you can catch them without a blade/dodger for sure, perhaps just not as fast. I don't think a blade or small dodger impacts the fight but...
not to dampen your spirits, 'fun of the fight' is not how I would look at kokanee, they normally come up from depth and splash around a bit and have very soft mouths so net them quick or they go away. I describe kokanee fishing as harvesting lots of really tasty fish as quickly as possible when the bite is on. hook'em, net'em, bonk'em and into the cooler. then count up how many when you get back to camp and get busy processing them...cheers, roger