We put 30 kokes in the box between 7:30am and 11:30am this morning between 40-70’ down with 65’ the sweet spot going between 1-1.7mph near the Juniper ramp we caught them on pink, purple orange and watermelon RMT dodgers and squids and a pink and chartreuse kokabow set up.
Nice, looks like someone going to be busy smoking some fish.
(07-24-2020, 10:35 PM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ]We put 30 kokes in the box between 7:30am and 11:30am this morning between 40-70’ down with 65’ the sweet spot going between 1-1.7mph near the Juniper ramp we caught them on pink, purple orange and watermelon RMT dodgers and squids and a pink and chartreuse kokabow set up.
Wow, nice haul, sounds like you and your family had a good day at Ririe. That one fish looks like some type of trout, is it a tiger or a brook trout?
(07-25-2020, 04:19 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-24-2020, 10:35 PM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ]We put 30 kokes in the box between 7:30am and 11:30am this morning between 40-70’ down with 65’ the sweet spot going between 1-1.7mph near the Juniper ramp we caught them on pink, purple orange and watermelon RMT dodgers and squids and a pink and chartreuse kokabow set up.
Wow, nice haul, sounds like you and your family had a good day at Ririe. That one fish looks like some type of trout, is it a tiger or a brook trout?
We caught 1 rainbow that inhaled the hoochie deep and was not going to make it, so it ended up in the box.
(07-25-2020, 06:03 PM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ] (07-25-2020, 04:19 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-24-2020, 10:35 PM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ]We put 30 kokes in the box between 7:30am and 11:30am this morning between 40-70’ down with 65’ the sweet spot going between 1-1.7mph near the Juniper ramp we caught them on pink, purple orange and watermelon RMT dodgers and squids and a pink and chartreuse kokabow set up.
Wow, nice haul, sounds like you and your family had a good day at Ririe. That one fish looks like some type of trout, is it a tiger or a brook trout?
We caught 1 rainbow that inhaled the hoochie deep and was not going to make it, so it ended up in the box.
OK, it was hard to see from your pic, it just looked like it had a different pattern than a koke does. Has that kokabow lure been working better than the squid for you?
Looks like a great morning... Thanks for sharing!!!
(07-25-2020, 07:15 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-25-2020, 06:03 PM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ] (07-25-2020, 04:19 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-24-2020, 10:35 PM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ]We put 30 kokes in the box between 7:30am and 11:30am this morning between 40-70’ down with 65’ the sweet spot going between 1-1.7mph near the Juniper ramp we caught them on pink, purple orange and watermelon RMT dodgers and squids and a pink and chartreuse kokabow set up.
Wow, nice haul, sounds like you and your family had a good day at Ririe. That one fish looks like some type of trout, is it a tiger or a brook trout?
We caught 1 rainbow that inhaled the hoochie deep and was not going to make it, so it ended up in the box.
OK, it was hard to see from your pic, it just looked like it had a different pattern than a koke does. Has that kokabow lure been working better than the squid for you?
The guy that came out and fished with me Thursday night at Pali
es uses Kokabow tackle and gave me a pink and chartreuse dodger with a willow leaf and pink bead spinner that has been his best set up at Ririe this year so I have been running it all weekend in my spread, I can confirm it catches kokes but I caught them on my RMT set ups too I think it’s kind of a Ford, Chevy, Dodge situation everyone has there favorites I’m a Rocky Mountain Tavkle guy.
Hit Ririe twice in the last week... total of 37 kokanee, 8 perch and 5 trout combined. Fished between the dam structure and just South of Juniper. Morning trips on both days.
(08-05-2020, 12:37 AM)psanders71 Wrote: [ -> ]Hit Ririe twice in the last week... total of 37 kokanee, 8 perch and 5 trout combined. Fished between the dam structure and just South of Juniper. Morning trips on both days.
Nice, this time of year is great, when the kokes are schooled up, its easy pickings, I’ll be up there on the 15th. Harvest as many as you can, they will all be dead in a month or two.
