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My first time Kokanee fishing since I was a kid. I will call today a learning experience. I was in the water around 5:45am. The lot at the city park was completely blocked off, you could launch, but I had to park on the street. There was some type of rowing competition.

My day started fast, well fast considering it took a bit to get to where I wanted to fish pedaling a Hobie. Within 15 minutes of getting my lines in the water, fish on, and lost. Maybe 10 minutes later, fish on one rod, lost it, soon as I pull that line out of the water, the other line goes down, and I promptly lost that one too. Finally landed a fat little 12 inch Koke. Got my lines back in the water, and tangled myself. Spent a good bit of time getting that mess straightened out. Why does that crap always happen when the bite is hot? Once I got back underway, I proceeded to continue my long line releases and losing fish right at the net. Finally landed another a bit later after the bite slowed down considerably. In all I got 2 fish to the net, and may have set some type of record by losing 10 either via long line release, or just at the net. I think I had my drag set a bit too tight, but didn't make that connection until just before I landed my last fish. Today, if I had knew what I was doing, could have been a 4 or 5 star day. I am calling today a learning experience. Fish were 12 and 13 inches.

Trolling speed was right around 1.25mph, much fast or slower, and I didn't get and bites. After a bit of experimenting, I wound up with the combination of a Dick Nite Clown Dodger with a Macks Mini Cha Cha Squidder in pink on one line, and on the other a Macks Double D Dodger in pink with a Macks Double Whammy in pink on the other. Was using Pautzke's shoe peg corn in red soaked in Pro Cure Garlic Bloody Tuna. All fish were in the top 10 feet. I did have a small piece of lead on each line, maybe 1/12th ounce, 45-50 pulls back. Surface water temp was right at 57.

First two clips on the video show my hero moments, the next 2 show what my day was more typically like. Talked to a few guys throughout the day, got a few pointers, and can't wait to get back out.

Nerka

4/11/2016 5:11:00 PM

Nice video JoshH,
Yeah, everyone likes to see their fish jump, unfortunately most often it's freedom for kokes.
My success rate has always been better for me if I keep my rod tip in the water when fighting these acrobats, as they seem to be less aggressive that way.
Your success was when you were trolling at 1.25, were you getting that from your fish finder?

JoshH

4/11/2016 5:20:00 PM

Yea as the fish got closer to the kayak i did start keeping the tip down to try and keep it from jumping. Speed did come from the fish finder.

wafisherman20

4/11/2016 8:38:00 PM

Great work joshH! Awesome video too. I am considering heading up with my buddy this weekend for some Kokanee action. Since it has been so spotty, do you have any suggestions on terminal tackle and corn? I scent my corn, but maybe it is better to use scents instead of an overnight marinate.

I have Dodgers, hoochies, wedding rings, all that good stuff... But maybe color matters? I usually fish pink for Kokanee.

I discovered it is a different art than trout trolling. Exciting to learn!

Thank you and great report!

JoshH

4/11/2016 10:04:00 PM

I know there are better folks to get suggestions from here than me :) I looked at all of the April reports here for Stevens to see what others were doing, and I stopped during the week at John's sporting goods in Everett to pick up some gear and get some advice. I got good lure suggestions from there. I didn't feel like curing my own corn, and John turned me on to the red fire corn, said that's all he uses, and to stay in the top 10 feet. They also turned me on to the clown Dick Nite dodger (50/50 Dick Nite they also suggested). I found Violet or Pink UV or glow (glow first light) worked best. I didn't stray much from those colors or for too long when I did. I tried chartreuse and blue for brief periods with no action. I soaked the corn in Pro Cure garlic bloody Tuna the night before and kept it in a baggie soaking the entire trip. I also put some garlic bloody tuna gel up in the hoochie and on the beads for the spinners. I didn't let the line stay in the water more than 30 minutes without action before I re-scented or re-baited. They also suggested kokanee super dipping sauce which I intend to try this weekend. If I got a bite, I tried to circle back over that area over and over until I stopped getting bites. The fish finder didn't help much other than to tell me speed as I couldn't make out much in the first 10 feet anyway. If I saw fish surfacing, that's where I tried to go. With so many boats on the water it wasn't always easy to stay on the same spot.

Let's_Go_Fishing!

4/13/2016 4:09:00 AM

Great vids Josh. You must have pretty good dexterity to peddle that skinny boat while maintaining two poles, one in hand with a fish on and the other, a net! May I suggest Tru Turn hooks? The shank on the hooks is offset (kind of like original cat fish style hooks). Tru Turns are about as close to a self-setting hook as you can get ie, minimizes fish loss from spitting the hook. They're not easy to find in sporting goods stores. I buy the red ones online directly through the manufacturer. I swear by Tru Turns, not at them *lol* (((((Fish On)))))

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