help with hoochie (Squid Skirts) fishing for Kokanee

[liketrolling]

Kokanee are getting harder to catch at Strawberry
this is my thinking, may be wrong.
Kokes are deep and the Plankton they eat is higher so they don't go up to eat they don't like the warmer water temperature.

When that happens, kokanee will stop eating. And stop growing too. This is when kokanee enter the pre-spawn period. And changes start happening to the kokanee, as their stored energy (from gorging) is then directed to those body parts necessary for spawning.

So how do we catch them? Do we slow down? I got my first one yesterday going 1.2 mph but also got one going 2 mph.

I buy most of my hoochie (Squid Skirts) bulk, don't have many left that I bot from a store

they are marked
They are marked Glows, Double Glow, glow in the dark, and Ultra Violet, (which is a Fluorescent Color)
I took them in a dark room and the only ones that glow was the ones marked glow in the dark. I bought some cheep ones from amazon that were 5cm more than 60 mixed colors and some of them glow in the dark.

the Squids I have, most that have big White eyes the white glows in the dark

most of the squids I have made up I don't know if they are UV glow are glow in the dark they are all mixed up.

Color Shifts as we go deeper
so you guys that fish for kokes this time of year does Glow in the dark Squids work for you? you can take them in a dark room and see if they glow.

I made some glow in the dark dodgers and they did not work at all the Fluorescent works better.
The ideal presentation in achieving vital contrast is one that makes generous use of fluorescent materials and glows, arranged in such a way to be in contrast with each other and in contrast with the surrounding water

I have also used glow beads and spinner blades this time of year that has worked for me.

The dodger is the most crucial part of your setup.
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[OCF]

You have some interesting thoughts there & maybe onto something? The koke fishing has always slowed for me around Pioneer Day at Strawberry. You can still catch them on occasion, after this date; however, I have never put a limit in the boat after this date.

However, I have caught limits of kokes clear into the middle of August at the Gorge. It has been a few years since I fished the Gorge, because Strawberry is closer and I can bring more fish home. As I recall, we had the DR down 70 to 75 feet and catching kokes in August. So I'm not sure about the plankton being high & the fish not biting?

You probably need a black light to see if your UV squids are functioning or not? I wonder if the UV stuff deteriorates with time & stops functioning all together? I probably need a small black light and need to check my equipment. I didn't have as good of year as you did. I wonder if my squids & beads are getting old and grungy?
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[catfishbait]

Interesting thoughts,,, I think we are all having more trouble thank usual this year getting them to bite using typical jigs , flashers etc..


Thanks for your thoughts and for posting
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[lovetofish]

Someone posted a link (about a year ago) to a article about the color of lures at different depths. I think the deeper you go that the colors all look the same. I wish I would have book marked the article now. Interesting thoughts about the plankton though. Do you know for sure that plankton are
not available at all depths.
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[lovetofish]

I got the following from Wikipediaistribution
[url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_plankton_prevailence.PNG"][/url]
[url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_plankton_prevailence.PNG"][/url]
World distribution of plankton
Plankton inhabit oceans, seas, lakes, ponds. Local abundance varies horizontally, vertically and seasonally. The primary cause of this variability is the availability of light. All plankton ecosystems are driven by the input of solar energy (but see [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis"]chemosynthesis[/url]), confining primary production to surface waters, and to geographical regions and seasons having abundant light.
A secondary variable is nutrient availability. Although large areas of the [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropics"]tropical[/url] and [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-tropical"]sub-tropical[/url] oceans have abundant light, they experience relatively low primary production because they offer limited nutrients such as [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrate"]nitrate[/url], [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate"]phosphate[/url] and [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicate"]silicate[/url]. This results from large-scale [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_current"]ocean circulation[/url] and water column [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratification_(water)"]stratification[/url]. In such regions, primary production usually occurs at greater depth, although at a reduced level (because of reduced light).
Despite significant [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macronutrient"]macronutrient[/url] concentrations, some ocean regions are unproductive (so-called [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNLC"]HNLC regions[/url]).[url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton#cite_note-14"][14][/url] The [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronutrient"]micronutrient[/url] [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron"]iron[/url] is deficient in these regions, and adding it can lead to the formation of phytoplankton [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algal_bloom"]blooms[/url].[url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton#cite_note-15"][15][/url] Iron primarily reaches the ocean through the deposition of dust on the sea surface. Paradoxically, oceanic areas adjacent to unproductive, [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arid"]arid[/url] land thus typically have abundant phytoplankton (e.g., the eastern [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean"]Atlantic Ocean[/url], where [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_winds"]trade winds[/url] bring dust from the [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara_Desert"]Sahara Desert[/url] in north [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa"]Africa[/url]).
While plankton are most abundant in surface waters, they live throughout the water column. At depths where no primary production occurs, [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooplankton"]zooplankton[/url] and [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterioplankton"]bacterioplankton[/url] instead consume organic material sinking from more productive surface waters above. This flux of sinking material, so-called [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow"]marine snow[/url], can be especially high following the termination of [url "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_bloom"]spring blooms[/url].
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[elkantlers]

Is this the article you are talking about?
http://www.fishwithgary.com/kokanee_univ...part1.html

Lots of good info
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[Lunder]

First of all, I know very little about Kokanee but I'll share the information I read in D. Kent Cannon's book "The Kokanee Obsession". We all appear to be members of that club.

Anyway, we could be in a phase of the year where the development of phytoplankton are in full swing. Zooplankton feed off the phytoplankton and Kokanee spread out like cattle in a green field to feed off the Zooplankton.

Apparently, Kokanee prefer water in the 50-55 degree range. He claims they will sit in or just below this thermocline, come to the warmer water to feed then go back into or just below this layer so that is the area to target.

With so many of us catching so few Kokanee this is as good of an excuse as any.
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[lovetofish]

Actually it's not the one I was thinking about. This one (the one you posted) is much much better. Very good information. Thanks for the link.
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[Jmorfish]

Tks for posting the article....should be good reading....
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[fish_hntr]

[quote elkantlers]Is this the article you are talking about?
[url "http://www.fishwithgary.com/kokanee_university_part1.html"]http://www.fishwithgary.com/...niversity_part1.html[/url]

Lots of good info[/quote]

I printed off and keep a copy of all of his articles on the boat, learned a ton from him.
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