Koke fishing

[brakallie1]

Hi all, I have not fished for awhile. Since here in Bend, Oregon the shot at some nice Kokanee is getting me in the mood, now the problem is I've not ever fished for them and never got one by accident.

I'll be chasing them around the lake on a "Sea Eagle" inflatable w/electric 30lb thrust motor.
I need some guidance as how to set up a baitcaster (line) inorder to (troll).
Any articles out there or books or advice from (you) about this?

Thanks in advance,
brakallie1

 

[SilverBullets]

Hi all, I have not fished for awhile. Since here in Bend, Oregon the shot at some nice Kokanee is getting me in the mood, now the problem is I've not ever fished for them and never got one by accident.

I'll be chasing them around the lake on a "Sea Eagle" inflatable w/electric 30lb thrust motor.
I need some guidance as how to set up a baitcaster (line) inorder to (troll).
Any articles out there or books or advice from (you) about this?

Thanks in advance,
brakallie1

Welcome aboard brakallie1!! What's lake are you planning to fish? Take a look through the prior years's reports in the Oregon Forum for some good information. Also, check out the FAQ's sticky at the top of the General Discussion Page. To get to kokanee depth a downrigger helps alot and will enable you to enjoy the fight alot more over the use of leaded line or in-line weight. I'd recommend 8-10lb mono mainline and 6-8lb leader. One thing abour kokanee...they aren't line shy. For some very good reading over at Bi-Mart and Wholesale Sports is a book called "Kokanee" by Dave Biser.

 

[SuperD]

First off, welcome to the boards. Our FAQ's section on this forum has a lot of useful getting started information. Your best opportunity for kokanee in your raft is now and will be short lived unless you come up with a good method to get down deep as kokanee go deep as the water begins to warm up. Do some reading and be ready to dive into some specific questions you might still have.

 

[KokChris]

First you want to get down to the Kokanee. If you are "blind fishing" (without fish finder) its a bit harder. A good average depth during the bite is around 25 feet Ive noticed. To get down there without a down rigger you can use "keel lead sinkers" or alike. behind the weight youll want to throw on a 4/0 dodger of your personal preference and follow that by a 18" or so leader tied to a wedding ring of again your personal preference in color. Most poplular colors are pink and combinations of. Troll around 1-1.8 mph and pull out a desired amount of line such as "20 pulls" or so. This is by far the quick and dirty of kokanee fishing.There is much more to it than this. I am off to night school right now but I will gladly post pictures of my setups when I get back home tonight. Sorry for the quick version of the gear. Most will follow up here and give you the details Im sure. These guys and gals on the forum are awesome and very informative.

-Chris

edit: Beat to the punch. Thanks guys

 

[brakallie1]

New to Kokanee

Thanks all for the warm welcome, but from here to the Koke it will need to get colder huh?

Thanks again,
Brakallie1

 

[KokChris]

Thanks all for the warm welcome, but from here to the Koke it will need to get colder huh?

Thanks again,
Brakallie1

Generally the water should be 50 degrees or better.

 

[SculpinKing]

You do not always need to add a lot of weight when trolling. I caught a lot of fish last year just running out a hundred plus feet of line with no weight and a 4/0 dodger with a wedding ring spinner. One day in the fall, I got three fish long lining while the two downrigger poles got none.

Since you probably don't have a way to tell what speed you're traveling, put your lure and dodger in the water next to the boat and note what setting on your motor gives you a nice back and forth motion without spinning.

You could also try jigging. I haven't done it yet, but plan to try it this year.

Good luck. I generally fish with my dad, but I bought a setup almost exactly like yours last fall and plan on taking it out when he's not available to fish.