Caught a "Kokeenut!"

[DeeCee]

Went to Mackay Sat. 01-8-11 to fish for kokanee salmon. About two dozen vehicles parked at the launch site. This year there is a small fishing shack village on the ice. Kokanee fishing must be good this year. Used pink ratfinky with wax worm, finally caught one 10" koke. Very few fish being caught but saw plenty on bottom and at the 10 foot levelm but mostly lock jaw. My son didn't get a bite and I hooked the one that bit for me. Next to us was a party of four adults. They helped a three year old boy reel in a kokanee. He was so excited he went off yelling that he had caught a "kokeenut"! That tickled all the adults nearby fishing and kokeenut became the word to say during the day. I suspect the fish had lockjaw due to the weatherfront and change in barometric pressure. Did see one nice three pound wild cutbow male caught next to us. What a beautiful fish with a wide purplish-red stripe down the side and a copper colored gill plate.


I ice fish not because I enjoy the cold, but because it is the only time of year I can impress my wife by walking on water!
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[MMDon]

Very Cool DeeCee! Gotta love the excitement a little kid brings to the party.

You might try shoepeg corn for bait next time. They sell it at Albertsons or Wallyworld.

Fronts do tend to play havoc with the Kokes. Especially if the sun is out with a front moving in.
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[DeeCee]

[frown] That was the exact conditions. We had sunshine with scattered clouds moving in and getting cloudier by the hour.
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[MMDon]

I had that yesterday and fishing was tough. Today they killed them at Ririe.
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[windriver]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like it is slowing down up there. I am wondering if you can catch more trout off of the dam face or the rock cliffs. I don't know for sure, but I have heard there are more in that area.

Windriver
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[ChrisTheFish]

Does anyone know if the kokanee fishing will pick back up there or is it pretty much slowing for good?
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[DeeCee]

The trout are mixed in with the kokanee on the bottom at Mackay, very little with the kokanee higher up in the water column. To increase your chances of picking up trout at Mackay fish just off bottom. Moving just 10 to 20 feet off shore should weed out the kokanee. Over the years I have found a lot of trout cruise several feet just off of shoreline both early summer and during the winter.
In years past ice fisherman have had pretty good luck off from the dam and cliffs to the right. However, around the corner to your right from the cliffs is shallow and unproductive water, stay away from it.
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[DeeCee]

[] ChristheFish,

Kakanee fishing stays pretty good at Mackay thru at least the end of February and sometimes into March. On good kokanee fishing years there will be a shanty town of about 12 to 15 ice fishing shacks on the ice for 2-3 months. Bad kokanee fishing years there might be two or three. Some days the fish have lock jaw and other days they bite hotter than a pistle, most days are somewhere in between. Ririe Reservoir follows the same pattern most times.
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