Headed to the Gorge

[mallardmann]

Hi, I'm a new member, first post. I'm headed to Flaming Gorge after the July 4th weekend. I was planning on fishing for kokes near Brinegar's, Squaw Hollow, Upper Marsh Creek and surrounding areas. Does anyone have a recent fishing report from that part of the reservoir? Also, I'm curious about the boat ramp at Holmes Crossing. I've never launched there but it is right on top of where I want to fish. Is it a decent boat ramp? How is it compared to the one at Anvil? I'm familiar with that one. I will post a report when I get back. Hopefully it will be filled with pictures of large Kokanee!
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[mtncat1]

I was there last week the water is still cold 60 degrees, so the kokanee are all over the place depth wise .I caught most of mine at 30 feet, but a lot of guys said 12 feet was their best depth. I've never launched at holms crossing so no advise on that. pink and orange were my best colors. Good luck.
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[mallardmann]

Thanks mtncat1. I guess I'll just stack lines at different depths until I see what is working. Last year at about this time I was catching them at 45-50 feet. Sounds like they may be a little more shallow right now
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[Yahtahay]

The Holmes Crossing (they call it something "xxxx Ferry" now, Brinegar Ferry maybe) is my preferred launch actually as it sits right where I routinely fish. It does not have a mooring dock, rather it has a courtesy dock (grated boat launching ramp), if you are by yourself, you better skip launching at Holmes.

Fishing wise, it was a little slow for us but we weren't trolling for kokes, we were jigging for rainbows and targeting smallmouth. I'd watch your finder and troll about 2-2.5 mph with a pink squid trailing a pink/purple dodger tipped with pink gulp maggots. I was marking them up at 10-15 feet but also noticed some fish were deeper as well.

One thing I did notice last week though is the lake was either starting to turn over or it was ending (last weekend) as there was a ton of algae and the thermocline was all over the place. Even the fish finder was having issues at times due to the vast amount of algae.

Hope this helps...and good luck!
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[mallardmann]

Thanks for the information. I will not be fishing alone so I think I will give that boat launch a try. I've seen other reports saying the kokanee are scattered just like you said. I'm hoping by the time I get there they will be schooled up a little better in the deeper water. I appreciate your help!
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[Ryno]

It's a good launch, so I don't think you'll have any issues, especially if you have help. It was recently renamed "Brinegar's Ferry Crossing".

The water is still coming up at a rate of about 1ft per week, and there's more debris in the water on the north end due to the proximity to the Green and Blacks Fork Rivers. The water is cooler as a result of the high inflow too, so it's a little different compared to previous summer time periods. Like others stated, fish will be more dispersed through the water column up there. On the lower end of the reservoir, they've been mostly from 40-60 ft.

Good luck, Ryno
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[mallardmann]

Thanks Ryno, that's some great tips. The high, rising water would explain the inconsistent behavior of the Kokanee. I have fished the Utah side before but the Kokanee seem small compared to what we catch in Wyoming. I guess if the fishing gets tough near Squaw Hollow I won't be opposed to launching at Lucerne and heading up the canyons. I read one of your earlier posts and it sounds like you did quite well in Utah. I enjoyed your presentation at the Kokanee seminar in Salt Lake a couple weeks a go. You guys did a great job! Thanks for your help.
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[Yahtahay]

Any idea why they changed the name again? Are they contemplating putting in a real ferry there to go across to the Upper Marsh launch?
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