Jordanelle today

[wiperhunter2]

Wiperslayer and I got up to The Nelle today, arriving at 6 am and were on the water fishing by 6:30. We noticed this boat on dry dock right after launching, looked like they had a nice 4th until they were grounded.





Water temp was 70 degrees and got up to 72 before we left around 12:30. We started off near the dam but had no luck there, so we moved East, no luck there either, so we headed back toward the dam and just before we got there, we caught our first koke of the day. We ended up with three at that spot all between 15 to 17". We headed back East again and found another location where they were biting and we caught 3 more about the same size as the first three. We thought we had it figured out but then that location also stopped producing, we moved back toward the dam again lost a few but no more in the boat, so we headed East again. Most of the kokes had been caught at 25 to 35 fT with pink squid. The power squad had arrived in force by this time, around 10 am and the waves were getting pretty bad but we continued on, picking up our last two before 11 am. This was when we made a mistake, letting one of the two go because it was only 11". The power squad continued to get worse and worse with them getting closer and closer, we continued to get hits but no solid hookups. Finally it was getting too much, with the waves and heat, so we decided it was time to call it quits a little after noon, we were planning on heading in at the end of the route, when our last fish of the day hit and Ira reeled in a nice 19 incher. Tough day out there, the Nelle really made us work for our limits today but the rumors of its demise proved to be just that, rumors but the fish are really hard to locate with no real schools found today.

[a_bow_nut]

From my limited experience I have had better action on orange lures at the Belle.

[Anglinarcher]

I am glad that you were able to prove the existence of Kokes still doing well.

[wiperhunter2]

From my limited experience I have had better action on orange lures at the Belle.

I should have thanked you and Stan55 for the info you shared with me, it was spot on. We were catching them on pink so we never changed but when the action stopped I was looking at trying a different color, in hindsight I should have given it a try. Water was a little stained the farther East we went but fairly clear in the area you told me about.

[jjannie]

Took a bit of work but you guys put the work in to get some nice ones. Supposed to be even hotter tomorrow.

[wiperhunter2]

I am glad that you were able to prove the existence of Kokes still doing well.

Yea, they are there but in no where near the numbers they were a couple of years back but it's good to see at least two year classes there.

[wiperhunter2]

Took a bit of work but you guys put the work in to get some nice ones. Supposed to be even hotter tomorrow.

Hope you two do well at the Berry tomorrow. It gets so hot early now days that it's really hard to stay out much after noon, at least for us.

[jjannie]

Took a bit of work but you guys put the work in to get some nice ones. Supposed to be even hotter tomorrow.

Hope you two do well at the Berry tomorrow. It gets so hot early now days that it's really hard to stay out much after noon, at least for us.

yeah it does get hot, and our pooches will keep in shadiest part of boat (up front where our feet reside) since we we do not let them  jump overboard even with life jackets on - lots of water for drinking and we do occasionally wet them down as if they've been swimming. With any luck, we too can be done and heading home before it gets super hot.

[Jig-fisher]

Wiperslayer and I got up to The Nelle today, arriving at 6 am and were on the water fishing by 6:30. We noticed this boat on dry dock right after launching, looked like they had a nice 4th until they were grounded.





Water temp was 70 degrees and got up to 72 before we left around 12:30. We started off near the dam but had no luck there, so we moved East, no luck there either, so we headed back toward the dam and just before we got there, we caught our first koke of the day. We ended up with three at that spot all between 15 to 17". We headed back East again and found another location where they were biting and we caught 3 more about the same size as the first three. We thought we had it figured out but then that location also stopped producing, we moved back toward the dam again lost a few but no more in the boat, so we headed East again. Most of the kokes had been caught at 25 to 35 fT with pink squid. The power squad had arrived in force by this time, around 10 am and the waves were getting pretty bad but we continued on, picking up our last two before 11 am. This was when we made a mistake, letting one of the two go because it was only 11". The power squad continued to get worse and worse with them getting closer and closer, we continued to get hits but no solid hookups. Finally it was getting too much, with the waves and heat, so we decided it was time to call it quits a little after noon, we were planning on heading in at the end of the route, when our last fish of the day hit and Ira reeled in a nice 19 incher. Tough day out there, the Nelle really made us work for our limits today but the rumors of its demise proved to be just that, rumors but the fish are really hard to locate with no real schools found today.

Even though you had to work for them, still a pretty good day and some quality fish for the nelle.  Nice!

[wiperhunter2]

Agreed, we felt lucky to get those fish today, especially that last one.

