Sat Report

[Fight4not]

Went out on Saturday to Ririe. I took my little brother and one of his friends that had never been ice fishing. Needless to say I think she was cured of her desire to ice fish. The snow and wind made the fishing pretty much impossible. We got there about 9:30 and there were a couple other groups out fishing. We set up and I caught a koke around 10:45 had another bite about 15 min later. Then nothing until 12:00. We then decided to try our luck for some trout. When we got to the trout holes the wind was blowing us all over the place. It was crazy. It was probably the strongest wind I have ever been in. It made fishing very difficult. We could barely put our lines in the water with out the wind taking them. We did catch three trout down there through the wind. We finally decided that the wind was too much and decided to leave around 3:00. The wind was so strong we could make our self really big and it could blow us across the ice. We decide to play around and used the chairs as a way to catch the wind which would blow us even better. It was definitely a new experience. It reminded me of the shows about people being in Antartica with the wind and the blowing snow.
We ended up with one koke that was about 13 inches and the trout that we landed were 16 and 13 inches. The 16 incher was really a nice fish. It wasn't a skinny snake like we catch frequently out there.
I did talk to the other groups out there. One group caught one koke another group catch three koke and two trout and a third group caught two koke and one perch.
I would have to say the fishing hasn't been the greatest over there for this winter. I might give it one more try this week. []

Fight4not
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[Countdown]

Fight4not,

Hey thanks for the report. I commend you and your group for braving what was a really miserable day. I agree with you, also, on the fishing this winter at Ririe. Not even in the same ball park as last year. Oh well, sometimes you fish and catch, other times you just fish. That is what makes fishing an unsolved mistery.


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[KJFN]

Thanks for the report! It sound like it was a wild day but at least you got a couple of fish. Too bad conditions weren't better for you guys.
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[flygoddess]

[size 1]Fight4not,

Hey thanks for the report. I commend you and your group for braving what was a really miserable day. I agree with you, also, on the fishing this winter at Ririe. Not even in the same ball park as last year. Oh well, sometimes you fish and catch, other times you just fish. That is what makes fishing an unsolved mistery. [/size]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Got that right, rule of thumb, that's why it's called fishing and not catching[/size][/black][/font]
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[BrianID]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Fight4not, thanks for the report. [/size][/font][size 3][font "Times New Roman"] [/font][/size]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"] [/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Why was the ice fishing at Ririe better last winter than this winter?[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]What do you some of you think?[/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"] [/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]a) there were more fish in Ririe last winter[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]b) there is 1/3 more water in Ririe this winter[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]c) something else[/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"] [/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Many of you have much more experience ice fishing Ririe than I do so it would be interesting to hear your opinions. I think that the answer is “b”. The kokanee haven’t been as concentrated close to the dam like they were last winter because there is more water in the reservoir.[/size][/font]
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[Fight4not]

BRIANID
WELL I THINK THAT YOUR THOUGHT ABOUT THE WATER LEVEL BEING HIGHER IS PROBABLY A PRETTY GOOD EXPLAINATION. I THINK THAT THE KOKE MAY NOT BE SO CONCENTRATED AS THEY WERE LAST YEAR. I TALKED TO A GUY THAT FISHES RIRIE ABOUT 4-5 TIMES A WEEK AND HE SAID THIS YEAR THE FISH ARE IN DEEPER WATER THAN THEY WERE LAST YEAR AND THAT IN ORDER TO GET IN TO SOME GOOD KOKE FISHING YOU NEED TO BE OVER 70 FEET OF WATER YET THEY ARE USUALLY SUSPENDED 15-20 FEET DOWN.

A SECOND THOUGHT THAT I HAVE HAD IS MAYBE THERE ARE LESS KOKE IN THE LAKE THIS YEAR. I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE FISH I'VE SEEN HAVE ALL BEEN PRETTY GOOD SIZED. ANY WHERE FROM 12 TO 16 INCHES. LAST YEAR MOST OF THE FISH WE WERE CATCHING WERE FROM 8-10 INCHES WITH SOME BIGGER ONES CAUGHT IN THE 12-13 INCH RANGE. SO THERE MIGHT JUST BE LESS OF THE 8-10 INCH CLASS SIZE IN THE LAKE. WHICH COULD DEFINATELY MAKE SMALLER SCHOOL SIZES AND LESS FISH IN THE LAKE.

I REALLY AM NOT SURE BUT THOSE ARE SOME OF MY THOUGHTS ON THE KOKE IN RIRIE.

FIGHT4NOT
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[BrianID]

Thanks for the info Fight4not.

Last winter I also found the small kokanee (10" or less) much more common than the larger kokanee. That isn't a surprise considering the F&G planted only 50,400 kokanee in 2003 and 213,280 in 2004.

In 2005 the F&G planted 211,035 kokanee so you would think that the smaller kokanee would be just as common if not more common than the larger kokanee.

It is also possible the kokanee population isn't as large as it was last winter. You would think that the kokanee would have thrived more over the last twelve months than they did during the previous twelve months because Ririe has done better water wise the last twelve months.

Like I said earlier I haven't ice fished Ririe as much as most of you so it would be interesting to hear what the rest of you think.
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[windriver]

I have been asking myself the same thing. I do think that the increase in water may have spread the trout out a little. They do not seem to be running on the same tight paralles as they were before.

The Kokes are a little harder to understand because as has already been pointed out there are a lot of fishermen out there and I have not seen anyone getting into the smaller age classes like last year. It seems like last years fish have survived and this years fish have disappeared. So the question is where are they? The fishing really hasn't been bad. I know a lot of people who have caught there limits if they put their time in. I have done fine on trout although not as fast as last year. I guess that is why we explore from year to year. Things change. I did not do very well on Mudlake last year. For a few weeks it was wonderful this year and then it died. I wish things could stay good in some spots from year to year. It certainly keeps us on our toes.

Good Luck in the future. With my scedule I think I am probably done icefishing for this year. Just getting ready for spring fishing now.

Windriver
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[JoyRide]

Anyone mind sharing what the Kokes are hitting on when they are hitting?
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