(08-20-2020, 10:21 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Maybe that was the problem for us yesterday, we could have been fishing too deep but with the surface water temps being 70 degrees, it seems crazy they would be that shallow but you can't argue with your success. Power squad wasn't too bad yesterday but we were off the water by noon.

(08-20-2020, 10:49 PM)T-Squared Wrote:

(08-20-2020, 10:21 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Maybe that was the problem for us yesterday, we could have been fishing too deep but with the surface water temps being 70 degrees, it seems crazy they would be that shallow but you can't argue with your success. Power squad wasn't too bad yesterday but we were off the water by noon.

Those fish we caught the week of August 3-7 were running about 35 feet.

(08-20-2020, 03:37 PM)Outfishing13 Wrote: Hopefully my post will catch the attention of a F&G biologist, since I would like to hear what may be going on with the Jordanelle Kokanee and if they think that the system is ever going to be self sustaining and the salmon will ever start the process of self recruitment.  

This year I only fished at Jordanelle two times for Kokanee. Around the End of May and again this past weekend, primarily due to Covid.  I wanted to fish earlier, but it was closed to all but the Wasatch County residents.  When I did go in May, I got skunked. Not even a trout.  That day there were other fishermen who I saw had the same poor luck.  Sine then I have only seen a few good reports about Jordanelle.

After that day, I didn't head back and went to Strawberry for Kokanee and concentrated on learning to fish for Walleye this year on Deer Creek.  Then this past weekend I headed back for Kokanee on Jordanelle.  Last year at this time, I had a couple really good fishing trips there, so I wanted to see if it was going to be productive again the middle of August.

Anyhow, we started out around 8:30 and headed to the narrows and trolled along the south cliff and fairly far up the narrows.  Soon we found some schools of planter trout in the 12-13 inch range that would not leave the gear alone. I have just one downrigger which I used at depth ranging from 25-60 feet as I spotted targets on the fish finder.  Other rigs I set up with Walker TripZ divers from 30-40 feet down.  

Later we cast from the boat as we trolled along and caught trout on the surface with a Berkley Flicker Shad in a ghost perch pattern.  My brother had a hoot and land about a dozen rainbows that way. The most productive spot was the bluffs on the south as we came back to the dam. 

We ended up with a limit of rainbows with one 13 inch koke mixed in.  

I just wonder if other fisherman have experienced the same thing.  Slow fishing for Kokanee.

Looking at stocking reports, the F&G has stocked the lake every year for the past 3 years with over 100,000 fingerlings every year. Some years over 200,000.   I think these are probably just 3 year fish with some maybe going 4 years and then spawning.  

Just wondering what happened in 2020 with the Kokes.  Any theories or ideas?

Matthew

(08-22-2020, 04:32 PM)unluckytwo Wrote: This was my first year fishing at Jordanelle for Kokanee.  I consider myself a pretty successful kokanee fisherman at Strawberry but being lazy I thought I would try Jordanelle this year.

Jordanelle fishes a lot different than Strawberry.  What works at Strawberry isn't as great at Jordanelle, But I am still trying to figure Jordanelle out.  On all of our trips we caught our limit - except 1 we brought in 7...  But my biggest complaint is that I could not consistiently catch them at Jordanelle.  One Thursday (Holliday Weekend) a friend and I caught close to 40 in a couple hours, we went back on Friday with my daughter and we only caught 12 and had to work hard for them.  The lake was surprisingly not busy on either day as I expected.  

Some things I have noticed with Jordanelle - The fish are ALWAYS shallow.  Deepest I have caught them at was 15-25 ft (19 being the best that day) but most days it is on the surface or 5-10 feet down.

The fish at Jordanelle also like to sleep in.  I've never done well before the sun is up or on the water.

Most of what we are catching does not show up on my finder - they are too shallow.  This makes finding large schools hard to find.  It is also tough to know if you need to change things up.

I also hear a lot of whining of regarding the power squadron at Jordanelle.  They have the right to use the lake as we do and most all have kept well more than the required 150 ft distance from our vessel above wakeless and a good wake every once in a while is awesome for kokanee fishing!  It really changes up the action and we always hook them on a nice wake.  On the negative side, since the fish are so shallow I think they shut off pretty quick when the power fleet finally shows up in full force.

I think I (we) need just a bit more time to figure out how to really consistently slaughter them at the 'Nelle

I was impressed with the average size at Jordanelle, I thought the average was a bit bigger than Strawberry.  I'll keep trying Jordanelle for sure when time is a bit limited.  Easily home by 11:00 with a few limits!

Best of luck!