Kokanee fishing at Green Peter!!

GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
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 :rolleyes: 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!
 
Raincatcher
Raincatcher
Koke...the leagal kind

Koke...the leagal kind

Thanks for the report,GraphiteZen. Great example on both imagination and determination. Love the "downrigger" concept! :clap: Those are attributes that are almost required for all fishing folks. I will definitely keep that ramp in mind for which one to avoid! :shock: I am looking forward to your pics.
Barb
 
A
ArcticAmoeba
Zen I would love to see a picture of that downrigger you fabbed up. Sounds right up my alley! Congrats one your first kokanee!:clap: I have fished them for years thanks to my dad, and they are some of the best eating fish ever. They really do fight dont they. I don't imagine you took your FishCat out there, although it would probably do fine.:think: What other craft/s do you have?
 
GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
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. :D 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 :D
 
C
chris61182
GraphiteZen said:
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...

Sshh, don't tell anyone, but there are definitely some big ones in there:).
 
C
capron6
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.
 
GraphiteZen
GraphiteZen
What launch do you use?
 
E
EZ Bass Co.
capron6 said:
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.


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?
 
C
chris61182
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.
 
A
ArcticAmoeba
GraphiteZen said:
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. :D 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 :D

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 definitely gives a workout. Congrats on your efforts to quit smoking, I used to as well but have since quit, for good. Stick with it.:)
 
S
seabass24
what bait do you use for catching the mackinaw? any particular bait?
 
E
EZ Bass Co.
i fish green peter quite often haven't been up there this year but the past few years we had found the patterns. We troll out of my dads boat we have two different ways of rigging. We all have line counters about a foot up the rod from the reel. Then on two rods we have divers. and on the other 2 we run cannon balls. then we run ford fenders and wedding rings with white shoe peg corn. we also found out that shrimps work just as good as the corn.
 
C
capron6
Short, sweet, and to the point this time.

7-10
11 Fish kept, 6 released, and 5 lost. 45 - 50 feet, STC UV sling blade, R&K hoochie.

7-11
Finally a good day! 32 fish in the boat, 10 of which were released and under 10", same story, 45 - 50 feet, sling blades and hoochies again. Had to change colors late in the morning. Bright colors worked early, purples later. Bite just flat turned off at about 11, dealt with wind ALL day. Largest fish 15".
 
L
lip ripper
I fished GP today 7-12-09 and came home with 15 Kokanees the biggest was 14'' and several 12 and 13''. Last Thursday and Friday I was killing them on a red hoochie with a flasher that I made up. Today they didn't want the hoochie all that they would do was tail slap it. A lot of times you think you are getting a bite but it is a tail slap. Some times if you leave it alone they will come back and take it. I turned several small ones loose. When the red hoochie failed me, I put on a spinner that I made up with blue beads, they really went for that. I am going tomorrow and see what they are biting on. :pray:
 
Last edited:
M
mosd
well its been along time since i last logged on here, been fishing the middle fork of the willamette upbove harrisburg, but i need a change of pace so gonna hit gp.

will the kokes in there take wedding ring set ups or do i need to run a flasher with needle fish as a dropper, also what arm do they seem to be in?
 
C
capron6
7-12
Two of us boated 35 fish for the day. Same gear and depths as post #13. Most fish 12 - 14", with an occasional 15". In two days I fished from the dam clear to almost the middle fork and caught fish all the way in pretty much open water. The fish are scattered but have started to cooperate.
 
M
mosd
capron6 said:
7-12
Two of us boated 35 fish for the day. Same gear and depths as post #13. Most fish 12 - 14", with an occasional 15". In two days I fished from the dam clear to almost the middle fork and caught fish all the way in pretty much open water. The fish are scattered but have started to cooperate.

what size sling blade(4 1/2" or 5 1/2")and color combination of hoochies should i carry? where can you purchase all this at? i see kmart carries the hoochies, but i believe theres no kmart in eugene anymore? walmart?
 
Last edited:
C
capron6
mosd

The most productive gear was a size 3 (4 1/2") Shasta Tackle uv sling blade followed by an orange/pink/purple color combination hoochie made by R&K spinners. Don't know where you can get R&K hoochies yet but they will be available in the Albany area in the near future I understand. DanDee Sales in Sweet Home is now carrying 5 styles of the Shasta Tackle uv sling blades as well as 5 or 6 of Shasta Tackle uv hoochies. Not sure, but I think Sportsmens Warehouse in Salem has some of the STC stuff as well. The owner is actively seeking retail outlets for his tackle, I hear Fred Meyer's may have them in the future. In the meantime they can be ordered on the internet at shastatackle.com. Best of luck. See you on the lake?
Ron
 
M
mosd
thanks for the info, ill prob go there sat. unsure tho as to which lunch, maybe the one closest to the dam
 
L
lip ripper
7-14 09
I went to GP yesterday and caught another 22 the biggest was 16'' on the red hoochie with my killer flasher. I also caught several on my home made spinner with blue beads. Most of the fish were around the island. :clap:
 

Similar threads

O
Replies
19
Views
2K
Snopro
S
troutdude
Replies
2
Views
1K
troutdude
troutdude
bass
Replies
2
Views
578
bass
bass
bass
Replies
0
Views
438
bass
bass
bass
Replies
2
Views
848
troutdude
troutdude
Top Bottom