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I'd like to try kokanee, but it sounds like tolling is the name of the game. That's also a game I've never played. The only boat I've got is a fishing kayak. I also have access to a personal pontoon, although I'm not sure that it would have any edge over the kayak. Has anyone ever had luck trolling with a self propelled watercraft for kokes? Is it possible without a downrigger, or is that mandatory equipment?
Any input would be appreciated.
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I am no Kokanee expert, but I would think the Kayak would work for trolling. I would try a banana weight then a leader tied to a wedding ring or Ko[laugh]kanee Killer topped off with shoe peg corn soaked in one of those special recipes that they are always talking about.[laugh]
Windriver
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[#000050][/#000050]
[#000050] I troll with my Pontoon all the time, for Kokes, as well as trout. I have a MInn Kota electric on the back powered by a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery. You can add weight or use lead core to get down to 30' or so depending on the water or area fishing.[/#000050]
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If you can vertical jig for them through the ice, can you do something similar on the soft water?
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Sounds good except that corn is not allowed in Utah, to my understanding.
You can grow it, and eat it, just not fish with it.
Don't really know why trout are attracted to corn, but I've got "corn scent" geared for trout - probably kokes would like it too.
I did get some "gulp" corn like product, and some "white" gulp bait - was hoping to hit Porcupine and drag some "Mack's Kokanee Killers" around. They've done well on Trout at Hyrum for us.
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Few years ago I tried trolling for them in my pontoon boat at Ririe. I just threw out a line w/ a panther martin on it and started rowing. I did get multiple hits but I think I would have done better if I slowed down since I lapped a motor boat that was trolling. I've also used bullet weights to get lures down when trolling from a boat w/ a wedding ring setup. No reason that either the kayak or the pontoon shouldn't work.
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[quote SportfishinSteve][#000050][/#000050]
[#000050] I troll with my Pontoon all the time, for Kokes, as well as trout. I have a MInn Kota electric on the back powered by a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery. You can add weight or use lead core to get down to 30' or so depending on the water or area fishing.[/#000050][/quote]
I did the same with great success for years before buying a bigger boat! Since you are only getting down 30 to 35' you want to fish before the water temps drive the kokes deeper!
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[quote MMDon][quote SportfishinSteve][#000050][/#000050]
I did the same with great success for years before buying a bigger boat! Since you are only getting down 30 to 35' you want to fish before the water temps drive the kokes deeper![/quote]
[#000050]I have a 21' Center Console Triumph also, but sometimes fishing out of a pontoon gives you that one on one feeling with the fish. When the fish go deeper, i go get the bigger boat.. [cool][/#000050]
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Well, today is a good example. My wife and I limited at Lucky Peak, with many in the 16-18" range, and my first of the year 19"er. When we were pulling out, there was a 'toon and two other boats pulling out. The combined total for all three boats was 2 very small kokes. Why? No downriggers. Yes, our third pole today was a lead core at three colors. But it only caught small kokanee. The big guys all came from 25'. You can certainly fish for kokanee w/o downriggers, but there is no doubt that they are an incredible advantage. Dipsy Divers, banana weights, lead core can all produce. But to get to a precise depth, and not have your speed, etc.alter the depth, d.r.'s are the only way to go. I know very little about 'toons. Can you use a small, portable d.r.? Anyway, just one guy's opinion, for sure. Mike
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Yeah, I think you can use a d.r. on a pontoon, and I've heard of guys using them on 'yaks, but I'd just assume not drill the holes in my yak and I'd have to borrow the 'toon, so I don't want to alter them. Maybe that's something I'll try in the spring when they're higher.
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Mike is right about the advantage going to the d.r.'s. I was up there yesterday with a few guys from work. Both wanted to catch some kok's and I told them no problem meet at my house at 6 and we'd take my boat. Well they wanted to take there own boats. So Avery and I fished out of a 17' ski and fish with our friend. It was not setup for trolling, 90 hp was to fast and electric was to slow and of course no d.r.'s. I got a lot of tackle and setups but I could not come up with the balance of things to make it work. After an hour I'd had enough and we went bass fishing. I have no doubt if we had been in my boat we could have limited.
