Kokanee fishing at Green Peter!!
I have heard that fishing for Kokes on Green Peter is great fun. Never tried for Kokanee but with all the talk figured I should at least give it a shot. The only problem was it being hard to get a small lead-free spinner with corn to stay at a depth of 40 or 50 feet when you're trolling... So I took and old broken rod, cut it off at the first eye, spooled it with thick braided line and tied on 12oz of lead with a release and a Rapala line counter... Downrigger!
Hit Green Peter at the middle launch with some Wedding Rings, corn and crappie nibblets. Thought I had found a school off a point but the wind was so obnoxious I couldn't get anything done so I pulled back out and headed for the dam. When I drove in I saw a bunch of boats hanging out around the log boom so I figured they had found fish and at this time of day perhaps the wind had died off.
I pull in and am encountered with the most Godawful ramp you can imagine... Damn near a 45 degree slope with ruts deep enough for a deer to hide in, but got the boat launched and made it back up to the parking lot... Good thing I had new tiresI row out and start to troll. I see fish on my sonar hanging out at around 50' so I drop my spinner to there and troll around some, wind is still blowing but not as bad. I see a guy in a drift boat tied up to the boom jigging and nailing fish. Start a conversation and he says he's just jigging a blue lead minnow with corn at about 50'. Offers to loan me a jig if I want to tie up but with all the effort I put into making the downrigger I decide to keep trolling. Get nothing and finally decide I should tie up also and try jigging. An hour or so later the guy in the drift boat decides to take off but not before giving out some good advice. Nice guy, and leaves with 15 fish
. Some pretty nice. Said he just jigged around the boom all day long
.
So I jig for a while longer still nothing. Wind had died down now at about 5:00 so I decide to troll some more. In the afternoon the fish were hanging out in 50' of water over 200' or so of depth but I rowed around and found a NICE school hanging out over a 90' hump still in about 50' of water. Run my spinner down there and hook up immediatelyFirst Kokanee! I continue to troll in circles around the school and end up with two fish kept, one dinky I let go and a larger one get off at the surface. GREAT fighters man they jump and jump and jump.. I mean sailing out of the water hahah fun stuff.
I'll post my photos tomorrow as they are on a different computer but man is Koke fishing fun!! It's a hunt finding a school and chasing it around the lake, great stuff!
~Fish For The Cure!
---April 24th, 2010---
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Koke...the leagal kind
Thanks for the report,GraphiteZen. Great example on both imagination and determination. Love the "downrigger" concept!
Barb
"Fish For The Cure"
April 24,2010
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Be safe.
Barb
Zen I would love to see a picture of that downrigger you fabbed up. Sounds right up my alley! Congrats one your first kokanee!What other craft/s do you have?
Oops forgot about the pics. Went out again and didn't get squat. Found a school but they were in only 15' of water and wouldn't hit ANYTHING. Caught some nice trout that I let go and some really dinky kokes, that was it.
I saw some HUGE Mackinaw on my sonar though... One was in 150' of water and the other was in about 90'. Those were some BIG fish... They kept marking and marking... Plus any fish that hangs out in 150' of water is BIG...
AA all I have is a Fishcat.The wind sucks but I figure it's good for my health.... I have pretty much quit smoking (down to like 3 a night and don't even take them fishing with me anymore) and I'm trying to burn off all my winter fat.
I decided to take my shirt off to get a bit of a tan a while back but sat in my chair the whole day. I burned a little but figured that's cool cause it will turn dark. When I stood up and all my little fat rolls flattened out rendering me similar to a white and pinkish zebra I said OK that's it. I need to get in shape......
I'll take a few photos of my okie downrigger the next time I'm out
~Fish For The Cure!
---April 24th, 2010---
Participate Here To Help A Great Cause!
--------
Fall Creek Cleanup March 13th
Check out This Thread for more details.
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Sshh, don't tell anyone, but there are definitely some big ones in thereOriginally Posted by GraphiteZen
.
Fished Green Peter Tuesday 6-24. The fish are just starting to school a little bit, but are a little easier to find now that the weather has warmed up some. Managed 17 fish, 14 kokanee and 3 chinook. Had 3 kokanee 15" + which would have been great to have in the boat for the upcoming Green Peter Kokanee Derby. The fish were finicky and not hitting the old reliable lures. Best action for the day was Gary Coe signature series kokanee killers in any color fished at 40 - 45'. Thats all the secrets I will give you until after the Derby is over............Only kiddin'. The kokanee fishing has been slow there this year and it has been hard to keep the small chinooks of your gear long enough to hook a real fish. Taking the rest of the week off and will fish it on Monday and Tuesday next week. I will let you know if it was any good.
What launch do you use?
~Fish For The Cure!
---April 24th, 2010---
Participate Here To Help A Great Cause!
--------
Fall Creek Cleanup March 13th
Check out This Thread for more details.
-----
Now by chinook what exactly does that mean. i fish green peter like it is going to be gone tomorrow. i love it up there very beautiful. but i don't get the word chinook in an upper lake is it just a oversized koke?
Trout Fear Me!!!! Bass Hate Me!!!!
Nope there are actually chinook in there. What I had head was that ODFW wanted to do an experiment, with depending on who you are talking to, it was either about seeing what the chinook runs meant to the bull trout (think smolt and eggs) and/or it was a precursor to getting data on the viability to getting wild chinook over the dams somehow and back into the spawning habitat up there. And either way they are scrappy little fish that are a blast to catch and which are said to not taste so great.
Wow never really seen Mackinaw up close, look real gnarly from the water. I too am limited in my boating ventures although i haven't felt very limited yet. I have an 8' water skeeter that definately gives a workout. Congrats on your efforts to quit smoking, I used to as well but have since quit, for good. Stick with it.Oops forgot about the pics. Went out again and didn't get squat. Found a school but they were in only 15' of water and wouldn't hit ANYTHING. Caught some nice trout that I let go and some really dinky kokes, that was it.
I saw some HUGE Mackinaw on my sonar though... One was in 150' of water and the other was in about 90'. Those were some BIG fish... They kept marking and marking... Plus any fish that hangs out in 150' of water is BIG...
AA all I have is a Fishcat.
I decided to take my shirt off to get a bit of a tan a while back but sat in my chair the whole day. I burned a little but figured that's cool cause it will turn dark. When I stood up and all my little fat rolls flattened out rendering me similar to a white and pinkish zebra I said OK that's it. I need to get in shape......
I'll take a few photos of my okie downrigger the next time I'm out
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