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Alder Lake Report
Pierce County, WA

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Details

09/22/2014
66° - 70°
Trolling
Kokanee
Fish Eggs
Pink
Cloudy
Dodger
Morning
61° - 65°
09/23/2014
4
3410

I got to the lake at 7:30am but didn’t get my first koke until 8:30am. I had some bites but no takedowns until that first one. I went from 35 foot to 140 foot of water and all the fish came at 10-14 foot down on my downrigger cables. On the fish finder I saw fish at 30-40 feet down but they never bit even when I had my gear down that far.
These fish are interesting in that when they come up they are almost white and then in the bleeding bucket they start to get some color.
I brought 7 home and lost maybe 2 or 3. It wasn’t red hot bite but I would troll around without a bite and think if I don’t get a bite on the next pass I am going home. Then I would get one. The next thing I look at my watch and it is 11:30 and I have stuff to do at home so I quit at 7 kokes in the boat all caught on Wannafish A Lures Orange and gold, Mini Squiddy Thang Pink, and Pink Splatter. All attached to Dick Nite’s dodgers in Copper Hot Orange Tractor Tread UV , Chartreuse HotHead UV, and Pink Splatter UV.
One kokanee had a funny blunt nose. All males.
It was mostly cloudy with only 1 shower. The water temperature was 64 when I started and 65 when I left. Water visibility was about a foot. I was last here in Aug. The water level had dropped a lot. Two ramps were usable with a long back ups. In Aug. all three could be used. This is my third trip to Alder and I quite like it. It has generous limits. Ten kokanee plus five trout. Last trip I got a cutthroat.

To get to the Alder Lake park I took Hwy 7 so going home I turned left and came to a road closed sign just before the turns. So I had to back up to a road, to back up between driveways to head back toward Elbe to take the Alder Cutoff Rd. where they had an official road block. All in a good day of fishing

Izorline Platinum on reels and lures.


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Comments

Idiotfish
9/23/2014 2:39:00 PM
There are some really cool camping spots there too. On the island and across the lake.
G-Man
9/23/2014 2:58:00 PM
Looks like you picked up some Frankenkokes, a little sockeye, coho and trout mixed all together. I've never seen spotting like that on a kokanee, regardless of how far into the spawning stage it is.
OldVet
9/23/2014 4:16:00 PM
Thanks for the report Toni. I made my last trip to Clear Lake yesterday your reports were very helpful. We got a limit but it took us 4 hours. I think the kokanee season is about over at Clear. I haven't thought about Alder but it looks like you made a good choice. Nice looking fish. Did you have any problems with lake level at the launch?
Toni
9/23/2014 5:33:00 PM
Long trip backing up. 2 concrete ramps in the water and small portion of the dock floating
riverhunter
9/23/2014 10:48:00 PM
Those must be landlocked coho. Landlocked sockeye do not have spots and both species are considered to be kokanee salmon
OldVet
9/24/2014 2:13:00 PM
I've heard a lot of talk about landlocked sockeye and coho salmon. The Oxford dictionary:
Kokanee
Syllabification: ko·kan·ee Pronunciation: /ko'kane
noun (plural same or kokanees)
A sockeye salmon of a dwarf variety that lives in landlocked lakes in western North America.

I an curious about the spots however.
G-Man
9/24/2014 3:37:00 PM
The problem is that the tail spotting is on the the top and bottom lobes, coho typically have spotting on the top lobe only. Kokanee\sockeye typically have a bluish tint to their backs and these are more green along with tiny scales. I'd would have liked to see the inside of the mouth along with the teeth. What is really freaky, the fish on the bottom right has that classic pink salmon shape to it though the gums look to be very light or white.
Toni
9/24/2014 6:53:00 PM
If you fish for kokanee through the season you would know that they change and how they change. Yes they are blu-black and no spots in their prime... but not when they are changing to spawn. 2 of these are getting the humps. The one on the bottom was the most developed toward spawning. They have white mouths.
@riverhunter Landlocked coho and sockeye are not the same species. Only landlocked sockeye are kokanee.
riverhunter
9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM
I understand they are different species totally as one is sockeye while the other is coho. Not implying they are the same but according to wdfw they consider kokanee a FORM OF LANDLOCKED SALMON whether sockeye or coho. Either way nice catch and good eats.
riverhunter
9/25/2014 12:16:00 AM
I looked it up, which I should of done before I posted comment but wdfw considers landlocked sockeye as kokanee but I do know the word is used interchangeably where waters have both, coho and sockeye
the doc
9/25/2014 8:15:00 AM
as many times as ive been by alder. i have never fished it. of course, i dont know where to go, to find the launch. is there a road, in elby? is it down the other way, i come up from eatonville way. and, i have heard that the launch is often high and dry. hmmm.
the doc
9/25/2014 8:16:00 AM
so what were the fish running, on lenth?
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709