Ririe?

[oregonguy]

Has nobody been fishing it? Not hearing much. We did good last weekend and are heading out tomorrow. My neighbor has been killing it all week since I showed him how to fish it. Seems like most out there aren't doing great from what I saw. People might need to step back and fish like the old days will give a report
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[windriver]

Ririe was unbelievably good today for Kokanee. We caught some of the biggest ones I have ever got out of there. We were fishing pink light weight pop gear with pink blade wedding ring.

Windriver
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[oregonguy]

Once again the fishing was awesome! We also got some bigger kokes! Biggest was 15" but had some big shoulders. Caught 13 perch a couple rainbows and a handful of smallmouth. I think the one smallmouth was a keeper but didn't have a tape with me so we let it go. The better wedding ring seemed to be pink tipped with pink maggots. Fish were mostly caught from 35-45' and about 1mph on lake trolls. Will fish in the morning for the last time for Kokanee as they are going to be no good by the time I can get back there.
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[oregonguy]

Glad you also did well windriver
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[windriver]

I saw you guys yesterday. I was the one in the little 15 horse shuttling and trolling with a ton of kids. My nieces and nephews. It looked like you guys were having fun. What a great meal of fish.
Windriver
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[oregonguy]

The one with 7 people in the smaller aluminum boat?

We did great again. Got our 12 kokes in 1.5hrs plus lost 8 or so. Did some jigging and caught a couple rainbows. We managed 1 more perch and a couple smallies.
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[windriver]

That was probably me. There were eight of us all together. I had 5 in the boat most of the time. I was shuttling them to the docks while they waited for a chance to fish. I thought about going after the perch and bass like you were doing but decided to stick to Kokanee on that particular day because it was easiest with people who don't fish much.

I was impressed with your set up and wanted to look at your riggers closer. Do you use them a lot for Kokanee? I just use the 2oz trolling lead to get my stuff down to them.

Windriver
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[oregonguy]

Yes, that's all I use for kokes. Also use for trout. They are certainly nice to have. Makes it pretty easy to know exactly what depth your fishing and get to the same spot every time. Plus you don't have to fight the weight
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[psanders71]

windriver and oregonguy...

Thanks for the reports! Glad to hear (and see) that there are fish to be had at Ririe. Hoping to get out either Tuesday or Wednesday when I have family in town from South Dakota.

My travel schedule for work has been killer (currently in Montana), so this will be the first trip out to Ririe since early June for me. So !!!

Anyhow, I will be sure to report if I do in fact can make it out this week... Thanks again!

Paul
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[psanders71]

Finally made it out!!! Took my dad, brother and nephew from S.Dak out this morning. Got on the water by 06:30 and started getting bit as soon as we put the gear down. Bites were fairly consistent all the way through about 11:30 when we filled our limit, although there were a few lulls in the action every so often.

Had downriggers with sling blade/hoochie combos as well as flat lines with pop gear/spinner combos. pinks, oranges, greens and even gold were good colors. Tipped them with scented corn... Caught fish from 25 to about 55 feet, shallower early and deeper later a.m. Biggest was a hair over 14 with the vast majority under a foot long... Even got a few bows and a few perch. Have no idea why we picked up 3 perch suspended in over 90 feet of water while fishing for kokanee though!!!

Great day on the water... looking forward to finding more of those 14 inch+ fish...
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[oregonguy]

My biggest joke out of ririe is 20". There are a few big ones
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[fallsfish]

Never seen a 20" koke out of Ririe. Biggest caught has been 17". Some talk that ID Fish&Game are planning to stock some 4 year kokes. If so then may see some 20"+ fish. Hope that happens. Flaming Gorge has the 4 year class fish and they grow much bigger.
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[MMDon]

4 year fish don't happen due to genetics. It's the biomass that determines the spawning and life pattern. Ririe won't support 4 year fish without a huge self sustaining population. We used to pull over 500 Kokanee a year out of Ririe and I've never seen a 20" koke. You should have had that one made into a wall hanger.
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[Fishaholicsteve]

Has anyone had any success vertical jigging for Kokanee? I watched some you tube videos and it looks like a blast. I catch them jigging while ice fishing and was curious if anyone else tried it when the ice is gone.
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[MMDon]

Some of the lakes you see a lot of guys jigging on also allow chumming to hold the fish. My best days jigging on Ririe were days with large barometric swings or full moons and I would see the fish shoaled into a ledge on the bottom. They wouldn't move off of that shoal so you were basically bringing up fish with every drop into them. Most of the fish that are up in the water column are feeding and are constantly on the move. Easier to chase them with a trolling motor than try to attract them with a shiny object.
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[maghunter]

Have they started turning yet? I was thinking about going Friday, however I know it's getting close to when they have other things on their mind. Anyone been this week?
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[MMDon]

They've begun to absorb their scales and the males are getting kypes. By the 2nd week in August it will be time to fish for the 2 year olds. Still, running anything red down close to the bottom will bring some ferocious hits off the big males for the next 2 weeks.

Is it time to ice fish yet?
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[psanders71]

Plan on getting out this afternoon... will post after getting off the water. Was out last Thursday evening and had 10 in the cooler before getting chased off by the storms... All were in good shape then though.
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[psanders71]

Did make it out late yesterday afternoon for a bit. After getting the boat to work right ( battery and throttle issues) as well as getting some of the kids situated on one of the floating docks to swim, etc...

Ended up with 5 that we kept and lost at least that many on the way to the boat. Flat lined pop gear between 1.0 and 1.5 mph. Finally found a couple of those nice 16 inchers but they are definitely starting to blush. No perch or trouts this time.

Paul
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[MMDon]

Thanks for the update Paul. Ririe and The Gorge Kokanee probably turn pink earlier than any other bodies of water in the West. Not sure why those two work that way when many other waters from Cal to Canada last another month.
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