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Hit Ririe for a couple hours last night and found some willing biters! Nothing too big, but plenty of action for all on the boat. Ended up taking home 46 perch, let quite a few small ones go. Also caught some little smallies, a couple trout and a good sized sucker. Using jig and crawler in mostly 15 to 20 fow.
Seeing some red kokanee swimming around close to shore in some areas as well... pretty neat to watch! Beautiful evening on the water!!!
Paul
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Nice report Paul!
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Has anyone tried for kokanee? The spawn must still be going on if red ones are seen. Last time out, in mid-August, I couldn't get them to bite.
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thx for the report! time to have a fish fry![cool]
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Hit the water for the last time this season today. Water temp was 62 and air temp at 7 was 46. Fished power line and higher up. Perch and trout were hitting consistently. Most perch were about 6-7 inches so I only kept a couple that were 10". Still no Kok's hitting, but a lot of marks at about 30'.
I was surprised that there were 7 other boats on the water since it was Monday, but you couldn't beat the weather.
No one was catching any Kok's so I thought ok, they must be still spawning. Just a guess. But, it was confirmed when I got back to Juniper launch. As I pulled into the slot to load the boat, a couple of decent sized fish jumped right next to the dock. Didn't think anything about it, but, when I tied the boat up and got onto the dock, I looked down and OMG, there was a pod, cell, group or whatever you call them, about 75-100 reds where cruising through the dock area. I was totally surprised, but, what a sight to see. I've seen a couple reds before along the shore, but, this was unreal. I just stood there and watched as they went one way then another. Good size to them all too. I would guess most were about 16-20". And, all had a huge hook jaw.
Went and got the truck and while loading the boat, here they came again. It was such a cool sight to see. Looked like someone had caught or snagged a kok and cleaned it on the ramp. Eggs were all over the ramp at the water level. They also had burned a fire there and just left the ashes and trash they burned right there. That ruined the whole experience of watching the Reds.
Anyhow, I don't know how long they spawn, but, none of them were looking like they were on their last leg as when they saw me move, they were quite quick in moving one way or another. If anyone wants to see a huge group of Reds, it's worth the trip to just go up and stand, sit, and watch them cruise through boat ramps.
Have fun and enjoy the show.
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Thanks for the in-depth report. Guess I'll wait a while longer.
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They swarm the dock area to spawn because the is where they are planted . Wish they could plant them up Williow Creek and they would go there to spawn . There are some that do but not many .
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[quote curt69]They swarm the dock area to spawn because the is where they are planted . Wish they could plant them up Williow Creek and they would go there to spawn . There are some that do but not many .[/quote]
You're right Curt. They do the same thing over here. The reds just spin circles in front of the boat ramp where they were dumped. Never understood why the don't drop them in a few of the tribs. Always cooler seeing them heading up the creeks than swimming in circles at the docks.
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The only way you can control the population numbers is to plant them where they can't successfully spawn. Numbers management becomes mostly guess work when you are trying to manage numbers of reoccurring spawning fish with yearly plants. In a lot of cases you end up with to many fish and the population becomes stunted or disease wipes out a whole years production.
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They do the same thing in Alaska. A number of years past we went up to Juneau Al and saw them swimming around in a circle like that, I thought it was strange so I ask one of the locals there what the deal was. He said the fish and game had a certain number they planted in the streams every year and once that quota was reach they dumped the rest into the water by the boat ramp. I guess it was just an easy place to get rid of the excess and it made for a pretty interesting sight for tourist to come and see. It sure caught my attention and I spent several hours there catching and releasing fish up to 10 lbs[crazy].
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Yeah I get that MM. The tributaries for Lucky Peak don't support any natural production because of the temperature. The few that do run the creeks are never successful spawners according to F&G. It would just be cool if they could dump some in the creeks in the spring and let them flush to the lake. Idaho City would benefit from the people going up to watch them in the fall.
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[quote wiperhunter2]They do the same thing in Alaska. A number of years past we went up to Juneau Al and saw them swimming around in a circle like that, I thought it was strange so I ask one of the locals there what the deal was. He said the fish and game had a certain number they planted in the streams every year and once that quota was reach they dumped the rest into the water by the boat ramp. I guess it was just an easy place to get rid of the excess and it made for a pretty interesting sight for tourist to come and see. It sure caught my attention and I spent several hours there catching and releasing fish up to 10 lbs[crazy].[/quote]
Out of Homer on the Lands End Spit, their is a giant circular hole. They have the Salmon released there so they will return to that pool to be caught. LOL
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LOL, you know, I've been to that exact spot and caught salmon there as well, pretty cool but it's combat fishing at it's finest. People are pretty friendly and when I was there they gave you room to fight the fish, when you got one on.
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