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Went by myself to porcupine monday and today. It was slooooow. I ended up with 2 kokes monday after 4 hours, and 4 kokes and oddly one small brown today after 7 hours. Brown was caught near the inlet using squid and dodger [crazy] I need to ask you guys a few questions, but first here's is what I used.
-times- monday 9am-1pm. Today 6:30am-2pm
- pink and glow in dark/pink squids. Fish favoured the glow squids. The glow squids had red hooks. Pink squids were tied with regular gamagatsu.
- Dodgers in pink and white, nickle and chartreuse, all nickle, and nickle and copper. Dodger color didn't make a difference. Fish still prefered red hooked squid.
-trolled .5-1 mph. Fish were hitting at .5. I saw others troll at the speed of light and watched them land a couple.
-fished in 20, 30, 40, and 50 ft deep. 30 produced the most hits.
- set back lengths after downrigger weight ranged from 6-50 ft. This also didn't seem to make much difference between these distances. I got hits and caught fish 30 ft down 6 ft out the same as 50 ft out. I should also note I troll in my pontoon using nothing but oars and arm muscles for propulsion. Makes me wonder if setback lengths make any difference more me at all due to the fact I don't have a rumbling gas motor.
I had about 10 other hits that fell off as soon as I pulled the line out of the quick release. Frustrating to say the least. I couldn't even get them to the boat so I could lose them there. I learned some time ago that ultra light rods help keep fish on As you play them in, but I couldn't even play with these ones.
I cut open the guts and found lots of micro invertebrates, and a few blood worms. Also, the reservoir is completely full.
So here's the Qs
Has any body else had it rough at porky lately?
How am I losing fish so quickly? Could it be really small Fish?
Have any of you fished with bare hooks. I read somewhere that it works well. Perhaps red hooks, pulsing after a dodger, imitates blood worms?
Pink colors always worked well for me before. What other colors work there?
Could these fish be feeding at night?
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[quote Diet_Koke]So here's the Qs
Has any body else had it rough at porky lately?
How am I losing fish so quickly? Could it be really small Fish?
Have any of you fished with bare hooks. I read somewhere that it works well. Perhaps red hooks, pulsing after a dodger, imitates blood worms?
Pink colors always worked well for me before. What other colors work there?
Could these fish be feeding at night?[/quote]
First off, welcome to the site, how did you find out about BFT?
Now to your questions:
Porky or the Pig as some of us call it, has been tough this year, the size of the kokes are up but the numbers are way down.
There are several reason why you are loosing them so quick, yes they could be just small fish but also could be that they just are not aggressive enough to get hooks well. When kokes are aggressive they easily hook themselves and of course the way they fight, its not surprising they rip the hook out, when not hooked well.
When the kokes are really aggressive you really don't need bait but when they aren't you need all the advantage you can get, to get them to strike. Scent can also help when they are hard to hook.
Pink is my favorite color as well but green can also work at times.
IMO, its not likely they feed at night, unless its a full moon, or there about. Since kokes mainly feed on plankton and very small invertebrates, it would be hard for them to see them on most nights.
Very impressive that you can paddle your toon for 7 hours. When we fish it we troll at 1.2 to 2.2 mph. Some days they just like it fast.
WH2
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I'm a lurker. BFT shows up on a Google search when I research new waters. I researched Kokanee fishing forums a few years ago to learn how to catch kokes. It looks like BFT shares members with the kokanee forum. It just seems like this place gets way more traffic.
I couldn't oar 1.5 for 7 hours esspecialy when the wind kicks up around 11 every day. I usually go .5 into the wind and 1 with the wind. That's my pace to endure a long day. If I could limit in a few hours, 1.5 would be fine, though my arms and upper back would be mighty soar the next day. I have been through several inflatable toons. Wipers and cats loved to put holes in them making oaring a half inflated toon back to shore a real chore. I switched to a hard plastic toon made by hobie, and I love it. I don't deflate when I'm a mile from shore, it has less drag so I can go faster longer, and the spiny fish cant exact their revenge on me. I like to oar because I need something that keeps me in shape, let's me have fun, and put some of the best tasting fish on the planet on my table.
I have read that some folks will bait with corn in other states. What would you recommend for the Pig?
Do we have any solid evidence the fish are lower in number? Last year had some bigger fish for sure and lots of smaller ones to fill the limit, but the fish I see this year are not much different. They're just really hard to catch. If in fact they are low in numbers and going to be this difficult for the rest of the summer, I might have to plan longer trips to other waters. Doesn't Devils Creek reservoir next to malad have kokes? Did the canal companies shut those lakes down too? Thanks
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I have been struggling at the pig as well. I'm a stubborn sob so I keep going back to figure it out. I have had zero luck trolling this year. It seems last year was better this time but I have caught one this year vertical jigging. Today I was there too didn't have any luck trolling. Vertical jogged a bit and had some hits but no solid hookups. Saw Dubob out there and saw his iPilot in use. First time I have seen one used and the ability to "anchor" without actually dropping an anchor seems ideal when the fish have to be targeted individually. The best luck I've had so far was jigging when the school passes and watching the fish finder.
