Two weeks in the past, Mike Bruton and I restricted out with kokanee in three hours with some fish pushing 17-inches. We discovered most fish have been between 15 to 30 toes beneath the floor and really aggressive with many breaking the floor when hooked.

When the kokanee stage at this depth, they’re simple to succeed in with a number of kinds of fishing. Downriggers, free-slide sinker system, clip-weight system and even “long-line” fishing with no weight can all be efficient. All skilled kokanee fishermen have their favourite set-ups they use for catching kokanee whereas trolling. I’ve loved studying to troll for them with the free-slide sinker system.

This final Wednesday, I used to be invited by one other buddy, Craig Nordfelt, to fish Ririe Reservoir with him. We began fishing at about 6:30 with each of us utilizing the free-slide system. The primary two fish we caught have been trout and we noticed no colleges of kokanee. Our fish-finder was displaying fish at 10 to 12 toes beneath the floor, and we have been fishing down from 20 to 30 toes the place we had been profitable the week earlier than.

It appeared that the current rain accompanied with winds as much as 40 miles per hour, had damaged up the plankton line the place the kokanee feed, inflicting them to scatter slightly below the floor. We watched an osprey catch fish on the floor and even noticed kokanee actively leaping out of the water. We additionally discovered that the fish had moved up the reservoir from the place that they had been earlier than. Our system of utilizing a three-ounce weight was not working nicely so finally we went to one-ounce weights and commenced catching kokanee.

To achieve success at trolling for these scrumptious salmon on Ririe, a number of issues are vital. You have to know at what depth they’re feeding and through the spring and early summer time, that’s normally from 20 to 40 toes beneath the floor. Because the water warms, they might drop down beneath 70 toes. That makes them onerous to get to until you could have downriggers.

Subsequent, you need to discover in what space of the reservoir the faculties are, and this may change from each day. This spring they appear to be hanging out up within the canyon from the powerline to the Narrows. On Wednesday, a number of fishermen discovered all of them to strategy to Blacktail, the world from the dam to the primary bend gave the impression to be void of them.

Pace can be vital for catching kokanee. They like that trolling velocity to be round one mile to 1.5 miles per hour. Trout will hit the identical lures for those who troll about two miles per hour.

Most fishermen troll with a dodger adopted by double-hook lure like a “wedding ceremony ring” or a hoochie, every hook is tipped with coloured and scented corn. My favourite scent is a shrimp/krill oil combine. Some fishermen will use a small “pop-gear” as an alternative of the dodger; kokanee like a number of flash to draw them. I’ve added quarter-ounce and half-ounce weights to my fishing bag to succeed in these shallow fish.

Because the summer time heats up, it’s best to fish early within the morning as different leisure of us will begin displaying up, inflicting a number of tough water which makes fishing a bit of more durable. I additionally assume with a few scorching days, the kokanee can be between 20 to 40 toes down the place they have been earlier.

If you’re unfamiliar with the various kinds of kokanee fishing, Google them. There’s a ton of nice movies that may present you ways every system is ready up.

The water temperature on Wednesday was at 57 levels, so it shouldn’t be lengthy earlier than the bass turn into energetic, including one other alternative for sportsmen. If you happen to discover fishing gradual, eagles, osprey and even snakes swimming throughout the reservoir may be entertaining.

As Mike and I have been coming off the reservoir, the Idaho Division of Fish and Recreation have been stocking 200,000 kokanee fingerlings. These would be the ones we catch in a yr or two.

Have an amazing summer time however be secure and courteous with others.