Kokanee Fishing BC - How To

[Brandonkop]

Big Kokanee Salmon reside in Kalamalka Lake and Wood Lake which is attached by a canal has some great fishing as well. I have been fishing these lakes for about 20 years now and have enjoyed learning how to kokanee fish each of them. Wood lake has higher numbers of fish and a limit of 5 kokanee with great catch rates. The fish are very willing to participate even with new fisherman. Kalamalka on the other hand is a trophy kokanee fishing destination where the fish are less cooperative and the smaller shore spawning kokanee can interupt your search for larger fish if you don't target them specifically. The limit on Kalamalka lake is 2 kokanee a day and the limit on Wood lake is 5 kokanee a day. The provincial limit for kokanee is 5 kokanee so no matter what you CANNOT keep more than 5 kokanee a day of which only 2 can come from Kalamalka. So while fishing in this video I started on Kalamalka and caught two great sized kokanee, then headed to Wood lake for three more fish to top off my 5 fish limit. I have checked with a conservation officer regarding the legality of this and he states it is all legal to do. Make sure you hit Kal first though so you don't get caught out there with too many fish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDLz88GcpvU

[fish99]

some good eats , have you ever fished stump lake for koks

[Brandonkop]

some good eats , have you ever fished stump lake for koks

Nope, but I want to go. They were slaying large ones there this spring and summer! I would like to try to ice fish it as well. It gets stocked with a ton of kokanee. Have you fished it???

[HuyFishin]

I have a kokonee lake near by. Might give it a try. Heard they are extremely delicious. Do landlocked salmon reproduce?

[barbless]

As usual great vid. Very informative with strategies and technique. Yes, if we catch one or two in a spot we will turn around and go back through at least twice. Some days they do bite more in one direction. S-turns are an awesome technique. Depends on the day if we mark fish sometimes we put the engine into neutral for 20 seconds let em drop triggers a bite. We have used small hoochies, different color wedding rings and some real small apex water melon color. Mostly pink maggots but red shoe peg corn at times. When I run my downriggers the line clip I use is about half the size of the one you use. Seems to release better and we always use a rubber snubber to help with hook set. Best part is with the downrigger and just a lure and flasher you are fighting the fish and not the gang troll and weight. We have also found that sometimes if you keep your rod tip down while reeling in they can't thrash and roll on the top but be ready when they see the boat. We have caught them in mid air with the net after they spit the hook. Thank you Doc for your insight. Oh ya those first two Kok's pretty awesome size. 3 yrs ago we got em about that size out of Lake Revelstoke. Been hunting them buggers for the best part of 18 yrs there. Love it

[Brandonkop]

I have a kokonee lake near by. Might give it a try. Heard they are extremely delicious. Do landlocked salmon reproduce?

Yes. There are stream spawners and shore spawners in naturally reporducing populations. Some lakes are stocked with triploids now.


As usual great vid. Very informative with strategies and technique. Yes, if we catch one or two in a spot we will turn around and go back through at least twice. Some days they do bite more in one direction. S-turns are an awesome technique. Depends on the day if we mark fish sometimes we put the engine into neutral for 20 seconds let em drop triggers a bite. We have used small hoochies, different color wedding rings and some real small apex water melon color. Mostly pink maggots but red shoe peg corn at times. When I run my downriggers the line clip I use is about half the size of the one you use. Seems to release better and we always use a rubber snubber to help with hook set. Best part is with the downrigger and just a lure and flasher you are fighting the fish and not the gang troll and weight. We have also found that sometimes if you keep your rod tip down while reeling in they can't thrash and roll on the top but be ready when they see the boat. We have caught them in mid air with the net after they spit the hook. Thank you Doc for your insight. Oh ya those first two Kok's pretty awesome size. 3 yrs ago we got em about that size out of Lake Revelstoke. Been hunting them buggers for the best part of 18 yrs there. Love it

Yup we do most of that stuff. I have one of the smaller clips and doesn't work with the larger dodgers or flashers I use, the line just pulls out as soon as I speed up. I had several large kokanee release off these larger downrigger clips this year. My largest was a 24 inch, 6 Pound Kokanee.

I think you may be mistaken on the rubber snubber idea. It doesn't really help you with the hook set. I think people use them to decrease the pressure on the fishes mouth so the hook doesn't rip out. You get a better hook set without one. That's why I don't use them for larger kokanee since they have thicker and harder mouths. I never use snubbers any more and still catch a lot of fish without many being lost. You may want to try without a snubber sometime and see how you do.

[Outbound]

Cool video. I haven't used downriggers for them before. They tend to school up, so we look for them on the sounders, then drop pink jigs tipped with maggots or small pink Dick Nite spoons down to them.

[Brandonkop]

Cool video. I haven't used downriggers for them before. They tend to school up, so we look for them on the sounders, then drop pink jigs tipped with maggots or small pink Dick Nite spoons down to them.

Yeah I wanted to try jigging for them in the summer, just never had time. Maybe next year I'll do a jigging video for them.

[fish99]

Nope, but I want to go. They were slaying large ones there this spring and summer! I would like to try to ice fish it as well. It gets stocked with a ton of kokanee. Have you fished it???

yes used to go with uncle from Kamloops in the summer it was producing large triploids ,we were trolling wedding bands and worms.

[Brandonkop]

yes used to go with uncle from Kamloops in the summer it was producing large triploids ,we were trolling wedding bands and worms.

Ok, so they used to stock with Triploids and now for the last 10 years mostly stocked with Diploid Kokanee. They get the eggs from take locations all over BC. I always thought Triploid kokanee would grow bigger and faster just like the Rainbows and Brook trout I have caught that are triploids. But when I fisher for triploid Kokanee they looked kind of thinner and more slower growing than the diploids I caught in natural lakes. So I asked the famed Brian Chan what was up???

Brian Chan says that actually with kokanee the Diploid fish grow faster and put on more weight than the triploids. He states that this is specific to kokanee... and maybe some other fish as well. He claims they are not like the triploid trout we catch throughout the province that have much more impressive growth rates. Hey you learn something new all the time I said.

I love this new age where I don't just have to watch these guys on tv but can actually interact with them online and get instant education!

[fisher Gord]

thanks for the video.I live 45 miles from cold lake so those big trout are fished for but I will be going to southern bc next year and use this info to start fishing, thanks again.

[barbless]

Thanks for the info Doc. I will try next year without the snubber. I have also found that the big flashers or dodgers might kinda scare them away. If it looks bigger than them they won't bite. We would usually use about a 4 inch flash just to get them interested. That's why the smaller clips. I guess if your catching up to 6lb KOK'S the big clip for sure. That is a beast size for sure.
Still totally jealous you get to fish as much as you do. Keep up the good work MR. This Kokanee conversation can go on for a long time and I hope others put their knowledge in.

[SNAPFisher]

Another great video Brandon. I've always thought about Kokanee. Might have to make this a reality in the near future. Appreciate all the insights.

[ddddd05]

Great video. Love the info!

[Lornce]

Growing up in that area, we would often catch them in the spring with a fly rod, sinking line and pink flies we tied.