Kokanee for the first time this spring

[Seeker]

Danny Coyne has some great intro to kokanee videos on his website. BCFISHN.com , hit the drop down menu "By Species" you'll find kokanee.

[ekul246]

ekul246, I became a kokanee addict in 2015 and have been trying as many different techniques and gear to catch them as I can since then. There's simply too many things to say about kokanee fishing in one comment, but here it goes. You can keep your kokanee fishing setup simple or complicated. When I first started getting into kokanee fishing, I did not own a boat. I used to rent a 12ft aluminum boat and use my pontoon boat electric motor to troll for them. I had no downriggers or special gear other than a 6ft rod, an extremely light drag (let them pull lots of line because of their soft mouths) a dodger and a pink spin-n-glow with white wings. We would troll in the spring and catch lots of kokanee on our local lake, Ten Mile Lake here in Quesnel. I used a Luhr Jensen 4 inch dodger at the time (and still use them on occasion) because they are heavier than other lighter dodgers and will get you down to the right depth in the spring.

My addiction to learn about kokanee fishing became a reality and I started watching as many youtube videos as I could. I found there were not a lot of kokanee fishing videos on Youtube for our lakes in British Columbia. At the time, I strayed away from starting a Youtube channel because I did not have the funding for a video editing program. We started our family Facebook group in June of 2016 called KOKANEE FISHING BC. I am amazed how much I have learned since then and continue to learn. If you need more information to help you learn and are on Facebook, feel free to check us out. We went public this year and all the information is available for you to read (you do not need to be a member unless you want to comment or ask questions). We have a UNITS section in our Facebook group where I am setting it up to help with the learning curve. We also started a Youtube channel called FOUGERE FAMILY ADVENTURES. We have uploaded all our kokanee fishing videos to our Youtube channel and focus on trying to help others learn as we learn.

I hope this helps or can help you moving forward. Here's the links to our Facebook group and Youtube Channel.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KokanneFishingBC/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDP..._as=subscriber

I will definitely check this out!

[Ben Fougere]

Seeker has some good advice too.

ekul246, make sure you check out BCFishn.com as well. Danny Coyne has a lot of great information on kokanee fishing as well.

[ekul246]

Got my gear together. Was planning to go out to Alouette this coming Saturday but not sure now with this weather.
Should I still give it a go?

[Rieber]

Got my gear together. Was planning to go out to Alouette this coming Saturday but not sure now with this weather.
Should I still give it a go?

Not sure if the gate is open. The wind has been terrible lately - bad lake to be on if it gets windy.

I also seem to remember that Kawkawa Lake fished better at the beginning of the season before Alouetle picked up.

[Chuck]

Look at your local fishing store for a small, 1 - 2 ft in length wedding band, "gang troll" or a small flasher set, remember Kokanee are relatively small.
Use swivels at each connection. Tie on about 1.5 ft. of fishing line and tie the end of that to a Dick Knight ( small "spoon" with hook ) or a Kokanee Killer, same idea.
Some attach bait to the hook. Troll slowly. Suggest the rubber "snubber" so you don't rip the hook out too easily.

Trolling for Kokanee was once the "only way" using a snubber behind a wedding ring and baited with corn kernel. We don't do that anymore. We now use a spinning rod and reel and cast/spin from shore or boat for them using a "kokanee killer" or a small 1inch fast sinking lure of lead (similar to a deadly dick) that's painted a neon orange, red or shade of pink with a couple of maggots on a single hook. Fish it close to the bottom, jigging all the while. If trolling with a spinning outfit and to prevent "line twist" don't rely on swivels alone, but use a suitably sized plastic rudder 3 or 4 feet ahead of the terminal rig.

[ekul246]

I have picked up a couple dodgers, I have some Kokanee snubbers, spoons, some wedding bands, a couple hoochies, some cured pink krill, red cured Kokanee pautzke shoepeg corn. I also have some of my own cured sockeye roe tied up in balls I was thinking of trying too. Was planning to give it a go these last two Saturdays but with this snow and getting sick I've been alternately in bed or plowing/shoveling snow. This Saturday is my first ever salmon saltwater charter. So Kokanee will have to wait a couple more weeks. Kawkawa will be open for Kokanee by then. Maybe I'll head that way instead.
I'm going to give bottom fishing, float fishing and trolling a try. Appreciate all the tips from everyone. When/if I am successful, I'll post some pictures.
Ekul246

[Ben Fougere]

I look forward to hearing how you do. Good luck when you get out there.

[TexasWalker]

I have picked up a couple dodgers, I have some Kokanee snubbers, spoons, some wedding bands, a couple hoochies, some cured pink krill, red cured Kokanee pautzke shoepeg corn. I also have some of my own cured sockeye roe tied up in balls I was thinking of trying too. Was planning to give it a go these last two Saturdays but with this snow and getting sick I've been alternately in bed or plowing/shoveling snow. This Saturday is my first ever salmon saltwater charter. So Kokanee will have to wait a couple more weeks. Kawkawa will be open for Kokanee by then. Maybe I'll head that way instead.
I'm going to give bottom fishing, float fishing and trolling a try. Appreciate all the tips from everyone. When/if I am successful, I'll post some pictures.
Ekul246

Here's some pro tips.

Lose the snubbers, they are not your friend.
Tie your rigs with a stinger hook 1.5" back of the main hook, this works better than any snubber ever will.
Kokanee are scrappy and they almost always dig the stinger into the gill plate.
Since losing the snubbers and running stingers my landing rate has increased about 300%

Gang trolls and wedding bands do not produce as well as Dodgers and hoochies.
Dog tail Dodgers are the number one producing Kokanee dodger consistently, I've got about 80 Dodgers and I only fish two now, UV moon jelly Dogtails, they always produce more fish no matter what lake or time of year.
If you can find some Mack's wiggle bills for your hoochies get them, they make a big difference.
Smaller is always better with hoochies and pink UV is your friend.
Corn is #1, it doesn't have to be shoepeg, peaches and cream works just fine.
Home brew corn is better than Pautzkes, check out Ben Fougere videos on YouTube for some recipes.
With home brew corn I find it produces better but more importantly it's not mushy and stays on the hook better.
Change bait every 15 minutes, fresh is good.
Don't be afraid to troll fast and if you get on the fish stay on them, I troll circles over a school and get limits fast more often than not.

Good luck.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Texas Walker ! Whats your Fav KOKANEE lake to fish ? RJ