I'm looking for some tips and tricks about Lucky Peak Kokanee fishing. I fished Oregon for 25 years or so. I caught lots of steelhead pulling plugs from a drift boat. My shoulders had surgery so no more pulling on oars. Now I've got a jet boat with down riggers on it. I don't know how to use em, but I got em. Any help?
101welcomw Fishin Fool 101welcomw Using downriggers is easy, keeping a watchful eye on seabed changes in altitude keeps you on your toes so you don't hang up. My suggestion is to hook up with someone who uses downriggers to show you the ropes. Learning how to stack if need, what releases(many types out there) to use and size weights that will function in the waters you'll frequent. A good fishfinder will be of aid in using them so you know the depth you are fishing in. Try finding some YouTube videos that can get you started.
LP has become a premier kokanee fishery and is every bit as productive as some of the better known hot spots across the NW. There are vast numbers of nice, plump, healthy stock in LP and they are easy to catch and action is consistent throughout the summer and deep into fall. We saw regular limits of 17" and 18" fish last year with an occasional monster mixed in and you could catch many many limits of 14"-16" as well. They fight well but are better on the BBQ.
When the bite is on everyone catches fish and with all kinds of techniques. The secret is to be the guy who gets action on the days when it is not a free for all. LP just like every other fishery develops a pattern and so we normally start with our known successful strategy from the season or seasons prior and then adjust if and when necessary. Last years hot pattern was shallow and anything orange with silver or white. Daily that combo filled the cooler and if it was a weirdly slow day still brought more action than the rest of the armada was experiencing.
Spinners with multi-blade flashers in silver are my go to setup and fished shallow starting at 5' off of a DR ball fished no closer than 60' from the ball to the lure. We fish two DR setups and then two long line side pole setups with the same lure combo type but then back an additional 15ft minimum and using 1/2oz of lead for a starting depth. Always trolling at 1.8 mph. We caught a huge majority of our fish last season between 5' and 14' on the DR setups. The long lines were way behind in production and most of the time we don't even run the third and forth poles because there is enough action on the DR setups and we know we will limit and have plenty of action with the two. You can't relax to a fine cigar or touch of bourbon if you are so busy reeling in fish. It's a life balance!
My color group:
1. Orange with Silver or White Flash
2. Green Silver Flash
3. Pink Pink Flash
On the very rare day that this setup was unproductive and the other boats were getting action we would then drop and try other combos. The hunting strategy tells us to find a color flash combo that the fish would historically take and then move to the depth and location that they are working. Eventually you will zero in on the thing that they want and get action. If I'm not getting action on the top with the spinner and bladed flasher combo I like to drop down to a depth that we locate fish on the sounder and try a dodger with hootchie combo. Pink and pink or pink and silver dodger has been my second most productive lure combo at LP. Same basic DR placement but if you are down at 20' or deeper you can move your lure a lot closer to the DR ball and still get hits. You get more hook ups and better landing percentage but first and foremost is actually triggering a hit.
Another combo that we had really hot success with at the end of the season at LP was a small orange/white belly triple teezer spoon behind a macks paper flasher. There were days when this was an awesome setup. The only issues were that it also caught a bunch of trout which we consider not a good thing when we are trying for kokanee.
Additional Tips:
Get yourself the worlds longest net handle. They go crazy at the boat and they are soft mouthed. You land a lot more hook ups if you have a really long net to reach out and get them prior to them going ballistic by the boat.
Buy regular tuna in a can with vegie oil and soak your corn (white shoepeg is #1 but regardless of what everyone will tell you yellow works as well) in the tuna oil with a little bit of meat over night prior. I also add some bloody tuna to the bait and it works.
Remove the stock single hook and put on a treble hook on everything (similar if not one size larger than stock)
Fish LP where you see everyone else fishing which will be the spring shores area back towards the damn. We've caught fish up in the arms and all over LP in the past but the hot spot is generally the first narrow under the tree farm and helicopter pad.
I have tried a bunch of different pole and reel combos and have finally concluded that you will have a lot more success if you fish with the longest and limpest ended pole you can find. I switched to Lamiglas GH801 for our DR setups and then found some limited edition 9.4 casting rods in the close-out section of the Lamiglas store that are the carbon handles and a nice limp tipped setup for a reasonable price. The 801 are an awesome tool but stupid expensive but they are sweet. The limited edition 9.4 rods are only $105 and they work exceptionally well as a side trolling kokanee setup. I use line counter reels and think that it is important to know where your offering is at so am an advocate of that system.
LP has become a premier kokanee fishery and is every bit as productive as some of the better known hot spots across the NW. There are vast numbers of nice, plump, healthy stock in LP and they are easy to catch and action is consistent throughout the summer and deep into fall. We saw regular limits of 17" and 18" fish last year with an occasional monster mixed in and you could catch many many limits of 14"-16" as well. They fight well but are better on the BBQ.
When the bite is on everyone catches fish and with all kinds of techniques. The secret is to be the guy who gets action on the days when it is not a free for all. LP just like every other fishery develops a pattern and so we normally start with our known successful strategy from the season or seasons prior and then adjust if and when necessary. Last years hot pattern was shallow and anything orange with silver or white. Daily that combo filled the cooler and if it was a weirdly slow day still brought more action than the rest of the armada was experiencing.
Spinners with multi-blade flashers in silver are my go to setup and fished shallow starting at 5' off of a DR ball fished no closer than 60' from the ball to the lure. We fish two DR setups and then two long line side pole setups with the same lure combo type but then back an additional 15ft minimum and using 1/2oz of lead for a starting depth. Always trolling at 1.8 mph. We caught a huge majority of our fish last season between 5' and 14' on the DR setups. The long lines were way behind in production and most of the time we don't even run the third and forth poles because there is enough action on the DR setups and we know we will limit and have plenty of action with the two. You can't relax to a fine cigar or touch of bourbon if you are so busy reeling in fish. It's a life balance!
My color group:
1. Orange with Silver or White Flash
2. Green Silver Flash
3. Pink Pink Flash
On the very rare day that this setup was unproductive and the other boats were getting action we would then drop and try other combos. The hunting strategy tells us to find a color flash combo that the fish would historically take and then move to the depth and location that they are working. Eventually you will zero in on the thing that they want and get action. If I'm not getting action on the top with the spinner and bladed flasher combo I like to drop down to a depth that we locate fish on the sounder and try a dodger with hootchie combo. Pink and pink or pink and silver dodger has been my second most productive lure combo at LP. Same basic DR placement but if you are down at 20' or deeper you can move your lure a lot closer to the DR ball and still get hits. You get more hook ups and better landing percentage but first and foremost is actually triggering a hit.
Another combo that we had really hot success with at the end of the season at LP was a small orange/white belly triple teezer spoon behind a macks paper flasher. There were days when this was an awesome setup. The only issues were that it also caught a bunch of trout which we consider not a good thing when we are trying for kokanee.
Additional Tips:
Get yourself the worlds longest net handle. They go crazy at the boat and they are soft mouthed. You land a lot more hook ups if you have a really long net to reach out and get them prior to them going ballistic by the boat.
Buy regular tuna in a can with vegie oil and soak your corn (white shoepeg is #1 but regardless of what everyone will tell you yellow works as well) in the tuna oil with a little bit of meat over night prior. I also add some bloody tuna to the bait and it works.
Remove the stock single hook and put on a treble hook on everything (similar if not one size larger than stock)
Fish LP where you see everyone else fishing which will be the spring shores area back towards the damn. We've caught fish up in the arms and all over LP in the past but the hot spot is generally the first narrow under the tree farm and helicopter pad.