(08-05-2020, 02:55 AM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ] (08-05-2020, 12:37 AM)psanders71 Wrote: [ -> ]Hit Ririe twice in the last week... total of 37 kokanee, 8 perch and 5 trout combined. Fished between the dam structure and just South of Juniper. Morning trips on both days.
Nice, this time of year is great, when the kokes are schooled up, its easy pickings, I’ll be up there on the 15th. Harvest as many as you can, they will all be dead in a month or two.
Most of the schoolies are next year's crop. The 3 year old fish are skulking on the bottom and hitting anything in red.
(08-05-2020, 05:06 AM)MMDon Wrote: [ -> ] (08-05-2020, 02:55 AM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ] (08-05-2020, 12:37 AM)psanders71 Wrote: [ -> ]Hit Ririe twice in the last week... total of 37 kokanee, 8 perch and 5 trout combined. Fished between the dam structure and just South of Juniper. Morning trips on both days.
Nice, this time of year is great, when the kokes are schooled up, its easy pickings, I’ll be up there on the 15th. Harvest as many as you can, they will all be dead in a month or two.
Most of the schoolies are next year's crop. The 3 year old fish are skulking on the bottom and hitting anything in red.
That's an interesting thought, so are you saying they are hitting red colored squids or spinner blades? That is not a color I've ever used. When you say they are on the bottom, is that the bottom of the lake or the bottom or the water column?
(08-05-2020, 04:27 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-05-2020, 05:06 AM)MMDon Wrote: [ -> ] (08-05-2020, 02:55 AM)obifishkenobi Wrote: [ -> ] (08-05-2020, 12:37 AM)psanders71 Wrote: [ -> ]Hit Ririe twice in the last week... total of 37 kokanee, 8 perch and 5 trout combined. Fished between the dam structure and just South of Juniper. Morning trips on both days.
Nice, this time of year is great, when the kokes are schooled up, its easy pickings, I’ll be up there on the 15th. Harvest as many as you can, they will all be dead in a month or two.
Most of the schoolies are next year's crop. The 3 year old fish are skulking on the bottom and hitting anything in red.
That's an interesting thought, so are you saying they are hitting red colored squids or spinner blades? That is not a color I've ever used. When you say they are on the bottom, is that the bottom of the lake or the bottom or the water column?
Let's start with the visuals. We know red turns gray at 20' or so but what the scientists failed to mention is the spectrum of gray is quite wide. This is how fish know red from other colors at 80' is red falls into a certain spectrum of gray as does every other color. Spawning fish are known to be territorial and during the spawn you catch the big hook nose Kokes by fishing with red whether it is red flies in spawning steams or red hoochies fished on the sandy bottoms of the lake. The fish will naturally slash at anything red just as they would slash at another red spawning Koke. It is a territorial strike and brings on a great fight though I wouldn't recommend eating them no matter how you smoke them. Remember, smoked dog poo is still dog poo.
(08-06-2020, 10:40 PM)MMDon Wrote: [ -> ]Let's start with the visuals. We know red turns gray at 20' or so but what the scientists failed to mention is the spectrum of gray is quite wide. This is how fish know red from other colors at 80' is red falls into a certain spectrum of gray as does every other color. Spawning fish are known to be territorial and during the spawn you catch the big hook nose Kokes by fishing with red whether it is red flies in spawning steams or red hoochies fished on the sandy bottoms of the lake. The fish will naturally slash at anything red just as they would slash at another red spawning Koke. It is a territorial strike and brings on a great fight though I wouldn't recommend eating them no matter how you smoke them. Remember, smoked dog poo is still dog poo.
That makes total sense but I've never heard that before. Here is a pic of some red kokes I caught on Monday, I've smoked them when they are more red than these and never had a problem with their taste but it really has more to do with how firm the flesh is, rather than the color, at least IMO.
![[Image: 100-3385.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/dkjxmy5/100-3385.jpg)
Here is another one that I caught last year that is really red but it taste fine too.
