Nantahala 2014

[rgarbar]

After a long delay I finally got out on Nantahala Lake to target the Kokanee. Had a fairly decent day. Boated a nice 18" male. Lost another a tad smaller at the net. Had a number of strikes. They were biting light. All the action was at the "narrows" and green was the color of choice. . No thermocline at the lake. Marked fish all over the water column. Things will get better in the next few weeks as the thermocline forms.

 

[trollmonkey]

Hey Ron, Good to hear you're back at it. I'm thinking of a trip out next week . I'm itching to get back into some kokes. We did our annual trip to Apalachia a couple of weeks back. We rented a cabin and mostly fished mid lake. We got into some nice fish.

 

[trollmonkey]

I'll let you know if we head out. You need to drag the boat over to Apalachia and try it.

 

[rgarbar]

Mark
Nice Brown. I have to get used to fishing those "moving lakes" of western NC. Launching and recovering a boat is becoming a real pain for this old goat but I am going to try and make there effort. The Kokanee were up to their usual tricks. They were not to found where one would expect them. They were much deeper. 40' to 60+'. I marked very fish in the dam area. A lot fish marked from Arrowhead Point to the "Narrows" where I encountered a nice pod. The surface temps were 63 degrees. and the weather has been cool. Lake is very quiet as there has not been a hatch of jet skies, over powered ski boats and 200HP geezer barges. Let me know if you still want the "koke heads" for the state.

 

[trollmonkey]

Hey Ron, The state folks still want trout and kokanee heads. If all goes well we'll be out next Friday 5/30.I'll let you know for sure. Keep at the kokes,tight lines . TM

 

[trollmonkey]

Hey Ron, We got out last Friday. Thought we were going to load the boat . Put out my first line and had one on and in the boat 20 minutes after we started. It slowed way down after that one 12" Rainbow and one more strike. Our day ended at 3;00 when the thunderstorms moved in. I'm hoping to get back in a few weeks.

 

[rgarbar]

I have not been out in weeksbandmyhead. I am waiting on a starter relay(everything comes in by stage coach up here) for my boat engine plus the crazy weather at the lake is no help. Hope to get back on the lake this week.

 

[trollmonkey]

Hey Ron, Yeah my trim and tilt is doing strange things. I think the switch on my throttle is getting water in it. I'm doing work in Andrews this week if you need to off load fish heads.

 

[rgarbar]

2 Nice Dixie Kokes

Still waiting for parts for my outboard but I could no longer resist. Went out with just my electric trolling motor and 2 batteries. Had a decent day until the pestilent wind picked up and chased me in. Did catch 2 nice Kokes at 17" and 18". The big male weighed about 2.5lbs. Had a couple of strikes but lost out running from the bow to the stern.

 

[rgarbar]

Mixed Bag

Got out for a couple of hours this morning and fished until the weather got ugly(wind and a popcorn thunderstorm) that sent me home early. Caught one Kokanee(16") and a decent sized Rainbow trout(20").

 

[rgarbar]

Trio of Kokanee

Went out for my weekly Kokanee hunt and boated these three. Took a while to find the fish as there was nothing to be found where I caught some last week and the kokes did not leave a forwarding address.



Take a look at the tool in the lower left hand side of the picture. It is a pin bone removing tool. Got it for my birthday and it really works well and quick and does not tear up the fillets. No more needle nose pliers for me!

 

[trollmonkey]

Nice Ron, I'm heading out this Saturday , hoping to get there early. We're shooting for 700 or so but you know I usually run behind. If you want to hand off heads we can do an on the water transfer. Take care TM ps the pin bone remover looks cool, where do you find those ?

 

[rgarbar]

Mark

Tried to PM you but got an error message saying your mailbox had reached capacity. I will try to get out tomorrow and bring the koke and trout heads I have. Will you be fishing from Rocky Branch to the dam? My wife bought that fish pin bone remover from Amazon. They have 4 or 5 online with various prices. Yesterday the fish I caught were on the forestry side in the dam area from the block houses to the camping point. The fish were caught from 22' to 50' down so they were spread out. There were some nice concentrations(could have been trout or walleye as well). As always watch out for those pop corn thunderstorms that plague the area!

 

[trollmonkey]

Hey Ron, We are headed out Saturday ,putting in at Rocky Branch. Like I said we are shooting for 700 ,but we can do an off load on the water. I don 't want to hold you up at the ramp. Thanks for the info on depth and location. Last trip I started right off Rocky Branch cove, saw a koke on the FF, put down a line and bam. Hoping for a better bite Saturday. Also going to try a couple of new things if I get stuff together, we'll see how it goes. Mark

 

[Dr. Oc]

View attachment 7379 Y'all are making me jealous with all these pics of nice fish. I won't be up there this yr. but did manage my best NC rainbow yesterday (20 1/2 inches). Hope to get up to the lake next yr.

 

[rgarbar]

The Kokanee are still biting at Nantahala but the size of the fish are small. The last 3 I caught were in the 8" to 10" range. Two of them did not even trip the line release clips and were discovered when I cranked up to change lures or charge the glow on the lures(squids) . All fish were quickly returned to the water. All fish were caught down between 48' to 52' deep. All were caught in the Rocky Branch Abyss. Don't know where the big kokes are these days. Plenty of marks in the upper water column and plenty of bait balls as well. The thermocline was at about 16'. Will try again next week.

 

[trollmonkey]

Hey Ron, I'm glad to see you're still at it. I will probably try to get out mid August. Summer has just about gotten away from me again. I'm also planning a trip to Apalachia in August, so we'll see. We have another Granddaughter on the way, due in mid September , in a few years I'm going to need a bigger boat .