[2knots]

Well done, Glad you found some schools that wanted to play. Glad I don’t have to pay the bill to get that boat off the beach lol

[Mildog]

It is very good to hear of more success on kokes at Jordy. It appears that there are far fewer and much more localized. It has been much tougher to catch them this year compared to the last 3 for sure. A buddy I fish with tried several tried and true spots that produced in past years with no luck a few days back.
He finally located an area where some kokes were willing to play and boated 6 mostly in the 15 to 16 inch range not fast but managed to get some.
So it seems there are still some that have survived all the toothy critters in there, but all the predators seem to be having an impact on the numbers of kokes.
The recent reports are encouraging. I want to check out the spawning run this fall to see how it compares to past years, when I have checked the river.

[liketrolling]

i BET YOU DID BETTER THERE than going to strawberry
My grand doughter lost her ball games so we are on are way to FG.  i hope tomorrow.

[wiperhunter2]

Well done, Glad you found some schools that wanted to play. Glad I don’t have to pay the bill to get that boat off the beach lol

We were wondering how they were going to get that boat off the shore, we figured the only way to do it was to bring in a big barg, that had a crane on it but I would imagine they are in short supply in Utah, might have to bring one in from out of state. 
All fish we marked were singles, if there were schools, they were not tightly grouped.

[wiperhunter2]

It is very good to hear of more success on kokes at Jordy. It appears that there are far fewer and much more localized. It has been much tougher to catch them this year compared to the last 3 for sure. A buddy I fish with tried several tried and true spots that produced in past years with no luck a few days back.
He finally located an area where some kokes were willing  to play and boated 6 mostly in the 15 to 16 inch range not fast but managed to get some.
So it seems there are still some that have survived all the toothy critters in there, but all the predators seem to be having an impact on the numbers of kokes.
The recent reports are encouraging. I want to check out the spawning run this fall to see how it compares to past years, when I have checked the river.

I totally agree with that view, far fewer than two years ago. As soon as we caught one, we would swing back around and try and pick up another one, only once did we get two within minutes of the other on a single turn and they turned out to be two of the smaller kokes of the day. If the predators are indeed having that big of an impact on the kokes there, it makes me wonder if it would help if the DWR increased their koke stocking numbers or simply stop the stocking or at least decrease the numbers of the predators they stock every year.

[wiperhunter2]

i BET YOU DID BETTER THERE than going to strawberry
My grand doughter lost her ball games so we are on are way to FG.  i hope tomorrow.

You could be right Robert but most were not as big as the ones we catch at the Berry. Sorry to hear your G daughter lost her game. Good luck at The Gorge, hopefully we can still get out for a trip next week.

[stan55]

I was up there today as well and managed to scratch out a limit. Biggest topped out at a hair over twenty. Released several under 12s. Glad to see them and hope to catch them next year. Hyperplaid dodgers pink and white squids and speed was 1.8 to 2. Tried orange as that usually works well but no takers. Fish for me were hanging around mid 30s depth. I have noticed that the Rock Arm fishes better early and the main bay at entrance to arm fishes better towards 10am or so. Did mark a couple of schools but fish are still scattered. Makes for some long trolling runs and lots of S curves. All my fish hit the rod that was accelerating during turns. May kick up the speed next time. As usual bows were around but mostly at 20 foot depths.

[Therapist]

Question for you Koke hunters. Do you bait your rigs with corn ?? Seems that everything I read about them says to sweeten your rig with corn !! Never seen anyone mention that .

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Regarding the beached boat. I'll bet that they just hook up to the bow and pull it off with another big boat. Having the bow towards the water will be a big advantage. I would like to hear the story on how it got there !!

[a_bow_nut]

I've been using the Pautzke Fire Corn in the pink or yellow colors.

https://pautzke.com/product/pautzke-fire-corn-pink/

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Best price I've found for it is at Walmart.

[wiperhunter2]

Question for you Koke hunters.  Do you bait your rigs with corn ??  Seems that everything I read about them says to sweeten your rig with corn !! Never seen anyone mention that .

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Regarding the beached boat.  I'll bet that they just hook up to the bow and pull it off with another big boat.  Having the bow towards the water will be a big advantage.  I would like to hear the story on how it got there !!

I was using pink berkley magots.

As far as pulling that boat off with a bigger boat, I think that would be tough but who knows. Just from the position of the boat, I really don't see how it got there. There is a long point right behind it, so there is no way it came in at the angle it is facing, unless it has been sitting there for a long time and the water level dropped so much that the boat was beached. Maybe someone could ask the Jordanelle park manager.