![[Image: red-kokanee-8-27-19.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/NsLLchN/red-kokanee-8-27-19.jpg)
(08-06-2020, 11:38 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-06-2020, 10:40 PM)MMDon Wrote: [ -> ]Let's start with the visuals. We know red turns gray at 20' or so but what the scientists failed to mention is the spectrum of gray is quite wide. This is how fish know red from other colors at 80' is red falls into a certain spectrum of gray as does every other color. Spawning fish are known to be territorial and during the spawn you catch the big hook nose Kokes by fishing with red whether it is red flies in spawning steams or red hoochies fished on the sandy bottoms of the lake. The fish will naturally slash at anything red just as they would slash at another red spawning Koke. It is a territorial strike and brings on a great fight though I wouldn't recommend eating them no matter how you smoke them. Remember, smoked dog poo is still dog poo.
That makes total sense but I've never heard that before. Here is a pic of some red kokes I caught on Monday, I've smoked them when they are more red than these and never had a problem with their taste but it really has more to do with how firm the flesh is, rather than the color, at least IMO.
Here is another one that I caught last year that is really red but it taste fine too.
To each his own. All of the physical transformations come straight out of the meat quality. I stop eating them once they absorb their scales. After that they are pretty much dog food to us. You should do you and if they please you, soldier on!
(08-08-2020, 01:06 AM)MMDon Wrote: [ -> ] (08-06-2020, 11:38 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-06-2020, 10:40 PM)MMDon Wrote: [ -> ]Let's start with the visuals. We know red turns gray at 20' or so but what the scientists failed to mention is the spectrum of gray is quite wide. This is how fish know red from other colors at 80' is red falls into a certain spectrum of gray as does every other color. Spawning fish are known to be territorial and during the spawn you catch the big hook nose Kokes by fishing with red whether it is red flies in spawning steams or red hoochies fished on the sandy bottoms of the lake. The fish will naturally slash at anything red just as they would slash at another red spawning Koke. It is a territorial strike and brings on a great fight though I wouldn't recommend eating them no matter how you smoke them. Remember, smoked dog poo is still dog poo.
That makes total sense but I've never heard that before. Here is a pic of some red kokes I caught on Monday, I've smoked them when they are more red than these and never had a problem with their taste but it really has more to do with how firm the flesh is, rather than the color, at least IMO.
Here is another one that I caught last year that is really red but it taste fine too.
To each his own. All of the physical transformations come straight out of the meat quality. I stop eating them once they absorb their scales. After that they are pretty much dog food to us. You should do you and if they please you, soldier on!
When we fished Ririe heavy we would target the 2 year class fish by the third week of July. By trolling the bottom of the school column we could still pick up 3 year old fish that would appear to be holding over and still have scales.
That being said, the part about eating red kokes, I started bottling them last year and that could make a difference. I smoke them first, then bottle them.
By the way, do you fish arrow rock or lucky peak? I'm planning on making a trip up there later this fall, after the spawn, so we would be fishing for next years kokes.
How long do you keep them in the smoker before bottling them? I’d like to give it a try this weekend. Thanks
(08-08-2020, 02:10 AM)Trident 13 Wrote: [ -> ]How long do you keep them in the smoker before bottling them? I’d like to give it a try this weekend. Thanks
I smoke them just as if I was going to eat them after they are done, about 6 or 7 hours, using two pans of chips. Since I plan on bottling them I'm sure you could get away without smoking them as long as I do, as long as you use two pans of chips. Not sure if it makes a difference but I use a Big Chief electric smoker, so depending on what smoker you use, your smoking time might be different.
Do you need to add any liquid or do you just pack them tight in the bottles?
Thanks for the info.
(08-08-2020, 01:30 PM)Trident 13 Wrote: [ -> ]Do you need to add any liquid or do you just pack them tight in the bottles?
Thanks for the info.
No added liquid used, just pack them tight in the bottle, leaving the required 1" head space. This process only requires you to remove the skin before bottling, bone can be left because they dissolve during the canning process.