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Winter Trout and... Kokanee?
by Richy Harrod for Mack's Lures, January 31, 2015
As hunting seasons come to a close, most sportsman and women throughout the Northwest just hang up their gear and hunker down by the fire waiting for spring to arrive. Why not go fishing? Trout and yes, even Kokanee, can be readily caught this time of year and you’re likely to have the best fishing spots all to yourself! So as you store your waterfowl gun, pull out that fishing rod and organize your fishing gear because it’s time to go fishing! In this article, I’ll provide a few tips about gear and how to fish winter waters. North central Washington has some of the best year round fishing opportunities in the Northwest and it happens to be in my backyard. There are many other great places to winter fish in Oregon and Washington, so you can apply my local examples to waters near you.
Most people think of steelhead when you talk about winter fishing, but I prefer fishing for rainbows and triploids because of the potential to catch numerous fish. Triploids are sterile rainbows that are voracious feeders and have the potential to grow to trophy size if not harvested the first season after stocking. They are stocked in 117 lakes in Washington providing anglers with numerous fishing opportunities. Lake Roosevelt and Rufus Woods Reservoir on the upper Columbia River are my favorite places to catch these rainbows. It’s not uncommon to catch triploids up to 10-12 lbs in Rufus Woods and a fish this size eats much like a spring Chinook, in my opinion.
The best way to catch rainbows is to troll because you can cover lots of water in order to locate lethargic fish. Fish are typically near the surface this time of year as cloudy days and cool water allow rainbows to find food in the top water. We use several different combinations of Mack’s Lure tackle to catch rainbows, not just because they are our sponsor but because their fishing gear works! My favorite setup is the 1.5” Cha Cha™ Squidder, Kokanee Series on about an 18” leader behind a 7.6” Double D™ Dodger. Shorten the leader for added lure movement or lengthen for less movement. Besides added attraction, the larger dodger provides a little extra weight to keep your lure in the water while trolling. A nice feature of the squidders is that they come in a variety of colors and they have the Smile Blade®, also in a variety of colors. We typically use pinks or hot orange; you can buy them pre-tied or buy the squid bodies and a variety of Smile Blade colors to build your own combinations. I like the Kokanee series because of the closely tied, dual hook setup. It’s a good idea to tip your lure with a couple of pieces of Shoepeg corn brined in the secret sauce (Karo syrup and a scent, like Pro-Cure), but shhh…don’t tell anyone!). Troll at speeds between 1.5 and 2.0 mph making slow S-turns so that your lures will alternate between slower and faster speeds. Slow your speed if you notice that you always catch fish during the turn on the inside rod, or conversely speed up if it’s on the outside rod.
A couple of variations to the setup above can work well too. Use a Flash Lite® Trolls or Hot Wings® in place of the Double D Dodger. These attractors do not have the side to side action of the dodger, so lengthen the leaders of your Cha Cha Squidders to 24-36”. Flash Lites and Hot Wings are pretty light weight so you will need to add a couple ounces of weight or place onto a downrigger to keep the lure in the strike zone. You can also replace the squidders with a bucktail fly, Smile Blade® Fly, or a light weight Glo® Getter Marabou Jig. These lures don’t require bait but you can add some scent. You can set up a rod rigged with one of these variations to see what works the best.
If you don’t have a boat, you can catch rainbows from the bank.
Rainbows will cruise the shallow water along the bank looking for food so using stationary bait will work well. The setup is relatively simple. Tie up a single bait hook (sizes 1 or 2 are best) on an approximately 3’ leader and attach leader to a swivel tied to your main line. I also slide a small bead and smile blade on the leader above the hook for added attraction. On the main line above the swivel, place a 2 oz. weight that will slide up and down the main line. The water speed in the Columbia River varies greatly so you may use more or less weight to keep you gear in place. Lighter weight will work in lakes. Bait your hook with artificial bait, such as Power Bait, worms and marshmallows, or shrimp and marshmallows. You want to use marshmallows or the artificial bait because this will float your hook slightly off the bottom and positions it in the perfect depth for trout. This type of fishing requires patience as fish are cruising slowly this time of year. Build a fire and pour your favorite warm drink and enjoy being outside!
It’s true; you can catch Kokanee throughout the winter and early spring. Kokanee tend to be scattered and in smaller schools during the winter months so you may not catch the numbers of fish you would in May or June. However, 4 or 5 of these great eating fish can make any outing worthwhile. The setup for your fishing tackle is similar to that which I described above for rainbows. Again, I am partial to the Cha Cha Squidder, Kokanee Series and I like Hot Pink Glow or Pink Spatter UV for winter time fishing. Tip your hooks with a few pieces of Shoepeg corn brined in the secret sauce (shhh…!). Downsize the Double D Dodger to the 4.4” size and keep your leader lengths under 16” for maximum lure movement. Fish your lures off of the downriggers and look for fish in pretty deep water. In Lake Chelan, we find fish anywhere from 50-120 feet this time of year! Trolling speeds should be a little slower than for rainbows so try to keep between 1.1-1.4 mph. Again, use slow S-turns to vary lure speed and this will help you find the trolling speed the fish like. Really pay close attention to your electronics and if you spot fish, adjust your downrigger depth to match the fish depth. And if you catch a fish, mark that spot and depth and stay on the fish. The saying we use is “you never leave fish to find fish,” so stay on the biters until you either loose them on the depth finder or they stop biting.
Winter fishing can be a lot of fun and provides a much needed relief to cabin fever. Give these tips a try on your next outing and let us know how you do. Good luck fishing!
Richy Harrod