The other guy fished out of his yak for over six hours and never so much as had a bite.
Good news was we did fairly well on the SMB. Just flipping tubes along the rocks and it seemed someone had one on ever 15 minutes or so. Nothing big but they sure pulled good. Maybe ended the trip with 15 -18 fish boated. Largest was 16" but I seen some hogs come up on the baits a few times.
I think I'll try and go up tomorrow for some kok's in my boat. Mike if you see my little smokercraft stop by and say hi.
Rod
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get yourself a Canon Mini Troll
[url "http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0042603018864a.shtml?cmCat=perf&rid=0987654321&cm_mmc=Performics-_-CSE-_-GoogleBaseUSA-_-0042603018864a&mr:trackingCode=4C6184C8-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA"]http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0042603018864a.shtml?cmCat=perf&rid=0987654321&cm_mmc=Performics-_-CSE-_-GoogleBaseUSA-_-0042603018864a&mr:trackingCode=4C6184C8-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA[/url]
I love mine, you should be able to find a spot to attach it on just about anything you want to fish out of. I would also get a portable fish finder so you'll know what depth to fish. And I also use my GPS to keep my speed where I want it. For Kokanee they say 1.1 to 1.4 mph.
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Absolutely, Rod. Saw you fishing the narrows, and also saw your friend in the kayak, and was wondering if he was connecting. Likewise, if you ever see us in our 16' Hewescraft with a 75 and 8 Yamaha with two Penn downriggers, give us a yell. The bass fishing sounds like fun. Will have to give it a try. Mike
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Hey maghunter, you stink ] I just looked at that down rigger and now I think I need one.[fishin] Thanks for helping me spend my overtime cash [cool]
Ron
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Keep in mind that you'll have to buy a release and a weight also. Once you get one you'll wonder why you ever bothered with jet divers, banana weights,and lead line. I think my absolute favorite thing about down riggers is you actually get to enjoy the fight of the fish.
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Do you worry about the weight of the downrigger getting hooked on something? Do you use it even for shallow trolling like 10 to 20 feet? Ron
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I use a down rigger on my toon anywhere from 10' to 135'. The weight can get hooked on the bottom, but I have never lost one yet. For the toon you only need around a 4-6lb weight. I use a little larger down rigger than the one mentioned here, but only because I swap it from the boat to the toon and it also has the line counter on it so I know exactly what depth it is. The toon works great for kokes since the electric trolling motor easily will do the 1-1.4mph that is needed for them. I mounted mine off to the left side and then I can still flat line with another rod on the right or the back.
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Does your fish finder pickup your down rigger weight . I am just asking because if it does we could get by with a cheaper down rigger without a counter and still know the depth we are trolling . Thanks Curt G. P.S. I love your pond.
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It will pick up the weight, but I usually have to turn the sensitivity up to do it which starts to pick up a lot of noise. When I am shallow it is not a problem. Also if it does pick it up then it identifies it as a fish and then beeps continuously which is annoying. Even the cheaper ones have counters, they are just not as accurate.
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Idahoron,
You do need to worry about your cannonball snagging on something. Therefore you do need a depth locator. The real danger--and too many people don't practice this--is setting the drag on the cable too tight. When the ball catches on the bottom, it can pull the rear corner on a lighter boat. You always should set the drag just tight enough to prevent the ball from continuing to drop. The cables are often 150-200 pound test, so it is also a good idea to have a cable cutter available. Saying that, I have been fishing with downriggers for almost as long as they have been on the market, and have never hooked a ball up, even with my mackinaw fishing. A 4-pound ball will work fine with a 'toon. You'll wish you had one years ago. Mike
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