GraphiteZen
Well-known member
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 tires
I 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 :shock:. Some pretty nice. Said he just jigged around the boom all day long :clap:.
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 immediately :dance: First 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!
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 tires
I 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 :shock:. Some pretty nice. Said he just jigged around the boom all day long :clap:. 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 immediately :dance: First 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!
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. 
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ray:
