Fished L.P. this A.M., and found it tough. Hooked 5 in the first hour, and lost all 5. Finally netted one. And then it seemed to shut off. Tried all depths and locations. Others were also struggling. After limiting out rather easily last week, we thought it would be getting better, but this was the worst day of fishing on L.P. in the last three years for us. Oh, and the fish we were hooking were all quite small; none of the big lunkers that can be found in there this year. Go figure. Wish we had gone to Anderson Ranch instead. Mike
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We fished for kokanee out of Spring Shores yesterday [Sunday] from 0800 to 1400. Plenty of other boats also fishing but didn't see much catching. Fish continue to be scattered and didn't see any big schools on the sonar. Mostly suspended from 20 to 35 ft depth. We threw everything we had at them via downriggers and leadcore lines. No one offering seemed to make a difference on what we caught [3 fish - two 17-inchers and one about 14-inches] since each fish was caught on something different. However, one set up that had 3 separate unsuccessful drivebys was a Mack's Imperial spoon [#000000]fished behind a Macks trolling attractor with large Smiley blades.[/#000000][#000000]
Friends out in another boat did much better, boating 8 [4 in the 16-18 inch range, and the others smaller fish]. Most of their fish caught on lead core vs. downriggers....and a variety of presentations.
This year has not been as productive as last, but its still nice to catch those 15-17 inch fish instead of the dinks that some folks are catching on other waters.
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BtF,
First, welcome to the site. We always need more reports from this area. If you go back to this time last year on this site, the good reports just got going about the beginning of July. So, I am not giving up on LP by any means!! We trolled through lots of schools in the 20-25 foot range today, but they just weren't interested. They will put the "feed bag" on eventually. Once again today, the Weather Channel fishing forecast was right on target. It was an early morning bite. Again, welcome, and I look forward to many more reports from you. Mike
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Thanks Mike. I'll have to take a look at last year's reports....that might be encouraging.
Our experience last year was easy, early limits in the spring - primarily big fish [15-17 inch average]. However, as the summer progressed we still caught fish but limits were rare and we started getting a mix with more smaller fish.
I usually like to get out on the water early in the morning and fish til about 1 or 2pm at the latest to avoid the water maggots. [
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Mike, Anderson Ranch is easy limits on 10 to 12 inch fish. Occasionally a 13" eyepopper will grace the net. Len and I fished it for about 4 hours Friday, and landed about a dozen, but we weren't pounding any one spo, just prospecting for bigger fish. My buddies that fished Saturday got 75 between 3, but all smaller fish.
Welcome to BFT Deano! I figured you'd sho up soon.
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[indent]Thanks Joe...looks like this could be a good site to participate on.
Looks like Team Old Pharts will be hitting the water this Thursday and/or Friday - not certain yet where we'll go. [fishin]
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I'll be on the peak Wednesday. Got a couple new Koke rods to break in. Probably take the girls with me since it is summer vacation.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000000]looks like team old pharts will hit lp for sure on friday, and maybe thursday as well if mel can get caught up on some projects.[/#000000][/font]
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Mike: I thought it was just me losing more kokes than usual. I'm averaging 3-4 fish per trip with several coming off short of the net; not near as easy as last year when they were "catching trips" rather than "fishing trips".
Fish are definitely scattered. Maybe it'll pick up in July...
Mojo1: What kokanee rods are you using now? I switched to Lamiglas Kokanee rods last year and I sure like them. Much more sensitive. Easy bend on DR's and you can see the troll motion better. Plus, you get a better fight out of the fish.
I also have a Vance's kokanee rod with the spiralling guides but I wind up using the Lamiglas ultra-lights mostly.
Good fishing, guys and welcome to all newcomers.
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We did well, limiting in 4 hours. Most fish were 17", some were 14" becuse I keep bleeders. We released several undersized fish.
Aluma165, I have 2 WW Grigg 8'4" medium light casting rods (GX853C) with basically bass reels on them. They rock on the d-rigger and they are 25 bucks (+/-) at Sportsmans. With good drags on the reels, they are perfect for Kokes.
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I'll have to check out the Grigg rods at Sportsmans. 8'4" sounds great for a DR. Can't beat that price.
Good luck. I keep the undersized bleeders as well. Hopefully everyone does; they go belly up otherwise. The smaller kokes definitely fit the smoker better than those 16-17 inch fish.
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Burt, I fillet the larger kokes. My Bradley smoker is a wet smoker, adn for some reason the bones disappear after about 4 hours at 190 degrees. Might have something to do with the steam.
If you want a bunch of 12 to 13 inch fish, Anderson Ranch is kicking out limis. You have to release about 1 million fish for a limit of 13"ers, but it is fun.
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Joe, I've been wondering about the pin bones and smoking fillets. I don't have a wet smoker--I use a Big Chief-- but I will have to give it a try. By the way, congrats on nailing them at LP. What were they hitting best, where, and how deep, if you don't mind my asking. I experimented last trip with a green hoochie and dodger, but the wedding ring with green and red beads outproduced it. Mike
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Mike, All fish were at 25-32 feet on the riggers or 5-6 colors on the lead line. Most were caught on hoochies behind a dodger. Pink, chartreuse, and glow all produced for us. I think we caught fish on every color hoochie we had out. Last week, glow with pink spots was hot, yesterday it was one of the slowest colors. 1.6 on the GPS.
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Thanks for the info, Jo. Last year I had 'em figured out, but this year I'm not so sure!! Mike
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Joe: I have a Big Chief smoker like Mike. The wet smoker sounds good with the elimination of those small bones. I have fileted some of the larger kokes and all my larger rainbows but usually don't with kokes. Here's a funny side note: my neighbor is an Aussie. I told him he might want to "filet" his trout and bass he'd caught a couple of weeks back and he had no idea what I was saying until I described it. He and his wife giggled for 20 minutes at our french pronunciation. The say "fill it"... as in "fill it up".
I'm going to take them up to the Lucky for kokes soon. Should be a hoot. Great people and good allies. I definitely like their current Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.
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Went up to LP this morning. Didn't fish as long as usual, because our daughter, who is visiting us from Tanzania where she teaches, was with us, and I had promised a short trip. We picked up one limit, with most coming from 30 feet. As another fisheman said when we were pulling out, they seem to be getting smaller!!! Didn't see any of the big dudes this morning. What I did see made me hurt. A boat besides us was having engine problems or wrapped line on their new trolling motor. The fellow's grandson said he would pull the engine off the transom so they could work on it. Yep, he promptly dropped it in 150 feet of water. His only comment: "Wow, who'd a thought they would sink that fast". Grandpa, after a long period of just holding his head, laughed about it, and continued fishing. Don't know if I could have been so gracious, but hope I might! We just felt terrible for them. It's sort of like throwing $6000 worth of bills into a brisk wind. Mike
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This is Ron with the 10:00 o clock news. A man on Lucky peak was not so lucky today. It seems his grandfather tied a milk jug full of rocks to his neck and threw him over the side of the boat. A on looker said the grandfather said somthing like " you stupid SOB don't come back up unless you tie a rope to my motor" It sems that they may have had a disagreement, Film at 11:00 now back to you Tom.
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Ron,
You have had me and my family rolling in the aisles. Very funny! Mike
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That is hilarious.....I had to read it to my wife.
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