My 89 year old Grandpa finally decided that enough was enough and he needed to get out of his house and go fishing. He specifically wanted to go to SC and try and catch some of those "fancy salmon". I've fished SC once this year for kokes and we got one in the boat. Hoping to get into them this time. Well have a fish finder, and will be long lining it with leadcore. Here's my question, what is the best trolling speed up there for the kokes? I've been told anywhere from .9 to 2.5 mph. Can anyone give me what's worked best for them lately? And what depth would be good to start at in the morning? Thanks ahead of time
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1.2 to 1.5 mph
25 feet
my two cents worth
Don't forget scents and bait for the lures
They can be shallower early be on the water at 5:30
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I was catching them last weekend between 25 and 35 ft. With most at 33ft. Going between 1.5 and 2.19 mph hour best speed about 1.7 mph
[quote obifishkenobi]I was catching them last weekend between 25 and 35 ft. With most at 33ft. Going between 1.5 and 2.19 mph hour best speed about 1.7 mph[/quote]
what obifishkenobi said is right
good luck catching any with out downriggers.
got some at 37' the water is warming up and they are going deeper they look for water that is 52 to 54 deg.
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Is that 25 feet deep or 25 feet of leaded line?
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I target 1.7 mph; however, with the wind that can vary between 1.2 and 2.0 mph. Caught kokes all through this range (maybe even slower, I generally slow the motor when I'm reeling one in & hooked up many, many times just barely moving).
This morning the Koke depths started at 15 to 20 feet at first light and ended up at 35-40 feet at 9:00 a.m. This is the depth that the fish are swimming. You will need to adjust your lead core accordingly.
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Like trolling was over last night and we were talking trolling speed. He trolls faster than I do you and we both do pretty well on Kokanee. I think the kicker is the type of gear we use. The dodgers I use will roll at the speeds he likes. The dodgers he uses will not work properly at the slow speeds that work good for me. Makes me wonder if the speed the Kokes like is really the speed the gear were pulling likes. What do you guys think.
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[quote fishgiver]Is that 25 feet deep or 25 feet of leaded line?[/quote]
I think he was talking about catching kokanee down 25' deep
and with some dodgers and setups the speed of 1.2 and 1.5 is good
so how fast you go is what kind of dodgers you have.
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This is definitely an age old question with many differing opinions. I personally like to troll slower as an overall average. However, there are days when a faster speed seems to produce more fish. This is exactly the reason why most kokanee fisherman will troll in big "S" shape patterns. We don't do this unknowingly, we do this because as you make the turns, the inside "bait" will travel more slowly as the outside "bait" will be traveling at a faster rate. If you get a fish while making one of these turns, take note as to whether it was the inside rod or outside rod and then make your speed adjustments accordingly (inside rod = slow down, outside rod = speed up).
So as far as hearing the speed ranges of 0.9 to over 2 mph, all of these speeds may be correct for certain conditions. Also, I have some spinners that I like to use that don't operate correctly at slower speeds. However, I have other spinners that operate better at slow speeds. The type of "bait" you are using can also determine your speed (like others have already stated).
On a calm day with no wind, if I can get down to 0.9, I will. Having said that, RMT super squids, assassins, and planktons will not spin their blades at that speed. But, his billfish will still provide good action at slower speeds. Just my two cents worth.
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Fished SC Thursday morning 5:30 am till the wind kicked up about 9.
Fishing was slow for every one I spoke to, most boats mine included had only one. Saw fish all morning from 5 ft to 40 ft lots about 25. Just wouldn't bite.
Used lead line plus divers.
Like the old man said " you should have been here Tuesday". I wonder if the front that moved threw on Wednesday shut them down. Only fished two hours that day 7 pm to 9pm no bites.
Grand son had fun, fish and crawdads.
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i troll 1.0 to 1.4 with a bent dodger , any faster than that it causes the dodger to spin in stead of sway back and forth . if you leave the dodger flat you can troll much faster . just fyi
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Thank you everyone for the input everyone! I really do appreciate it. We were on the water by 7 and were seeing fish ranging from 15-45 ft. We landed two rainbows, then were blown off the lake by 10. We were in his 12' aluminum boat with only an electric Minn Kota trolling motor to get us anywhere haha was pretty fun battling those waves. Thank you again, definitely need some down riggers as getting down to 35ft long lining with lead core is pretty hard. 5ft of depth per color, so thats 7 colors...thats a lot of reeling in. Thanks again everyone
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A buddy and my grandson had similar results on the Berry side, also Thurs. A.M. Only 2 kokes netted, and about 8 or 9 nicer and smaller cutts....then we were blown off the water by 10:00....I usually try 1.3 to 1.8, never over 2, but maybe I do need to re-think my speed to the type(s) of flashers/dodgers that I use....still learning...Guluk...
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Pretty much the same here - last week 1.4 to 2.1, and they seemed to be between 25 and 35 feet. It was slow but still better than being in the valley heat.
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