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+--- Thread: Great day at the Berry (/showthread.php?tid=886270)
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Great day at the Berry - trueblue2 - 06-10-2014
I don't usually do a lot of posts, but sure enjoy reading about all of your experiences. Yesterday was a special day at the Berry for me as I was able to spend the day chasing Kokes with my grandson who is visiting from Boise and will soon be leaving for the military. We got to make good memories and caught a lot of Kokes as well.
Thought I would share some of the info with you as to what and where. Arrived at the Soldier Creek Marina about 9:00a and were in the water by 9:30. Headed down to the mouth of the Narrows which is usually very good early in the year. Dropped two down riggers to 35' and 40' and started to put in two 30' divers, but never got it done as the kokes wanted to play. First was a very large male that made his getaway beside the boat. Estimated him at 21" and very heavy. Big loss, but not for long as the other rod bent over while we were getting the first back down. Lost that one too, as well as the next! Had the reel drags set for stripers and forgot to loosen them up. That done, we started to boat a few. Most were from 16" to 18" and about 2 pounds.
Did some lure changing ... green didn't work ... orange was OK and pink was best. Ultimately settled on 8" e-chip flashers with pink and white squids about 10" back. Also, did well with large silver dodgers and spinners. Tried blue and silver, but could only catch cuts, which we immediately returned to the water.
Caught some kokes as deep as 45', but most were at the 35' level. Only a few other boats in the area so we could basically troll on any line we wanted. Calm in the morning ... about a 10mph wind after 2:00 which put a nice chop on the water that got the fish biting again. Hot bite until 10:00; slow until 2:00, then active again.
Wound up keeping 10 for three of us. A great day. Made me wonder why I don't fish the Berry more often. Good luck to you all.
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - 4pointmuley - 06-10-2014
I've never caught a koke on Strawberry. My wife caught one from the shore once using power bait. Anyway I have a boat. Is it possible to catch them with leaded line? If so what lures would work? I've heard sometimes they can be caught on a fire tiger needle fish?
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Re: [4pointmuley] Great day at the Berry - trueblue2 - 06-10-2014
Yes, you can catch kokes with lead core, but you will have to get it down to where the kokes are and that could be difficult. You can get 40' jet divers and use them with standard line which should work better. I modify my jet divers with a "release" that I get from Amish Outfitters. The release trips when the fish strikes so you don't have to fight the drag of the diver when pulling in the fish. By far the best way to get down is with a downrigger. You can often find a manual one at a pawn shop or buy new at Sportsmans. They aren't too expensive.
To find the schools of kokes I like to to folks to draw a line between the farthest points of land and go the the middle and fish. Kokes are plankton eaters and like the open, deep water, often as far from land as you can get. When I fish Strawberry I fish either the middle of the open bay on the Strawberry Bay side or the middle of Soldier Creek. Also, a fish finder is indispensable. Doesn't have to be a fancy one, just one that will read down to 100' or so. I like Lowrance.
For lures I always use a dodger or flasher with a lure close behind. UV squids are excellent and I tip the hooks with a plastic maggot soaked in Kokanee scent. Wedding rings are a winner as are the several spinners made by Kokanee Creek and others. Trolling speed varies. Sometimes I go 1.2mph GPS, sometimes 1.7 GPS, but most often 1.9 to 2.1 as we did yesterday.
Location, depth, speed, and lure choice are the keys. Takes some practice, but you can catch kokes in Strawberry!
