First Strawberry Kokes of the Season

[T-Squared]

Got home from a long business trip to hear the ice had blown off Strawberry on Thursday. My lovely bride agreed to spend Saturday with me on the water. Parking lot at Strawberry bay was full because of all of the docks and the 25 or so trucks/trailers. Most seemed to be chasing trout.

Launched about 9:30 and headed north. Last year chartreuse was my hot color early but no takers. Spent about two hours trying different combos and depths with no luck. I wonder if the fish are still in a feeding pattern that is most active when the sun is directly overhead which I assume would be the brightest part of the day when the ice is on the lake. Anyway, picked up our first fish at about 11:40 an orange Apex. Bite was sporadic for the next 2.5 hours but when we hit them we would typically pick up a couple. Things seemed to shut down at about 2:30 when the wind really picked up.

Boated seven fish and missed 3-4 others that chose not to hold on. Best color was orange. Depth was 7-20 feet with most fish coming from 10-15 feet. Micro squid and Apex produced all of the fish. Tried spinners, billed squid and just about everything else without success. I know it is REALLY early in the season so maybe they just need the water to warm a little. All the fish we caught were on the west side of the triangle.

Water was flat and beautiful until 1:00 or so. So good to be back on the Berry.
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[catchinon]

Thanks for the report. Those are some nice fish. I'm going out for my first time ever for kokes on Tuesday and you're getting me excited.[cool]
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[liketrolling]

you said Boated seven fish how many were kokanee?
last time out I got 8 kokes but next time out, need 12

I like the Strawberry side better but know where the kokes are at on the SC side
for me chartreuse workes better when you are deeper

I will go along with this (most active when the sun is directly overhead) sometimes.
if you have good sun from 7 to 9 am is what I like best
I have had some good days when the sun did not come out.
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[T-Squared]

We boated seven Kokanee. All were in the 1 - 2 pound range. We also caught 6-8 cutthroat. Best was about 20".

Talked to a guy on the ramp who fished the Soldier Creek side. He caught one kokanee at 27 feet. The kokes are very scattered throughout the water column but we could only get the shallower fish to play.
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[doitall5000]

Hay, let me know the details . Tuesday should be a great day.
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[T-Squared]

I too have had some pretty good days when the sun didn't come out. Just thinking about the first few weeks after Ice off I wonder if the fish are still in a pattern that is more active midday. This is completely hypothetical and only validated by my experience on Saturday. Typically I try to be off the water before noon but on Saturday it didn't really pick up for us until 11:30 or so.
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[Cowboypirate]

Kokes seem to be heating up early this year. Good reports coming from from the Gorge too.
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[Lunkers]

Nice fish, Thanks for the update
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