Palisades Kokanee

[fishingiscool]

I went out monday to palies and our group caught over 50 kakanee but only two were big enough to keep(about 11 inches) the rest were between 6 and 8 inches does anyone know why they are so small and were we can get into some bigger ones?
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[fishjon]

I don't know the answer to your ? instead I have one myself. Where were you fishing?!!! What were you using? I am going to palies in a couple of weeks and would love to catch a few kokes. All I've caught there are Macks and Cutties. Thanks for any info.
Fishjon
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[jacksonlaker]

Kokanee are landlocked sockeye salmon. They only live for I think 4 years. They die after they spawn like their salwater cousins. The fish you were catching are all the same year class, maybe 2 or 3 year old. The biggest would be 4 and they are the ones that will spawn this fall. Kokanee tend to hang out in schools of the same size (year class) fish. The Kokanee in Palies are a natural spawn population. They have not stocked them in years. I may not be 100% correct in my theory, if any else has some input, let's hear it...I'm all for learning more about these great tasting, great fighting fish.
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[maghunter]

I think you've got it right on Jackson Laker. The school you got into are young kokes. There are bigger kokes in Palies (or so I've heard never actually caught a koke up there).
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[iliketofish]

I think you nailed that one. Those fish were probably all from the same cohort. The trick is to find the older bigger ones. I know they're in there. I caught a bunch of spawners last fall and they averaged about 17 inches with the biggest going just over 20 inches (and I didn't catch the biggest one I saw). so they are definately in there, the challenging part is finding them.
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[DeeCee]

I could be wrong, but catching kokanee at Palies res. is quite rare through the ice or summer. You hit an unusual jackpot for numbers anyway. They were 6-8" because they are young ones and only 2 to 3 years old. Next year should be 8 to 12" and more desirable. If you were fishing in Big Elk Bay you might have ran in to a few.

DeeCee []
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[jacksonlaker]

I actualy fished for and caught some last July trolling in Big Elk. I used the standard koke stuff, dodgers and spoons, dodgers and hootchies. We boated 4 from 14 to 17 inches and lost a few more. Caught some browns also. We went back in August and they were gone. Someone told me they spawn early in that lake. You can find them in Big Elk Creek in mid-August. I plan to try it more this summer, I will let you guys know how we do !!
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[prvrt]

Most Kokes I have caught in Palies were around 15-17". Bear creek is where I catch most of them. They are in there just about any time in the summer. Towards fall you will find them west of Big Elk creek. I have ran into them after dark there and the fish finder got so annoying that I turned it off. It was one of those times you could not keep your lines in the water. I also have caught a few 4-5 lbs spawning Kokes at Big Elk Creek. I am thinking it was late July when I caught those. There are plenty in there, you just have to find them.
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[fishingiscool]

Well thanks for all of your help we got into that same group two weeks in a row we might have to try a different spot to find a bigger school, has anyone ice fished bear creek?
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[oregonguy]

What general area were you fishing and catching all these kokes. I have yet to catch any. Would be great if I could catch a couple.
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[fishingiscool]

we were fishing at big elk creek with swedish pimples, I just got back from night fishing palies and all we caught at big elk were some chubs so we moved to the dam and caught 4 decent cutthroat it was very very cold with the wind coming over the dam though
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[oregonguy]

Thanks
I fished big elk on sunday and saw a guy catch a 16-17" Koke. I caught a lot of chubs and suckers. I do believe we had 1 school of kokes coming through at about 21-29 ft. It was fast and furious with 2 fish lost real quick. Then after that all the fish were deeper on the graph and were chubs. Caught one nice 18" cuttbow.
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[fishingiscool]

Were you fishing on the reservoir side or the creek side of big elk? I have never seen as many chubs as there are up at big elk on the creek side right now. I talked to a school group that went up on saturday to big elk that only caught two fish but they were nice fish one was 18" and the other was 20"
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[oregonguy]

We fished the reservoir side. Haven't seen anyone fish the creek side. Always wondered if there was enough water to fish that side.
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