Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
So I finally made it out to Kawkawa Lake last Saturday. Trolled the hoochie behind the rainbow dodger with corn and the silver/brass dodger with a red wedding band and krill. No bites. Saw many boats come and go through the day. Some hooking coho but mostly getting nothing.
Fish were rising and jumping right from 7:30am to noon. Around 10am I decided to try krill under a float. Have never enjoyed doing float fishing as it's been unproductive in the past and I'm impatient. Sitting and watching gets boring real quick. Well, I decided to give it a good solid try. Few minutes in, anchored in the middle of the lake where there were rises everywhere, bobber goes under! Lost it at the boat. Lots of bites and a few hookups all lost at boat except one. It was a real good sized coho. But I forgot to take a picture. Then it died for over an hour. So I trolled to the east end of the lake.
Wind and rain came up, so i retreated to the southeast corner of the lake to try float fishing. Was about to pack it up, but then the rain and wind stopped and the fish started jumping. So I started float fishing again, krill down about 6 ft and they were biting like crazy. Used up almost all my krill! Landed about 6 after switching to a smaller hook. All of them were coho. Maybe a couple were Kokanee but I lost them too far from the boat to tell. Playing them on my new ultralight 6'6" spinning rod was a freaking blast.
One other boat, while I was float fishing, managed to catch a Kokanee on his downrigger apparently it wasn't deep. He was dropping the ball when it bit.
Hoping to get out to Kawkawa again in a week or two. Hopefully catch some Kokanee but hey, those little cohos were a blast.
The only info I could find about these coho was on Fishing with Rod's website. Says there is non-retention of these coho in Kawkawa. Since I couldn't find any other info I released all of them. Anyone know about this?
Also, how are pictures getting put up these days?
Ekul246
Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/67661...e-lake-troller
Also, does anyone have experience with these? My only concern is that the gunwale on my Tracker 1246 is rounded and not square. It affects my cheap rod holders, which want to rotate the the outside of the boat when not super duper tight, and I don't want that to happen if I get one of these
Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ekul246
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/67661...e-lake-troller
Also, does anyone have experience with these? My only concern is that the gunwale on my Tracker 1246 is rounded and not square. It affects my cheap rod holders, which want to rotate the the outside of the boat when not super duper tight, and I don't want that to happen if I get one of these
ekul246, I started kokanee fishing with these Scotty portable downriggers. I had 2 of these until we upgraded and I loved them because they got me into downrigger fishing for kokanee. I used a 3lb ball and had this exact clamp on model. If you're in our Facebook Group, Kokanee Fishing BC, or YouTube channel, Fougere Family Adventures, you can see them in action in many videos and story posts with photos.
The downside to them was I had to crank down the downrigger to depth (but not a huge deal). It got tiring when reeling down and up with two manual downriggers some days. They also loosened a few times on me, but again not a huge deal as usually a second tightening kept them tight the rest of the day.
I highly recommend these as a cheap way to get into downrigger fishing for kokanee.
***NOTE*** check out Scotty rod holders. I have a few different versions and love them. The spinning/baitcasting rodholder is very versatile. I also use the Scotty fly rod holders when fly fishing. This year, I'm trying the Scotty rocket launcher rod holders. Combine one of these rod holders with the Scotty Oar Lock mount and your fishing trips will be more enjoyable.
Here's what the oar lock mounts look like:
http://scotty.com/product/no-248-oarlock-mount/
Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ben Fougere
ekul246, I started kokanee fishing with these Scotty portable downriggers. I had 2 of these until we upgraded and I loved them because they got me into downrigger fishing for kokanee. I used a 3lb ball and had this exact clamp on model. If you're in our Facebook Group, Kokanee Fishing BC, or YouTube channel, Fougere Family Adventures, you can see them in action in many videos and story posts with photos.
The downside to them was I had to crank down the downrigger to depth (but not a huge deal). It got tiring when reeling down and up with two manual downriggers some days. They also loosened a few times on me, but again not a huge deal as usually a second tightening kept them tight the rest of the day.
I highly recommend these as a cheap way to get into downrigger fishing for kokanee.
***NOTE*** check out Scotty rod holders. I have a few different versions and love them. The spinning/baitcasting rodholder is very versatile. I also use the Scotty fly rod holders when fly fishing. This year, I'm trying the Scotty rocket launcher rod holders. Combine one of these rod holders with the Scotty Oar Lock mount and your fishing trips will be more enjoyable.
Here's what the oar lock mounts look like:
http://scotty.com/product/no-248-oarlock-mount/
Thanks for the info Ben.
Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
How is the fishing at Alouette Lake?
Anyone been to Kawkawa?
At what point do the kokanee go deeper and a downrigger is absolutely necessary? I want to get out often but just not able to. Don't want to miss the best part of the spring kokanee season.
Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
How has the fishing been?
Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
Headed out to Alouette today with my little brother. Hooked two little northern pike minnows on the hoochie. Then my brother hooked a big one on the wedding band with red blade and a flash sticker. Shortly after we had a Kokanee double header. Then the wind changed and was strong from the south. Makes navigating my tracker 1236 a little tough but managed to land a few more. Lost a couple as well. Landed 4 by me and 3 by my brother. The double header we hooked up seconds apart. Me on the rainbow dodger with Kokanee hoochie and Kokanee corn. Him on the gold and silver dodger and the wedding band tipped with krill. Dropped our baits from 100 pulls to 120 an hour later and that is where we had the rest of the hookups. I run I think it's a 1/4oz sliding weight about 18" above the dodger so as not to impede the action. It was a really good day and I feel more confident now. Hope to get my kids into some, probably on Kawkawa.
Alouette became a bit of a gong show in the afternoon. Boats all over the place. Big boats. And most don't seem to care that the are passing pretty close to small 12ft boats that are fishing. It was more than a little stressful. Waves coming at you from all directions while in a little Jon boat is not fun. Even got the finger from a couple of them for looking on their direction as they ripped by.
Overall a great day. Glad I decided last night too head out there today.
Re: Kokanee for the first time this spring
Anyone been fishing kawkawa lately? Wanting to go give it a try.
Is Alouette still to busy with boaters?
Ekul246