Help with tackle for Mac Pups at the Gorge

[GrandpaD 2020]

We will be heading to Flaming Gorge in a few weeks.
Will be fishing from a boat in the area of the Dam.

Please help me with ideas of tackle that will catch the Mac Pups there.
Planning on jigging but could also troll if that works.

Thanks for your help,
Dale.

[catchinon]

I've had consistent success through the ice with 3.5" Original Fat Gitzits in 475 Pearl Glow. The guy who could really fill you in is Ryno. He's the fishery manager out there and always knows what's working. Hopefully he will pop on here. If he doesn't you could PM him. He's always been quick to respond to me with loads of specific info.

[Cowboypirate]

This is old info but may help if Ryno doesn't see the post in time.

A couple of my friends will set up 2 trolling rigs for rainbows kind of shallow and a couple on down riggers for kokes. The pups will take either. That set up let's you cover a lot of water both in surface and depths. Work the electronics and go hunting them and enjoy the kokes and bows along the way. If they start getting into some they will stop and jig with white or glow jigs tipped with chub or sucker meat. Or just switch to more trolling poles at the depth the are getting hits.


Hopeful someone will get you some better info about current conditions and the bite.

Cheers

[GrandpaD 2020]

Thanks for the tips so far.
When we troll for Kokes, our speed is very slow.
Do you kick up the speed for the Pups?

[2knots]

When I was at the gorge last week (Wyoming end) we caught a lot of pups on the koke gear so that sped works. Color didn’t seem to matter for them but I all but refuse to run green for kokes there as it seemed to be constantly hit by pups

[Coho975]

Thanks for the tips so far.
When we troll for Kokes, our speed is very slow.
Do you kick up the speed for the Pups?

You don't need anything to fancy.  3"-3.5" white tube jigs tipped with sucker on a 3/4 oz jig head will almost always produce.  Chartruese while trolling almost guarantees pups.

[Ryno]

We will be heading to Flaming Gorge in a few weeks.
Will be fishing from a boat in the area of the Dam.

Please help me with ideas of tackle that will catch the Mac Pups there.
Planning on jigging but could also troll if that works.

Thanks for your help,
Dale.

I think everyone that responded covered it really well but here's a few specifics from my experience.  When trolling for them, I usually target 1.6 mph.  Depth is where I'm seeing the fish, but usually 60-70ft if I'm trolling along shore and searching for lakers.  I also get them on kokanee gear, but prefer spoons like Rocky Mountain Tackle Vipers, Northland Forage spoons, William Wablers, Little Cleos, etc.  Chartreuse is my go-to, but I've also done well with silver, copper on cloudy days, rainbow trout colors, etc.  I still tip the spoons like I would for kokanee, with a couple of Gulp maggots.  I've also caught kokanee using the same gear..  They'll school-up so if you mark a lot and want to jig, a white tube jig is the standard, but I also like jigging spoons like Northland Buckshots and blade baits like Sebile Vibratos.  I usually tip the tubes or spoons with a small piece of bait (Gulp maggots, sucker meat), but just jig the blade baits without bait.  I keep the blades baits moving too, and most of the hits will come on the fall.  When jigging it's nice to have a couple of rods ready to go.  When they decide to bite, you want to get the catching in while it's good.  It's also common to have 1-2 fish following the one you're reeling in, and a quick drop with the second rod could produce a quick hook-up.

Good spots to look at down near the dam include the northern wall immediately near the dam, but also the eastern wall up in Jarvies Bay.  I've also found active schools this time of year in the back of Jarvies Canyon, North Skull Creek, and several unnamed canyons or draws along the length of the lower reservoir.  If the school is active, you might seeing the fish suspended over 70-100 ft depths.  Just something to watch for because it can be a lot of fun finding them in a concentrated, protected area like that, and the fishing can be really good too. 

Hope it helps and good luck!  Ryno

[GrandpaD 2020]

Thank you for all your great tips.
Looking forward to a fun trip to Flaming Gorge.
This info will help a ton when we get the boat on the water.

We have always targeted Kokanee up there but this years reports are not very good for Kokes.
Having alternative choices will help keep it fun.

We have had some fun days up there chasing Smallies and will do more of that this trip.

[liketrolling]

My number one thing  is a spoon 1" to 3" just the spoon no dodger.    some times pop gear works but I hate it. I like some blue are green in the spoons but other colors work.   also I have got a lot of bigger
pups on a 3" J plug.     a lot of the pups are under the kokanee.    I can catch a lot more trolling for them  but you need downriggers.  the big ones are on the bottom