrminbanshee]

I have the elite seven the exact same one and i love it. Its great for kokes and the down imagining is nice cause then you can tell if its a school of fish on the bottom or if its some sort of structure. Good job on the set up.

 

[KokeRook]

You are correct Toni...I did not see that one either when the sale started Friday...they had watermelon splatter UV and many other styles and colors......picked up a watermelon splater and a chrome hot head (a pattern of dick nite lure that I have done well on for coho and pinks previously...I figured..what the heck.)

Thanks for the tip on the pink splatter. .


thanks Sceaminbanshee.... Great to hear confimation on the unit I picked up.

 

[mrmike]

kokeRook I seem to miss were your fishing that really inmportant as so many lakes or Res fish so different/ what works on one body of water might not work were you are fishing and that were the folks on the forum will & can get you tune/ dialed in.

 

[KokeRook]

Thank you MrMike....You are very correct. I have been getting some help from some members on the forum (and other Kokanee Junkies).

I really appreciate the help and guidance I have been getting. Now to get some time off to hit the water...hopefully it will warm up a bit to get things going to the point a rookie can even be successful

 

[mrmike]

OK WERE ARE YOU FISHING OR GOING TO FISH ? Second/ concentrate on scents there been a lot of verbage about what these folks use here on the forum don't get to excited on hardware/medals etc 95% of the fisherman just use a swing blade and hoochies to start out. read or watch some of those videos you can learn a lot from them , like how they set up there boats, what kind of net there using . Pull up the fishing show Anglers West on your computer they have a lot of videos about kokanee fishing in California etc. the hot item is using the correct scent kokanee love scent try fishing one pole without it and one with/ then see with ones catches all the fish. I use the product made from Bang and change out my scents every year. Good luck.

 

[KokeRook]

Sorry MrMike...been river fishing too long where rivers and spots are kept on the down low. Meridian, angle, summit, american (supposed to be a slow year), Rife for coho...not necesarily in that order or all of them. these were suggestions and direction I was given....notice in my picture the hoochies, dodgers, and blades for the hoochies. I have been getting some great help in the background from friends that I have from my river fishing exploits that are also avid kokanee anglers and active members on this site. Regarding the lakes I plan to focus on one or two my first year to get the basics of kokes down....then summer time , back to Summer run STEELE ..and late August, River Salmon into the fall.

LOVE fishing...alll of it...Excited to add just on more species to chase an catch....

Thank you for your help..and sugestions..much appreciated.