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Had a break in commitments, temps were forecast to be moderate (early anyway), and my fishing buddy was game for an 0430 departure to head for Roosevelt.

We launched just after 0630 and made the 45min run to Swawilla. Yesterday was a day of firsts all the way around. First time I've ever dedicated an entire day to chase a species I've never had any luck with. First time I ever fished two rods off one downrigger (my buddy fished one off the other). First time I've ever used Chamberlain releases. First time I've ever been successful catching kokanee as my target species. First time I've ever fished in temps over 100°, hottest yesterday was 107° plus degrees!!

We started at Swawilla and dropped gear to 50'. Wasn't sure where to set the tension on the new releases, but decided to start at 2 turns out (tension at 1.9lbs). We caught a couple planter trout (but releases didn't trip) and after 90mins or so decided to move to a different location so just trolled across the channel. Spent an hour or so there without a bite before deciding to move to Spring Canyon. When we brought our gear up, my buddy had a planter trout on, and lo, and behold, I had a nice chunky kokanee on my deep line. I don't know why it didn't trip the release.

We sat and debated whether to move, but there was no way to when that koke hit or how long it had been on. So, after discussing a bit, we agreed to run downstream to Spring Canyon. This time I backed the tension off on both releases to six-tenths (4 turns out) of a pound. I wanted them to trip even if a planter trout hit, and they did, as we found a pair right away. I steered to even deeper water and we must have hit a school because all the rods went off about the same time. We put two more in the boat, and hurried to get gear back in, hoping to stay with the school. Unfortunately, we lost them, and try as I might, I couldn't find them again.

We fished there another hour or so without a bite before I suggested we move to a new location upstream. We arrived, dropped gear and my buddy's line tripped just as set the clutch at 110'. The koke must have hit on the way down. Didn't matter, it was the 4th koke with an intact adipose fin, so we stowed gear and headed back to Seven Bays and away from the high temps in the dam/basin area. My fish weighed 2lbs, 2ozs & 1lb 15ozs while buddy's were 1lb, 13ozs and the other 1lb, 8ozs.

I kept trolling speed between 1.4 - 1.6mph and dropped gear lower as temps went up. We started fishing at 50' down, hit the school in Spring Canyon at 60', and finished at 110'. Both my fish came on a pink Apex and I never bothered to look at what my buddy was using other than it looked similar to a kokanee killer except with a hootchie. Bait was corn, maggots, and grubs (not all at the same time). Surface temps ranged from 75° - 81°.

Many thanks to two people, and you know who you are, for giving me advice to put the odds in our favor. Clearly it worked and made a big difference. :-)

Mike Carey

7/9/2015 8:30:00 AM

wow, those are footballs! Often kokanee won't pop the release, which is a good reason to periodically check for the little guys.

Hunter757

7/9/2015 9:21:00 AM

Sounds like a great time and a ton of first's that will be greatly remembered for sure! Congrats on the fish nice job.

widebear

7/9/2015 11:19:00 AM

Good to hear you got into the Kok's. I've been having a blast early mornings. They are growing, more 17& 18"er's hitting the deck.

afk

7/9/2015 2:27:00 PM

Well done!

hewesfisher

7/9/2015 3:25:00 PM

It was fun, but man oh man, was it HOT. My fishing buddy lives a half hour south of me, and we would have needed to leave my place at 0230 to be at our fishing destination by 0530, so a bit of compromise involved there. We both still enjoyed the day. 180 road miles round trip (half tank of fuel) $$, 70+ miles on the water (~13gals fuel) $$, 6hrs trolling (3gals fuel) $, tackle, bait, etc. $ all for 2 fish apiece. Satisfaction of achieving a successful kokanee outing - priceless. Sure glad my wife doesn't look at "price per pound" for those kokanee. :-D

downriggeral

7/9/2015 10:47:00 PM

Nice footballs Phil. Sounds like you had a lot of firsts; way to go. I really like the Chamberlain releases once figured out.
Night kokes? - Alan

hewesfisher

7/10/2015 4:45:00 PM

Will call next week Alan. Granddaughter is due 2 to arrive weeks from today. :-D

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