have any of you Koke fisherman who use squids behind a dodger/flasher ever tried a good ol tube as your bait ?? Might prove to be a good bait for them. There are different colors than the typical squid, a bit bulkier, and possibly more durable. Lots of different sizes available also. Just a thought !!
I haven't. Just want to get the back and forth action. As long as you get that I think it would work.
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I've used pink and chartreuse 1 1/2" and 2" tubes many times behind a dodger for kokes and it works well. A little hoochie squid in pink is still my favorite when fishing a dodger, but the tubes still work almost as well when rigged identically.
Mike
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As I understand it (But, who can know the thinking of a fish?), the Kokanee aren't targeting the squid-like lure as food. They don't eat anything like that. They eat plankton-like tiny creatures.
Instead of biting the tiny squid-like lure as food to consume, they bite it to kill it as protection from perceived unwanted competition for their food source.
But, there is a lot of this model of explanation that I don't understand like why would the color of the intruder into their food source matter?
Squid don't even make sense because they are salt water life that aren't seen by Kokanee in our fresh water reservoirs. But, as Jared Johnson of Rocky Mt Tackle tells his audience at his International Sportsman's Exposition seminars, the squid has all of those tentacles that present a lot of movement to replicate something alive and that's what matters.
I've noticed mostly the smaller lures used. Perhaps this represents small creatures feed on plankton sized food and larger fish generally don't.
The fishermen at the seminars tell me to change lures frequently not only to find what works, but to also change when you found what works to find out what else works.
When trolling many lines at Flaming Gorge, we generally catch the most kokanee on whatever small thing they are targeting (Why?) at that moment, but I usually put out one line with odd lures just to see if they work or catch anything. They generally don't.
I get criticism for not doing what everyone else does, but how else would we learn what else might work? I suppose that's why most use the lures that are known to work.
What's going on in the brain of a Kokanee?
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A biologist that I was talking to in Washington several years ago told me that Kokanee are 100% identical genetically to ocean running sockeyes, and as a result the millions of years of evolution and eating habits still affect the diets of kokanees. He said in the ocean that they MOSTLY eat plankton, but a significant portion of their diet is krill, shrimp, small squids and even an occasional small fish. He said in freshwater they are much the same and even though their stomachs usually reveal mostly zooplankton, they also have a significant amount of snails, insects, and again the occasional small fish.
This biologist told me that he theorized that the reason that small lures in oranges, reds and pinks work so well is that the Kokanee have imprinted into their genes, along with a heavy plankton diet, to eat krill (they are orange, red and pink), shrimp (again, ditto on the colors along with green), and tiny squids (similar colors again).
The more I've thought about it the more I think that he is right. True we have no squid in freshwater lakes here, but they still have that instinct to eat all of those tiny critters genetically imprinted into their minds and so when we fish with certain colors or patterns it actually does mimic food that they would normally eat.
I have caught MANY Kokanee while fishing with salmon eggs, pieces of worm, maggots, and even targhee bait once. I used to target the kokanees in late spring up at causey reservoir with salmon eggs near the inflow and could usually count on catching some. The other baits were mostly accidental catches however. Obviously kokanees were actually feeding on these baits and not hitting them out of aggression or visual stimulation, so I don't think it's a far stretch that when we troll for kokes with tiny spoons, hoochies, etc., we are actually matching their normal food sources to some extent and we don't even realize it most likely. I've also noticed that adding scent or small pieces of bait to tubes and squids can make all the difference in the world so again, their sense of small is guiding their stomachs.
Just my opinion though as I'm not near the Kokanee expert as many on this forum are, but I've caught my fair share when I go after them and have been pretty successful at it in general.
Mike
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Wow! Makes good sense!
Rings true to me and answers the questions I had regarding colors and your point on scents and sweetening with food really makes it fit with what I've also observed.
I'm learning! Too bad we people have to learn the hard way instead of already know by instinct and knowledge of things and events stored in our genetics. If we had that, then perhaps we wouldn't be so trusting of government and I would have less concern for preparedness.
Thanks, Mike.
Ronald
Don’t overthink fishing. Yes sockeye eat squid. The hoochie rig was developed originally for ocean fishing of nonspawning sockeye to take advantage of their instinct to eat squid. There is no thinking on the fish’s part ever. Kokanee are landlocked sockeye so fishermen took advantage of that instinct to catch nonspawning Kokanee with the same hoochie rig. Not a random trial and error process of what in the world might work and throw 1000s of lure/rigs at them until we find one that is effective.
Besides the solitude or good time spent with family and friends fishing what I enjoy most about fishing is it’s simplicity. I can turn off my brain and forget about everything else.
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