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Re: [4pointmuley] Great day at the Berry - liketrolling - 06-10-2014
you can catch them with leaded line but downriggers are best.
things to read. Becoming A Better Kokanee Fisherman
[url "http://www.rockymountaintackle.com/tips.php?osCsid=b58dac2204c783b960511a045dc6bebb"]http://www.rockymountaintackle.com/tips.php?osCsid=b58dac2204c783b960511a045dc6bebb[/url]
[url "http://www.protroll.com/books/?id=3"]http://www.protroll.com/books/?id=3[/url]
[url "http://www.fishwithgary.com/kokanee_university_part1.html"]http://www.fishwithgary.com/kokanee_university_part1.html[/url]
[url "http://www.rockymountaintackle.com/ourteam.php?osCsid=b58dac2204c783b960511a045dc6bebb"]http://www.rockymountaintackle.com/ourteam.php?osCsid=b58dac2204c783b960511a045dc6bebb[/url]
[#0066cc]video[/#0066cc]
[#0066cc][/#0066cc]
[url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og3KYL-aApc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og3KYL-aApc[/url]
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Re: [liketrolling] Great day at the Berry - 4pointmuley - 06-10-2014
Thanks for all of the info!!
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Re: [4pointmuley] Great day at the Berry - Potsy - 06-10-2014
I don't want to come off to ignorant and dumb but. I have only been set up to troll for a couple weeks. I have lead line. Correct me please but can I just put a weight where my leader starts to help me get lower than 30 foot. I have heard it's going to be hard to get my lead line past 25 to 30 feet or is that just unorthodox and too much weight to be reeling in with the fish
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - Watershadow - 06-10-2014
Great post and great information...thanks kindly. I do have a few questions though. How do you like to prepare your kokanee salmon? Also, how do you find their sporting qualities? Its been over twenty years since I caught one (lucked into it actually) and I'm wondering how they fight.
Thanks again, looks like you and your grandson had a great day.
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Re: [Potsy] Great day at the Berry - addicted2fishin - 06-10-2014
You can put a sinker ahead of the leader to get it down a bit deeper, but the divers will work better. If you use a sinker, use a sliding egg sinker, and I would go fairly large on that sinker.
It is also harder to keep the hookset with leaded line, the biggest problem with fishing for Kokes as their mouths are quite soft.
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Re: [Watershadow] Great day at the Berry - addicted2fishin - 06-10-2014
I'll put in my $.02 here. Take it with a grain of salt as I've only caught a couple of kokes. For preparing them, I don't do anything much different than I would a trout. They just taste a lot better. I prefer a good marinade or cajun marinade and butter, put it on a hot griddle and cover it immediately to help keep the steam in. I cook the whole fish, and flip it when the skin starts peeling off.
As for the fight....I caught one on heavy leaded line. When it got to the surface it jumped and cleared about 3 feet. It faught like a trout twice the size. I would love to catch a lot more!
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Re: [addicted2fishin] Great day at the Berry - Watershadow - 06-10-2014
Good to know, thanks! I'm thinking once they get off the lead ball of a rigger, they ought to give a pretty good tussle I'm thinking.
Thanks
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - Flounder70 - 06-10-2014
Great post! I am glad you had a great day. It sounds like a blast. I just bought a new boat and these are very informative articles for me to read to learn how to catch fish. I am taking my nephew and my girlfriend's son to Willard Bay on Friday. They are both 14 years old and get bored fast. I have been starting out learning how to catch walleye, but want to go to Strawberry a lot this summer as well. I have some planer boards on the way for Willard. Next will be downriggers for Strawberry.
Thanks again!
For the guy that was asking about how to prepare kokanee, I would consider smoking them. I bought an inexpensive smoker at WalMart and the rainbows that I smoke come out perfect everytime. The key is to get a1 plus pound trout. Filet them, but leave the skin on one side. Marinate. Smoke. Simple. As good or better as the smoked salmon at the store for $12 a pound.
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Re: [Flounder70] Great day at the Berry - addicted2fishin - 06-10-2014
I have never filleted a trout. I have a lot better luck avoiding the bones if you cook the fish whole. Then, when it is fully cooked, use a fork to carefully flake the meat away from the bones following the lines of the ribs / bones.
