Sept. 12-15: Fishing Oregon’s Record Holding Kokanee Lake – For Trout!

[FishWisher]

Inspired by last year’s world record 9.7 Lb. kokanee, I drove to Oregon, picked up my old high school buddy, Al, in Prineville (and I do mean old; he was class of ’58!). We continued on to the northeastern, and much unheralded, Oregon’s Wallowa State Park. For me it was nearly a 2000 mile round trip aboard my faithful coach with my beloved C-Dory in tow.

We spent four days at the park, and while the kokanee were easily found in the Wallowa River (more accurately a creek) which hosts the annual kokanee spawn just a short walk from the lake – or from the coach in the RV park, for that matter. All those brilliant red kokanee were quite a site!

We caught our share of fat trout to four pounds during three days of fishing, and took one day off to visit the nearby, artsy town of Joseph, Oregon. We also rode the Wallowa Lake Tramway up to the top at 8150 feet, overlooking the lake and valley below. It was a grand day to be tourists.

Lots of photos of the trout we caught, the park, the lake, the kokanee and the trip on my homepage, if you’re interested. Check ‘em out at http://fishwisher.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/sept-11-oregons-world-record-kokanee-lake-wallowa-lake/

(Mods: No forum, nothing for sale, no ads on my site; just my fishin' stories and photos.)

 

[TrollNFisher]

Awesome post, and great pics of the trip. Nice trout.

 

[HiTechKoke]

Great write-up and what a trip you had up there. It looked like you were the only boat on the lake? What was the average size of the Kokanee in the river and what was the largest fish you saw? I was there a few years ago and had a good time. It made me go back and look at the nice Kokanee we caught along with a big Rainbow.

Kevin

 

[FishWisher]

Yep, we were about the only boat on the lake at times, occasionally one or two others were out. It's good to be old geezers and take our vacations after school starts and the crowds have gone home!

The kokes in the creek were something like 14" on up to over 20". Never saw anything close to a record fish. They sure are a sight as they just hang around that bridge and their colors are spectacular.

Love your videos, Kevin, they are very informative and entertaining!

Dale