Kokes in the Sheep Creek/Hideout Area

[King Fisher]

Headed to the Gorge in a couple weeks, will be staying the Sheep Creek/Hideout area. Have done well in past years around King Fisher and Hideout canyont. Just wondering if anyone has some insight in that area in the last feww weeks. I haven't been up for a couple months, Koke fishing was slow, too early, only 2 to the boat.

One other question...The Kokes I have caught on the Utah side have often been smaller than the Wyoming side. I have been told there are various strains of Kokanee in the Gorge, anyone know if the size difference is due to a different strain of fish?

Advise and thoughts sure would be appreciated-Thanks!

 

[Downrigger]

Headed to the Gorge in a couple weeks, will be staying the Sheep Creek/Hideout area. Have done well in past years around King Fisher and Hideout canyont. Just wondering if anyone has some insight in that area in the last feww weeks. I haven't been up for a couple months, Koke fishing was slow, too early, only 2 to the boat.

One other question...The Kokes I have caught on the Utah side have often been smaller than the Wyoming side. I have been told there are various strains of Kokanee in the Gorge, anyone know if the size difference is due to a different strain of fish?

Advise and thoughts sure would be appreciated-Thanks!

King Fisher - sounds like you already know exactly where to go to catch a few kokes! 101ok101

I was up there two weeks ago for kokanees in the Sheep Creek hideout area and we caught several small kokanees. I haven't seen anything with size on the Utah side so far this year.

I don't think that the size difference is due to the different strains of fish in the lake because I have caught great kokanees in the past on the Utah side (3+ pounds though nothing over 4). I agree though that the kokanees on the Utah side are generally smaller.

I've asked a few different people why that is as many have different theories. The one that makes sense to me is that there is more food up-lake than there is on the Utah side. The kokes eat mostly Daphnia in Flaming Gorge and Daphnia eat mostly single cell algae and detrius in the water. Single cell algae, at least, eats sunlight and there is a much longer day of sun on the Wyoming side than on the Utah side. I think there is also a lot more detrius in the water coming in from Black's fork and the Green which gives the Daphnia more to eat closer to the river. I think very little of that food makes it down into the Utah side.

That's just what I've been able to reason out. I don't know the exact answer but that one satisfies me logically.

 

[King Fisher]

Sure do appreciate your response to Kokes on the Utah side. I would agree 100% with you, the Utah side is a different lake. Hope the Kokes start hitting the Utah side by the 14th when I arrive. I will keep you updated!signfishin

 

[bwhite]

King Fisher- we will be hitting Hideout next weekend. If we can learn anything usefull I will post on this thread. Have done well with average to smaller fish (2lb.) against the wall, I assume it will be the same this year.

 

[King Fisher]

That sure would be helpful, I'm taking 2 friends who fish all the time but have never caught a Koke!

Are you talking about the wall the runs East out from Hideout, or the wall (kind of a wall) that runs North from Hideout? Any help on the depth would also be appreciated, I assume they would be running 35-45ft by now.

Hope you have a wonderful trip (they are all wonderful to the Gorge!).

 

[Ryno]

That sure would be helpful, I'm taking 2 friends who fish all the time but have never caught a Koke!

Are you talking about the wall the runs East out from Hideout, or the wall (kind of a wall) that runs North from Hideout? Any help on the depth would also be appreciated, I assume they would be running 35-45ft by now.

Hope you have a wonderful trip (they are all wonderful to the Gorge!).

On a tip from a buddy of mine, I fished the northside of Beehive Point, a couple of weeks ago and got into a fair number of kokes. We marked a lot in there, but we were fishing the tailend of a cold front which might have slowed things down. Most of the fish were from the tip of Beehive and around Kingfisher Island to about the rope swing. Hope those landmarks make some sense? While fishing Jarvies this past Saturday, most of the marks were 20-30 ft, but we caught kokes as deep as 38 ft. Hope that helps, Ryno

 

[Ryno]

That's just what I've been able to reason out. I don't know the exact answer but that one satisfies me logically.

Nice theory Downrigger! You also have to factor in the nutrients that enter the reservoir from the rivers. The Black's Fork and Green rivers contribute the most, so nutrient levels are highest at the head of the reservoir. It's just like fertilizing your yard, you need to support growth with nitrogen and phosphorus. Those same nutrients stimulate growth in microscopic aquatic algae, which feeds the zooplankton (Daphnia), and so on. The upper lake would be considered nutrient-rich and the lower nutrient-limited as much of the nutrients get used before they get to the dam. Zooplankton densities can be high throughout the reservoir, but there are more "peaks" in production in the upper lake. As a result fish tend to grow faster in the upper lake and slower in the lower lake.

 

[King Fisher]

Ryno, thanks for the tip. I know exactly where the rope swing is but not positive on the Beehive Point. Are you talking about the North end of King Fisher by the campgroud?

 

[Ryno]

Ryno, thanks for the tip. I know exactly where the rope swing is but not positive on the Beehive Point. Are you talking about the North end of King Fisher by the campgroud?

Actually it's the long point that extends into Hideout on the north end of the bay. If you were in Hideout Camp and looked northeast you would be looking right at it. It's pretty honeycombed too, much like the name suggests.

 

[King Fisher]

Ryno-that sure helps! Crazy I have been to the gorge probably 50 times and never heard that point called Honeycomb. I really appreciate it and will give it a try next week, it can't come soon enough!!

 

[bwhite]

King Fisher- We fished hideout and points North last weekend. Can't tell you much about Hideout except that we fished the wall (Bee hive?). The fish were 35' to 40' and hitting pink and green squid/dodger combos. Two facts came home hard to me this weekend, the first being Northern fish definately run a pound or two heavier. Most fish caught at Hideout were 1 1/2lb. and fish caught North of pipeline were 3lb..Second was my fishin buddy used scent while I did not. He out fished me bad!!! Using the same gear side by side he probably outfished me 5 to 1. I think it made a believer out of me. Sorry for no more info than this but it is the best I can give you. Good luck next weekend

 

[Firescape]

I don't know if I can agree to the theories that the Utah side has smaller fish.

Yes Buckboard, Anvil, and others have big fish.

But few fish can compare to a few me and my dad have caught in Linwood.

Wyatt and John McNeill

 

[bwhite]

Firescape,

I'm probably not qualified to state facts so I will stick to my personal experience and that is that through out 6 or 7 years fishing Mustang Ridge, Gold Point, Jarvey, Hideout, etc., when we boated a 2lb. koke, which wasn't all that often, we really thought we had a fish! Since moving to points North such as Rawlins, Pipeline, Anvil etc., we tend to turn the 2lb. fish back without even taking it out of the water. We also see an awful lot of pictures of big salmon posted on here that come from the Northern end but not so many from the South. I read a post here a while back that explained it pretty good to me, it simply stated "the food chain starts at the North end of the lake" While I have never fished for kokes in Linwood, I would expect those fish to run a bit larger than the "canyon" fish such as those found at Hideout or Gold Point. I suppose that there are big fish through out the lake, it just seems that they are more common North of the canyons. Just my opinion.

 

[Firescape]

bwhite,

I wasn't trying to say that my opinion was the right one.

Me and my dad have combined experience of about 30 years of fishing. 20 at the gorge.

From that experience we have come to the assumption that there are big fish all over the lake.

On that note yes Bucky and Anvil have some monster fish.

But we have had quite a few "close to records" on the Utah side of the lake.

Just my opinion.

Wyatt and John McNeill