koke number's!

[FISH]

I have been spending alot of time on the laketrout the last mounth and the fishing has been great. but what is blowing me away is the koke numbers blackin out 30ft on my graph every day I go out, we had fish allaround the boat last week and they would boil on top of the water in giant school's! should be a great yr for kokes and maybe we can put a few on the ice? if we get ice!


ADDICTIVE FISHING,llc
Capt, ASHLEY BONSER
www.flaminggorgefishin.com

 

[SuperD]

The last couple of years my fishing partners have been complaining more about size than numbers. Now a year with numbers and some size would be awesome.

 

[FISH]

tell them to stop fishing the pipeline so much! we have been doing great on big kokes the last 2 yrs just had to change up the baits a bit! should have a good mix this yr and best numbers for a few yrs!

 

[SmokeOnTheWater]

Thanks for the Encouraging report!

For all of you "Size Matters" koke addicts out there, I just watched a show on BC Fishing that said the kokanee in that particular lake are sterile and that they expect the fish to survive to nine years. That should make for some BIG FISH. Maybe a new world record someday?

 

[Ryno]

The last couple of years my fishing partners have been complaining more about size than numbers. Now a year with numbers and some size would be awesome.

Record low recruitment for kokanee in 2007 and 2008, along with really good recruitment in 2009, means there's more smaller, younger fish out there. The 2009 year class will be Age-3 this upcoming year and Age-4 the following year. We could be coming on some great kokanee fishing.

 

[Ryno]

Thought this might be of interest to some of you. I've attached a graph showing a longterm trend for kokanee salmon abundance in Flaming Gorge. You can see the all-time lows measured in 2007 and 2008 followed by a record high in 2009. We also saw another good estimate in 2011. I hate to get overly optimistic when predicting fish catchability, but providing we don't have major issues with mortality (predation, poor C&R tactics, etc), we could see some exceptional fishing these next few years.

 

[RalphL]

Pretty much a 4 year top to bottom cycle with weather ,and, or, survey variances dimpling the result. Exactly how much "guestimation " is in each years totals?? Amazingly consistant pattern.. Any idea why the gap in 2006?

 

[Ryno]

It's actually a pretty reliable estimate compared to some other open water fish populations. We run the same hydroacoustic transects each year, give or take one or two depending on reservoir levels. We run a total of 45 transects starting at the Confluence and end up at the Dam two nights later. All sampling is conducted under the night(s) of the new moon in August to reduce sampling variability due to patchy distribution. We also only estimate kokanee under 14-inches, being the adults are difficult to catch in trawls, which are used to "truth" the counts generated by hydroacoustics.

The major drop in 2007-08 was pretty scary and it really broke the cycle you observe. We were hopeful that the kokes would rebound and were rewarded in 2009. There's a lot of things we know are impacting kokanee in the reservoir like predation (lake trout & some burbot) and the spawning runs have been really reduced over the last several years. We have also recently found whirling disease in reservoir kokanee. I think poor catch and release tactics could be having a toll, being so many smaller fish are released in hopes of harvesting bigger fish, but that mortality hasn't been quantified to date.

It's a pretty dynamic system, much like any other kokanee water. We'll continue to promote the harvest of small lake trout and burbot to reduce mortality, stress good C&R, and acquire eggs and stock as many kokes as possible to keep their numbers up for the future.

Hope that helps.

 

[smokin' Kokes]

catch and release is a loser on any of the salmonids, especially younger class growing fish. They are heavy bleeders that don't clot up and stop bleeding.
See it every year in our mandatory silver salmon wild release requirement in the ocean and lower river fish. Most bleed out and die very quickly after release if a seal or sea lion doesn't pick up on the blood trail first.

Same occurs with our fantastic spring chinook, the mandatory wild release fish die from bleed out or blood scent trail predators on a weakened fish.

Burbot and lakers are blood scent trail feeders also.
Bass and sturgeon take a beating and live, salmonids NO.

Time to stop the farce of hood release of salmonids. If one wants to reduce the hookups on smaller fish, require much larger hook sizes. Mandatory 1/0 barbless minimum for kokes on the large fish lakes like FG. Far easier to enforce.

What causes the extreme fluctuations in koke numbers in FG, rain and snow pack variations year to year during the spawn and growing feeding stages?

 

[SuperD]

Was it 2009 that the water levels were so high that the fishing was pretty tough all summer? I would guess that the population didn't take as big a hit that summer and more fish to spawn.

 

[smokepoles]

catch and release is a loser on any of the salmonids, especially younger class growing fish. Time to stop the farce of hood release of salmonids. If one wants to reduce the hookups on smaller fish, require much larger hook sizes. Mandatory 1/0 barbless minimum for kokes on the large fish lakes like FG. Far easier to enforce.

I tend to agree with the 'farce of C&R", and have suggested in the past a mandatory keep reg but with a higher limit. The idea being that less dent to the population than when guys get 30 or more kokes (at least according to their bragging) and shake off all but three.

