Post By: KayakerFishfinder Posted: 8/28/2012 10:45:44 PM Points: 1640
Spent the afternoon trolling for Kokes in the rain. Caught over 10 in the 8-10 range and two 4 year old, range 11-13. The 4 year olds are starting show pink on their sides and they don't look like they have the fully developed hook jaw yet. Am I mistaken?
If you plan on releasing the smaller kokes try to keep them in the water and try not to touch them (use pliers and grab only the hooks). They are heavily stressed from the water temp and the gill lice. Both of the fish I ended up touching went belly up and had to be kept.
There are good numbers of the 8-10 inch kokes in the lake (handful of nice schools). If they survive the winter it will be a banner year for the kokes next year. When the 4 year olds school up tight preping for the spawning run I will post where they are sitting at so people can jig for em.
The 4 year olds hit a pink squid behind a flasher. The smaller salmon hit about everything else.
Reply by: KayakerFishfinder Posted: 8/29/2012 10:13:32 AM Points: 1640
All the the bigger kokes I caught are running close to the bottom at 31-45 feet of water. It is kind of weird because most of the summer I would only catch small lakers (6-14 inches) if I ran the same gear close to the bottom. I still catch a few small lakers running that low, but not near as many as normal. They must have chased most of the lakers out of the areas.
Last year most of the kokes I caught were close to shore/near shallow water on the bottom. It was extremely rare to catch them running in deep open water. TheY must be feeding on whatever is on the bottom in shallow water.
I was thinking about heading back up there today to try to dial in the 4 year olds.
Reply by: KayakerFishfinder Posted: 8/29/2012 11:47:53 AM Points: 1640
Since the water has been low I haven't mark any kokes any further up than the boat launch basin. Some of them are sitting really close to the channel headed towards the inlet area. Hopefully in the next week they will start schooling up tight and start heading that direction.
I am hoping there are some 16 inchers hiding down there some where that I haven't hooked into yet.
Just got a canoe and really want to give Kokes a try (never have), can I get any of you to help me out here, the more detail the better.
- Do I really need a fish finder at Gross, I have underwater charts so I can follow the topography pretty well but how important is one of these in finding the fish at Gross? - What kind of setup should I use if I dont haev a downrigger and at what depth. I have been reading that a 2oz weight and then a foot of 10-12 lb, then a dodger or koke troll, then a couple of feet of leader and then a squid or other bright lure with some corn is the way to go. Any suggestions, am I totally wrong. - Seems like they are in the 20-40ft range, does thsi sound right.
Excited to get out on the water, any help is greatly appreciated.
Dang Cole, you're the man! Nice catch. I am trying to plan out my Sunday and Monday. Would I be better off fighting the crowds at Wolford or trying Gross again?
Jake, I don't fish Gross with any electronics. I can catch fish but you have to do a LOT of searching and then you may be running your baits to high or low. Just a thought. I troll dipsy divers with line counters to get me down to those depths. A 2 oz weight may work but you're going to have to troll fairly slowly to get them past 40 ft.
1. You don't have to have a fish finder. It is just alot easier finding the fish in the water colum and keeping you from snagging bottom.
2. When I first started fishing deep on Gross I used Fish Seekers (like Dipsys). I have a few that I will never use again since I have downriggers on both my yaks. Another option is using leadcore setups for getting down to where the fish are running. Both of these systems create alot of drag and you lose the fun of fighting the fish. But you will catch fish if used properly. I usually start trolling shallow depths working deeper until I find where the fish are biting at. On my setups I use a flasher followed by a squid 14-16 inches back. I don't use beer can trolls since they create alot of drag. Rocky Mountain Tackle makes the best Kokanee gear in my opinion. I have caught rainbows, browns, cutthroat, lake trout and of course Kokanee running the flasher and squid setup. Tonight the 2 four year olds I caught were at 31 feet down and 38 feet down.
Side note: Kokanee fishing can be very difficult to figure out. Every lake is different and they aren't always where you expect them to be.
Joe: I just refuse to give up and spend most of my life on the water. The real man is Robby at SportFishColorado. I learned so much by going on a guided trip for Kokanee at Blue Mesa with him. If you get chance and can afford it I highly recommend taking a kokanee trip with him. Just pay attention on how he does it. You will have a blast and limit out on some of the biggest kokanee in the state. Checkout his website, he is also a lake skipper for Blue Mesa.
It is a hard call on which lake to go to. I have a feeling that Wolford is going to be packed with skiers and fisherman. I know the campground was already completey booked for this weekend last week. Wolford has the bigger fish and alot more of them hands down. From what I saw the last time I was there it looked like it was jigging time for the 4 year olds. Trolling wasn't producing many big fish.
Made it out late today and headed to the inlet to see if I could spot any schools of Kokanee. I only saw alot of top water action from the small rainbows most of the way back there. The stream is entering the lake at the last corner now (picture).
I then returned back to the boat launch basin and trolled for a couple of hours. Landed two four year olds(around 13 inches, 12oz/11oz) and a three year old(10 inches, 5oz). The best bite was trolling 31 feet and 38 feet down. A couple of small lake trout and a small rainbow in the mix that I released.
Yeah, I still have the other kayak and if your comfortable in a kayak you are more than welcome to use it. it has the color Hummingbird fish finder with the manual downrigger and it has worked great for me. Whenever you want to go let me know.
Sorry for the late response I just got back from fishing Gross again. The first 5 hours trolling the main lake were slow, only pulling in a couple of Lake trout and a rainbow. Then the next hour and half I trolled the sand bars in the next basin up from the boat launch headed to the inlet. I nailed a couple of 4 year olds and a handful of rainbows(biggest rainbow was around 13 inches and fat). The rainbows were hitting my kokanee gear before I could get it down to where I wanted. A couple hit my lure as soon as I went to hook my line in the downrigger release. Everything I caught today was catch and release even the four year Kokanee.
Kokee checkout my fish finder display when I was fishing Flaming Gorge. Those are all lake trout returns off of a point i fished. Most of them small ranging in size between 18-25 inches. Once I figured out how to catch them I had a blast!
So i was looking through the regulations book and had a question for you guys. the regulation reads "The only fish species allowed to be taken and used for consumption or personal use as bait (either alive or dead) by fishing, seining, netting, trapping, or dipping are minnows, bluegill, hybrid bluegill, carp, sunfish, gizzard shad, sculpin, white and longnose suckers, yellow perch and rainbow smelt. Statewide bag limits apply to sunfish, bluegill, hybrid bluegills and yellow perch" So my question is if I catch any of the above fish I can keep them in the freezer to use as bait at places like Gross which are above 7000 ft.
Reply by: kokee Posted: 8/31/2012 4:39:28 PM Points: 603
cole , give me a email with ur number , my email is bladiumhockey@aol.com , what time do u plan to be at gross tommorow , id like to meet up with u and go out there and try for the kokes
Kokee My email address is acftelect96@yahoo.com, my phone is (316)619-4965 my phone battery died on the lake today. I check my email all the time more than my phone anyway? What time is good for you? I it is going to be a mad house at Gross Saturday be prepared. I will need to load up the other kayak in the morning so give me a little time.
Reply by: kokee Posted: 9/1/2012 1:36:12 AM Points: 603
cole my brother is going to check my brakes out at 7 in th morning , then im clear , is the morning or afternoon better for u , let me know ill call u in the morning
