Kokanee Tackle Box

[bottombarrel]

Hello Everyone, I am going to be hitting Lake Cavanaugh and Lake Stevens as often as I can and I figured I'd ask what everyone prefers when it comes to chasing silver bullets. I have some Kok trolling rigs and some spoons to jig them like we would do in Oregon but what is everyone's opinions on rigs to run in the lakes in Washington? any help is greatly appreciated for those of us that are fairly new to this thing they call fishing.

[Onmygame]

Good electronics to find the fish and downriggers to get down to them are important if you wish to have consistent success.

Offerings wise, I like to use a small herring flasher (either 4" or 6") about 14" - 16" in front of a Wedding Ring spinner tipped with either Gulp Maggots (in pink) or Shoepeg corn.

We usually find them in 20' - 60' of water (in our preferred koke lake - American Lake) and generally troll 1.5 - 1.8 mph

onmygame

[JoshH]

Kokanee are fickle, so it's hard to get an exact use this for this temp/condition etc. Early season though I find pink, violet/purple, silver/brass and orange to be the most useful colors. As the year goes on I find I head more towards greens, orange. But what they want changes no matter what I think they want. I usually bring at least 3 different types scented corn I've soaked over-night. I almost always start with Kokanee super dipping sauce, but always have a bag of anise/krill and garlic bloody tuna. Sometimes a 4th just soaked in canned tuna oil. I've heard of folks jigging for Kokes in Stevens, but have never seen it myself.

I bring 2-3 16 inch pool noodles full of kokanee lures when I go out. Lots of different wedding rings/spinners, spinner/hoochie combos (Like Mack's Lures Mini Cha Cha's) different spoons I've re-rigged with a double hook set up (like Elgin's God's Tooth Spoons).

Lot's of different 4in dodgers....

I mainly fish Lake Stevens. I may have to give Cavanaugh a go this year though. Both lakes should start to turn on in the next 2-4 weeks depending on if the weather ever decides to warm just a bit. Both lakes fish should be in the top 10 feet through most of April, then they start heading deeper as the water warms.

Kokanee fishing is an expensive addiction

[TrackerPro16]

I caught one while fishing for Cutt's in Lake Wa this last year. I had caught three salmonoids before that so released it then thought "That was a Koke!". Silver and pink flasher with a hoochie behind it. Garlic scent on it. 1.8 mph.

[bottombarrel]

Thank you everyone the info on trolling speeds is great and I appreciate the ideas for different setups, I currently run Wedding rings and Macks Kokanee killers, I have actually done well on flatfish in oregon tipped with firecure shoepeg and a second hook tied back with a gulp maggot or more firecorn. I noticed the size of kokanee here in some areas are larger than I am used to, what size hooks does everyone generally run? I have been watching Cavanaugh and have seen some fish rising already but with the water temp still in the mid 40's I plan on giving it a couple more weeks before heading out. I hear there can be some good fishing on Samish as well but they people I have talked to say it is not as consistent as cavanaugh, I will be putting in work at both to see what happens. Thanks again everyone.

[JoshH]

Trolling speed on Stevens I've found most success between 1-1.5mph. I prefer size 6 Gamakatsu drop shot hooks. You'll find lots of different opinions on hooks/sizes though.

Mike and crew have video's on Samish, Stevens, and Cavanaugh for kokanee. Samish I've never fished, but I do know you need an AIS inspection. I think there is usually someone at the launch. If I remember, the Northwest Fishing Reports viseo on Samish has more info on the inspection process.

Once Stevens turns on, through most of April there is usually a fantastic surface - 5 foot bite pre-dawn and just after sunrise. If you haven't limted by 8-9am, most times plan on having to grind out the rest of your limit. Fish still bite after 9, just not like they do earlier.

[Mike Carey]

I just posted a Cavanaugh kokanee video on our youtube page.

[kodacachers]

Hi Josh and all,
I've seen pics of kokanee gear like you mention--dozens of flashers, spinners, etc. 3 or more scents. Going back to 7th grade math, that's like a gazillion combos. How do you figure out what's right for a particular day? I tend to drag something around for at least a half hour before trying something else. How long do you give a combo before trying something different. Thanks!!

[JoshH]

I probably don't switch gear out enough from what I read. I always TRY to remember to change something if no bites for 30 minutes. Running 2 lines, if 1 is getting bit and the other is not, I of course switch to as close to that lures as I can, at least by color. I don't change dodgers much. I am no Kokanee pro though

[Salmon King]

I just posted a Cavanaugh kokanee video on our youtube page.

Great video Mike....
But having never fished Kokes before I wold gave liked more infor on terminal gear.
Thanks for the video though!

[Sideburns]

I just posted a Cavanaugh kokanee video on our youtube page.

Great video Mike....
But having never fished Kokes before I wold gave liked more infor on terminal gear.
Thanks for the video though!

I'm sure youve done some googling, hint hint (if you havent). You probably know some about speed and rod/line/downrigger options? It's pretty amazing how different each lake is for gear preference though!

Im one of the guys that brings at least 4 different corn selections in various colors and scents, dozens of lures and dodgers etc... I recently switch from storing my pretied lures on foam tubes to a zippered 3 ring binder with 4 place clear organizers. No more tangle problems, unless the leader is really long and light test... I change gear a lot until catching, and on lakes that allow 2 rods, try to run something different on the second rod to verify lure/ bait choices. I think changing gear is crucial, therefor so is gear organization. Early season kokes are usually not very deep, and I prefer to use less flashy lures, and painted or gold colored dodgers. Later on when the fish are over 20ft deep is when I like to use brighter flashy blades and attractors, and some type of good glow in the dark on the dodger and or lure.

I think good hooks increase catch ratio by maybe 50%, and use the same fine wire gamakatsu drop shot hooks mentioned previously. Size 2 and 4 mostly. I tie all my own stuff with 8-15 lb line, 8-12 in length leaders, and use a kinda improper "knotless knot" for my snell knots. Never had failure, and super easy to tie. Surgeon's loop knot for easy swivel attachment. I tend to use more wedding ring type beaded lures than hoochies or spoons. I also use higher quality crystal rondelle beads (100-200 pack <$5 ebay) for the wedding band part. ...and for glow in dark, I make glow hooks and beads with powdered Strontium Aluminate (glow powder from ebay) mixed with 5 min epoxy. Brightest/ longest glow you've ever seen! The spinner blades are Mack's smile blades, and 1.1" or .8" size

If I could only bring enough gear to fit in one pocket, I'd bring these (see pic 1) and some corn with canned tuna juice.

Ill post pics as soon as I get them resized

[Sideburns]

pocket

koke tackle box

[countryboy87]

I use spinners tipped with crawlers or corn or shrimp 1/4-1/2 oz lead and slow slow slow. sometimes you will get bycatch of trout or perch but thats part of the fun

[bottombarrel]

Well I picked up an assortment of double D dodgers, slingblades, dick nite dodgers .... and the list goes on. thanks again for all the tips and pointers I hope to put these to the test soon!