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Re: [Watershadow] Great day at the Berry - trueblue2 - 06-11-2014
In reply to your questions: 1) We like to bake or broil the filets. Try not to get too fancy as the kokes are very good. Just butter, paprika, and some lemon pepper work just fine. Broil until the top starts to brown or bake for about 15 mins at 350F. Some of my friends make a soy, brown sugar topping and put that on top of a base layer of butter and say that is the best. Others go nuts over smoked kokes. Another favorite of ours is to can the salmon in a pressure canner. I can provide the recipe if you want. It is very simple, but the canning takes 90 minutes. We will do 20 to 30 pints at a time to last us the entire year. With the canned salmon you can make salmon patties or salmon loaf or eat it on crackers or make a dip. Doesn't matter ... it really tastes great and is our "go to" cooking procedure.
On lead core with weights, I think it would give the kokes too much weight to pull against and think you would loose most of them. You can tell a koke before you see it because it will come straight to the surface and try to reach the clouds. A clean line off a downrigger release is by far the best way to go. That way you will only have the flasher and the lure as a drag. Even then you won't get them all.
On fighting quality ... they are a SALMON and act like their bigger cousins. Pound for pound I would put them above cuts by a long shot, better than bows and comparable to small mouth bass pound for pound. They are exceptional jumpers and if you are lucky enough to get into 2 and 3 pounders you will be impressed. Problem is they have a soft mouth. Some trollers use a bungee, but I prefer 7 1/2 foot ultra light action rods with the reel set for light pull. You just have to take your time with them and don't try to horse them in. Good questions. Good luck.
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - Potsy - 06-11-2014
Me again (the idiot) are you talking about the red diver things at tackle stores. If I understand put them on my regular bait pole. Not my lead core trolling poles. That should help me get down. The wife is sick of me drilling hole in our boat so no down riggers for me I'll have to make due.
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - liketrolling - 06-11-2014
Two weeks ago I got 6 Kokes on a planer board at Flaming Gorge
I let out 30 ft of line then put the board on and let out 50ft of line
I had a large sliding sinker on before the dodger, don't know how deep I was. The Kokes came out of the water when hooked.
got one over 3lb all of them were big.
on the downriggers were getting them at 33 ft
had one leaded line pole out, got two on it.
the downriggers were the best.
Can you give me your canning recipe.
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Re: [Potsy] Great day at the Berry - dubob - 06-11-2014
[quote Potsy]Me again (the idiot) are you talking about the red diver things at tackle stores. If I understand put them on my regular bait pole. Not my lead core trolling poles. That should help me get down. The wife is sick of me drilling hole in our boat so no down riggers for me I'll have to make due.[/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Here is a [url "http://www.cabelas.com/category/Divers/104297580.uts"]link[/url] to just a few of the divers available and most can be found in local stores. I would not recommend using a diver with lead core. You certainly can, but I wouldn't recommend it.
As for downriggers, they are by far the very best method to get to any accurate depth. And you don't have to drill more holes in your boat (thereby keeping the DW happy). Buy a pair of the clamp on models. There are several mfgs that make them and most cost less than $100 each (BigJon being the exception). Just clamp them wherever they work on your boat. Very nice way to check out their efficiency and suitability to your needs.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - Watershadow - 06-11-2014
Thanks Trueblue, appreciate the kind advice on the tackle and preparation.
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Re: [addicted2fishin] Great day at the Berry - KodiakFisher - 06-11-2014
Here's a trick I use to avoid the bones in trout..
After you've gutted and cleaned the fish and before prepping it for cooking. hold the fish by its mouth, open the inside of the fish and hold it "belly up" then pour Hot (close to boiling) water down the inside of the fish. The meat will partially cook and the bones will curl out of the fish. Doesn't get them all, But certainly makes it easy.
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - Flounder70 - 06-11-2014
This is how I filet my trout before I smoke them. After smoking the bones pop right out. These two rainbows were caught at Grantsville Reservoir a few weeks ago. Caught on rainbow sparkle power bait from north shore from 7:30 am to 9 am.
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Re: [trueblue2] Great day at the Berry - smittyts - 06-11-2014
I need to become friends with someone with downrigger. I'd love to catch some Kokes at Stawberry, or some of the giant fish in Fish Lake and the like. I am limited by my little 17' canoe.[
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