Early season Kokanee Q’s

[familyteacher]

I just wanted to verify If I was understanding some things about Kokanee in the early season, if I’m wrong about any of this anyone who wants to correct me would be appreciated.

Since the water temperature after ice off/ in early spring is uniform in the sense that there’s no established thermacline yet, Kokanee can be found at any area in the water column, but I understood that your more likely to find them near the surface. I got this information from several sources stating that early season Kokanee fishing is the best time for people without downrigger and they can easily be targeted by using side planers or long lining in the top 10 - 12 ft of the water column. Is this correct? I wondered if thisnifo was correct since I have some friends that had success at Jordanelle and they were catching the Kokanee at 26 ft a lot deeper than I would have expected to find them.

Second, as far as trolling speeds go I’ve never had success for Kokanee any slower than 1.5 mph and most of the time 1.8 has seemed to do it for me. But I’ve never fished for them this early in the year when the water is still around 39-40 degrees. Do I need to slow down even more than 1.5?

Third, does set back behind the boat need to be further off the downriggers earlier in the season?

And lastly, does anyone change the leader length from their dodger to their squid/ whatever lure they are using? Since they are not as aggressive or active with the water being colder is less action transferred to my squid more desirable or do I leave it at the normal 2.5 times the size of my dodger that I typically use?

Lots of specific questions but any thoughts or experience would be greatly appreciated!
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[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]I am for sure NOT an expert when it comes to kokanee fishing. But I'll take a stab at answering with what I do know.[/#800000][/font][quote familyteacher]I just wanted to verify If I was understanding some things about Kokanee in the early season, if I’m wrong about any of this anyone who wants to correct me would be appreciated.

Since the water temperature after ice off/ in early spring is uniform in the sense that there’s no established thermacline yet, Kokanee can be found at any area in the water column, but I understood that your more likely to find them near the surface. I got this information from several sources stating that early season Kokanee fishing is the best time for people without downrigger and they can easily be targeted by using side planers or long lining in the top 10 - 12 ft of the water column. Is this correct? I wondered if thisnifo was correct since I have some friends that had success at Jordanelle and they were catching the Kokanee at 26 ft a lot deeper than I would have expected to find them.

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Two of us fished Jordanelle on Friday and talked to a solo fisherman at take out that had his 4 kokanee and he told us they were all taken at 25 to 28 feet down. We fished 10 to 20 feet down and caught one koke at each depth. But we fished a different part of the lake than did he. this time of year they are LIKELY to be shallower than deeper.[/#800000][/font]

Second, as far as trolling speeds go I’ve never had success for Kokanee any slower than 1.5 mph and most of the time 1.8 has seemed to do it for me. But I’ve never fished for them this early in the year when the water is still around 39-40 degrees. Do I need to slow down even more than 1.5?

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]We trolled at 1.1 to 1.8. Both kokes came at 1.5/1.6. The other guy was solid at 1.5/1.6.[/#800000][/font]

Third, does set back behind the boat need to be further off the downriggers earlier in the season?

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Set back is a function of how deep you are trolling your lures. My rule of thumb is anything below 40 feet down is no more than 10 feet behind the downrigger weight. If I'm shallower than that, I will extend the distance behind weight. At 30 to 20 feet, setback = 30 to 50 feet. Above 20, setback is at least 75 feet. I don't care what time of year it is for setback.[/#800000][/font]

And lastly, does anyone change the leader length from their dodger to their squid/ whatever lure they are using? Since they are not as aggressive or active with the water being colder is less action transferred to my squid more desirable or do I leave it at the normal 2.5 times the size of my dodger that I typically use?

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Leader length is a function of what kind of lure you are using behind the dodger/flasher. The less a lure dances of its own design, the closer you need to be to the dodger so the dodger can make it dance. I run straight squid/hoochie lures no more than 8 to 10 inches back. If it has any kind of spinner, then I move it back to about 12". If the lure design (billed squid for instance) causes a lot of dancing on its own, then 18". I don't mess with that during the year. If you are using larger dogers that impart a LOT of action to your lures, then take that into consideration as well.[/#800000][/font]

Lots of specific questions but any thoughts or experience would be greatly appreciated![/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Another thing you can try if you don't normally is to constantly move your boat in a zig zag fashion or lazy "s" pattern. This will speed up one side while slowing down the other side and this can trigger a strike sometimes. If you have the energy, try changing color/pattern of your lure every 15 minutes until you have the combination that works. This is a standard practice of one of my kokanee fishing friends who ALWAYS has his limit before I do when we fish together. Seems a lot like work to me, but it does seem to work better.[/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Like I said, I'm not an expert. But these tips seem to work for me most of the time. [/#800000][/font]
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[mtncat1]

kokanee early can can be all over the water the water column from the surface down to 40 feet depending on water temp.
as far as set back use the 100 foot rule set back and depth should add up to a 100 feet ,that 30 feet down so 70 feet off the ball . i hope this is useful
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[doitall5000]

April 9th DNA is having a class on catching Kokanees. At the north temple office starting at 7 o'clock.
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[OCF]

Since the water temperature after ice off/ in early spring is uniform in the sense that there’s no established thermacline yet, Kokanee can be found at any area in the water column, but I understood that your more likely to find them near the surface.

I believe this is true for lakes that cap over with ice - Strawberry, Fish Lake & etc. Since Jordanelle didn't cap or didn't cap for long, water temps may already be warmer than the end of May at Strawberry. Having said this, the Kokes follow the plankton levels in the lake. They are shallow at first light and go deeper as the day progresses. At Strawberry in the month of May, you can easily catch kokanee in the first 5 feet of water for at least the first 2 hours after sun rise. I have hooked many fish with my line out just as i am trying to set my line in the down rigger clip (or in other words - just under the surface).

Second, as far as trolling speeds go I’ve never had success for Kokanee any slower than 1.5 mph and most of the time 1.8 has seemed to do it for me

I have caught kokes anywhere between 1.1 and 2.0 mph (GPS). However, I generally target 1.7 mph. Do the "S" curves as mentioned above. If you catch fish on the inside of the curve - slow your speed. If you catch them on the outside of the curve - speed up. I have also caught kokanee after stopping the boat and the flasher and squid are falling vertically.

Third, does set back behind the boat need to be further off the downriggers earlier in the season?

As a general rule for getting started - go with the 100 ft rule as mentioned above.

My 2 cents. Good luck & you are going to love kokanee fishing!
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[Bassomatic]

Great tips! Thanks to all for the help! I’ve been wondering these same things.
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[familyteacher]

Thanks everyone awesome tips seems like everyone is on the same page with everything other than set back some seem to go a little further back than others.

One question that I forgot to ask is about scents, I know corn is popular as a scent holder and people make their own concoctions of scents that work for them, but since we can only use corn at select lakes I’ve only ever used the artificial maggots, anyone have any other things they use for scents to put on their Hoochie other than maggots at the lakes where corn is not legal?
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[liketrolling]

most of the things said here will work
In the spring I like long set backs and planer boards
a little longer leader between squid and dodger
speed you need to keep changing it to see what works that day
speed depends on the setup you use.
finding the right dodger is a big dill

Kokanee can be up high are down deep
if you have a good fish finder you will know how deep to go
if you can't see them they may be up high when your boat goes over them they move to the side that is why planers work.
I have a humminbird 360 and I can see them move.
in the summer they will find water with a temp. of 52 or 54 deg.
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[mtncat1]

a few drops of bloody tuna in the gulp works great
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[catfishbait]

Great info on Kokes,

Alot of good techniques, thanks for taking the time to post.
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