I find the the 1/0 hooks interesting, and would like to know more on any studies that indicate it may be effective for kokes.

 

[Kokaholic]

I think I will try the larger hook size. Tie a few up and give them a whirl, Dont really have anything to lose but a few bucks on some hooks and the time to tie them up.

 

[Ryno]

What causes the extreme fluctuations in koke numbers in FG, rain and snow pack variations year to year during the spawn and growing feeding stages?

Smokin', water availability definitely influences kokanee recruitment. Reservoir levels, especially overwinter drawdowns, can have a significant impact on in-reservoir kokanee spawning by dewatering or freezing redds along the shoreline. Previous research has shown as reservoir levels decrease, mortality on kokanee eggs increases substantially. Other things to consider are predation. They are still the primary forage for lake trout, but burbot appear to be more of an opportunistic predator. Of course, you've already discussed the potential for C&R mortality. I don't think zooplankton abundance has much to do with the population swings. It was identified in the late-90s that there were enough zooplankton in the Gorge to support a kokanee population of about 3.5 million. Our zooplankton densities haven't changed and the average size of large-bodied zooplankton like Daphnia has actually gone up some, indicating there's still lots of good forage out there for kokes and rainbows. Currently there are also a lot of kokanee stocked which will influence there populations. It's highly variable from year to year dependent on wild egg takes and as many as 1.5 million have been stocked in the last 5-years. Of course the survivability of those fish over their lifespan and their ability to return to spawn at Age-3 or Age-4, also influences the population cycle.

It's a pretty dynamic fishery, with notable population peaks and valleys. I personally feel it's hard to attribute one factor to these increases and/or decreases and it seems just when you've figured them-out, the kokes throw you another curve ball. I really like some of your thoughts on C&R too, thanks. Ryno

 

[trollmonkey]

Ryno ,I know there are seasonal changes in the abundance of daphnia. Is there any management technique to jack up water flea abundance ,or is it all dependent on natural factors?

 

[Petty4life]

I think I will try the larger hook size. Tie a few up and give them a whirl, Dont really have anything to lose but a few bucks on some hooks and the time to tie them up.

I agree. I think i will do the same101goodpost101

 

[RalphL]

I tried the 1/0 hook for a short while last season to see if it would slow down the "shaker" catch. They still hit it and wound up as eagle-heron-osprey food when I released them. Now I keep them as part of my limit,they do eat well and try to id and stay out of areas in the lake where I seem to always find smaller fish. I've tried going under them, over them and bigger hooks to no avail. If your presentation and real estate are right for the mature fish you will get the shakers. Best solution is keep them. I did not however, try barbless,and wouldn'if I am after keepers..

 

[Ryno]

Ryno ,I know there are seasonal changes in the abundance of dapnia. Is there any management technique to jack up water flea abundance ,or is it all dependent on natural factors?

Good question. I suspect zooplankton abundance on the Gorge, including Daphnia, is mostly dependent on nutrient availablity. On good water years like we've had recently, nutrient levels should increase in the reservoir as a result of run-off and flooding new shoreline habitat. The more nutrients available, the more phytoplankton (microscopic algae). Most zooplankton are filter feeders, feeding on abundant phytoplankton. Some species of Daphnia will even feed on smaller zooplankton. Typically, as water warms in the spring, zooplankton abundance increases, starting off with smaller bodied organisms like rotifers and young copepods and Daphnia species. As the summer progresses, larger bodied copepods and Daphnia become more prevalent. On the Gorge, zooplankton abundance typically peaks in June. Last year was a really good water year, and average zooplankton abundance at the peak was 58% greater than observed in 2010. The Buckboard sampling site had a 169% increase. These increases should benefit the growth of fish that utilize zooplankton, including kokanee, rainbow trout, young lake trout, and juvenile fish.

It's possible to fertilize a body of water to increase phytoplankton abundance, much like you would your own yard. The zooplankton are your "lawnmowers". Fertilizing would be a duanting task on a body of water as large as the Gorge, but these methods have shown success on smaller bodies of water and even in hatchery ponds for raising fish.

Hope that helps some, Ryno

 

[Ryno]

Was it 2009 that the water levels were so high that the fishing was pretty tough all summer? I would guess that the population didn't take as big a hit that summer and more fish to spawn.

Yeah, I remember that year too. The reservoir came-up about 14 ft in only 4-6 weeks and the kokanee fishing was really tough.

Unfortunately, the only measure of kokanee spawners in the Gorge is what's occurring in Sheep Creek. At the peak of the spawn in September 2009, a total count was performed producing only 469 fish. The run was actually better in 2010 and 2011, with 632 fish and 1569 fish respectively. Of course this doesn't account for fish that show-up really early or for late-run kokanee that run in late October-early November, but it gives us some idea on how intense the spawn is from year to year.

Ryno