Koke Guys, this aint good....

[Fishrmn]

[quote Ryno]I started thinking about the question you pose years ago and started looking closely at all the kokanee I handle, including those I hook-n-line, handled in trawl surveys, trapped during the spawning run in Sheep Creek, etc. Up until last fall, I have never seen a kokanee with hooking wounds, but I finally saw one male during Sheep Creek trapping that had a damaged lower mandible. That's my only experience. Looking at other species I catch on the lake, it's not uncommon to see hook scars on rainbow trout or smallmouth bass, and it's really common on trophy lake trout. My feeling is the later species are not near as delicate, they are commonly hooked and released, yet live to be caught another day. Kokanee on the other hand are more delicate and likely more susceptible to catch and release mortality, but there isn't any scientific data to support that.[/quote]

Here's a trick question for ya. Have you ever handled a 5 year old kokanee? How many of those Lake Trout are older than 5?
[signature]