Catching Kokanee...

[surhuntsalot]

I've heard to just pull one out of the box, twist off the top, and enjoy...:lol:

But it's the fish variety of Kokanee I'm asking about. Has anyone here ever fished them sucessfully ? What did you use, and how ? Lures, trolling speed, etc...

Any info appreciated...

Thanks

[Castincowboy]

Yup used to catch them as a kid in Wood Lake in the Okanagan.
Used to cast and slowly troll wedding rings (don't tell my wife:lol:).
Their fun but, have a very soft mouth.

[Rumtan]

I treat them the same as rainbow trout, flies (woolly buggar, nymphs) or if your trolling small mepps ( of course you can troll flies too)....they react virtually the same as rainbows. Trolling speed under 2mph

[fickell]

I use a beaded spinner called a wedding ring with about 18 inches of leader behind a willow leaf flasher trolled just fast enough to make it all spin and a nice chunk of worm on the hook yummmmmmmmmmmm they are my fav. fish to eat in some lakes were they are deep ihave used weighted line to get down to them good luck

[Thompson]

Yup Wedding bands of all colors work well i used to troll them behind Ford fenders and willow leafs which worked very well. as others said basically treat them as a rainbow. Troll slow and happy fishing.

[bardfromedson]

another good method is pull your wedding band behind a mini e-chip flasher or dodger. they seem to attract them in as good a willow leafs but they are a lot lighter so you still get some fight out of the fish. are you fishing with downriggers?

[tbosch]

I treat them the same as rainbow trout, flies (woolly buggar, nymphs) or if your trolling small mepps ( of course you can troll flies too)....they react virtually the same as rainbows. Trolling speed under 2mph
X2. I've caught many kokanee on all different fly patterns being trolled. Once you find them they're not super picky from what I have found. Locating them is usually half the battle. Good luck and tight lines

[Scott N]

When I was a kid my Dad took as out and like many others, the wedding ring spinners worked well. If my memory is correct, we used to tip them with maggots, but I'm not sure if that is legal anymore. We also used to use those rubber "leader" snubber type things because supposedly the kokannee's mouths are very soft.

[Tabers Best]

When I was a kid my Dad took as out and like many others, the wedding ring spinners worked well. If my memory is correct, we used to tip them with maggots, but I'm not sure if that is legal anymore. We also used to use those rubber "leader" snubber type things because supposedly the kokannee's mouths are very soft.

Same here. Also you can see bubbling on the the water surface sometimes which is when rainbows are chasing them.

[barbless]

Like they all said, wedding rings of all colours and sizes. Single wedding ring or double. Tiny flat fish. They even make kokanee killers and they do produce. Rubber snubber? Most definitly. Gang troll or flasher? They both work. How many blades and what size another experiment. Silver on sunny and brass on cloudy. Sometimes one ounce weight, sometimes two or three. You have to experiment. Sometimes no weight. Each day and at what time of day your colours could change. Maggots? For sure! Pink works for us. If there are Rainbows around they will also fiest on your offering. You can try every thing everyone has said. It works. Yes troll slow 1.5 to 2.0 and make nice "S" turns. Even big or tight circles to let the lines drop. Try putting the engine into neutral for a few seconds when you see fish on your finder (about 5 sec.) then put it back into forward. We have tried these tactics and more and have had excellent success. We have been going to Lake Revelstoke for the last 9 yrs. and we will be there again for ten days starting the second week of June. Put your rod in the holder and let the snubber hook them for you.

[superspud]

use a wedding ring with a pink fly behind it. i find anything bright pinl works best.

[barbless]

Hey, gjgf!!!!! What's that got to do with catching kokanee???

[pontooner]

forget the hardwear. i use to live in penticton for 44 years we fish for kokanee all the time .just need a red carrie fly or a brass dick nite and yes a wedding ring works well to.

[searay]

I have only caught them trolling, speed is key, below 2 mph and make some S turns.. Also use your finder to determine what depth they are suspending to. Wedding rings or willow leafs have worked for us.. Great eating fish...

[PoorTurtle]

just got back from Christina Lake BC and caught lots of them. willow leafs and wedding ring with maggots. 1.5mph or slower. it really is more like driftin than trolling. great fish for the smoker

[bruce44]

well when i lived in the bowron lake chains in b.c. i would fish for them in the spring when their spawning season started for 2 reasons. The kokanee go will eat anything specially royal coachmans. i mean i had my rod infront of me while i was getting ready to cast my fly was 1 foot above the water then this kokanee jumped up and ate my fly before i could even cast it lol. the second reason is that when kokanee are spawning the rainbows like to eat their eggs so you get these large rainbows out as well. But enough rambling flies work the best because of their small soft mouths. Try royal coachmans

[slingshotz]

Just got back from Koocanusa and since we didn't have a boat we got skunked on the Kokanee but I'm pretty sure I had one on the line from shore that took a few leaps and spit the hook out. Are there any places or times where you can have a chance at catching them from shore?

[loganw]

From shore eh? Now thats kokanee fishing. i would use a worm with a bobber
or a small marshmellow withe a splitshot. Another trick is to use 2 pieces of
corn on 1 hook with a bobber and splitshot.

when trolling: a willowleaf can do the trick but a doger can work well too. trolling a pink hoochie behind a shasta sling blade has been most efective for me.