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LOL, good to see you finally took the plunge and signed up. BFT and the kokanee forum use to be sister sites but the kokanee forum was sold and they are our competition now. Yea, BFT is the top of the heap in Utah, as far a fishing forums are concerned, mainly because it covers all fish not just one, plus it has been around longer.
I was thinking how could this dude enjoy fishing if he is paddling steady all day, using the wind to push you helps a ton I bet. I'm guessing you have a fish finder on your toon? If so, have you ever tried vertical jigging for kokes?
Most of use use Gulp alive maggots for trout and kokes, I've also heard of folks using salmon eggs. The only evidence I have that kokes are lower in number is this year, is time on the water and years of experience fishing that lake, not only by myself but others. Maybe the hatch was poor 3 or 4 years ago, maybe its the continued low water conditions during the spawn but for what ever the reason, this year had been poor.
Devils Creek reservoir is pretty much a put and take fishery, the last I heard, if there are any kokes left in the lake, its not many, unless they restocked it. Not sure about the canal companies shutting it down. Be your own judge on the Pig, go up there again and see how it fishes.
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I can confirm something is going on at the pig. Last year during this same time I was killing it. This year (after 5 trips) 2 fish. Last year the fish proved to me that color played no roll in the process. Caught fish after fish on multiple colors at the same time in the same place. Also, fish aren't where they always were last year. Still graphing large schools mostly in the middle this year as opposed to the edges last year. Threw everything I had at them today between 2 pontoons and only 1 fish to show for it. It came on pink hooks, pink squid, pink dodger. Spent 4 hours trolling each time. Never saw anyone else catch a fish any of the times I've been. Maybe it's just one of those years???
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Has the pig been this tough before? I haven't target kokes at the pig long enough to know if it has been real tough before. I might have to head to hyrum to wipe the skunk off. Sometime this season I have to bite the bullet and make a trip to the gorge for the Koke addiction.
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Been hearing good things about the gorge Kokes this year. Wish I had time to run down and try it for a couple days. Good luck if you go. Later J
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No fish finder. I pack light for my marathon[pirate]. You ask how can this guy enjoy fishing while paddling all day. I guess we can ask the same question about why people like to run long distances. Thers somthin bout it iguess. I'll go back to the pig for sure this coming week. I have been considering vertical jigging, but eventually talk myself into doing what's familiar. At this point the slow fishing may coax some sort of desperate creativity. I recall that thread about a homemade ipilot sytem for hovering over a school, and the post that struck me the most was rockyraab's Judas fish. I have heard this old school method for crappie before, so I think it's time I try it out on the bluebacks. Should be just the ticket since I don't have any expensive electronics. I can hold a position EASILY with my flippers. It would only be a matter of following a baloon around.
About the population size, I tend to believe that the numbers are in there. Without a statement from somebody who works at DWR and has the equipment for sampling results, I have a hard time going with the crowd on a worst case scenario, but there is something to be said and understood about experience and knowledge from you veterans.
I'll post results from my experience fishing Judas this coming week (if Judas can even be caught).
Thanks again for the tips!
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A few years ago a buddy and I were trolling for kokes out there and one of the rods was bouncing a slight bit different. Didn't look like much so we just kept trolling. A few minutes later WHAM! The rod bent like no other. We reeled the line in to find a very small Koke with teeth marks all down its side.
I am still toying with the diy iPilot idea. Hardest part is coming up with the thrusters.
Without a fish finder vertical jigging is a crap shoot. I got a small lowrance and a small battery for my ice fishing gear and while it does add some weight it's invaluable to me.
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There's no doubt there are monster browns in there. It could be worth trolling with a huge silver rapala for a few hours before sunup. I'll eventually get a depth finder. I just need to convince the wife that a hummingbird 360 means limmiting out faster=time with her or honeydo's
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Maybe if they made a 6 inch long gulp minnow?
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I made it out today. Got on the water at 530. Picked up one koke right off the bat. I fumbled around getting my Judas balloon ready and lost my fish in the process. An hour and 3 hits later I finally land another. Decided to pop the ballon and just troll. Stayed on the water till noon, and brought home 5 fish. It was still way too slow fishing for this reservoir. Again the red hook squid was getting the most hits, while I rotated different lures, dodgers, scents, and bait combos on the other rod. Until I switched to a plain bead head nymph. I don't know the name but it was small hook wrapped in a dark purple thread with a white bead head, and put it about 8" behind the dodger. This combo caught most of my fish. I would be willing to bet a San Juan worm would work just as good or better. I met a guy on the water that called me the most ambitious guy he ever met after watching me paddle for 3 hours. [blush]
The pig is just dead. Not sure I'll make it out there in from now till August unless a good report pops up. Looks like I'll take my paddling circus to another koke reservoir.
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I would be willing to bet the kokanee there shy away from noises of a gas trolling motor. Even electric puts some sound signature in the water. There is probably a time when they don't care but now is probably a time when they do. Do you think some of the kokes have wised up to a common squid pattern?
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[quote Quicky]I would be willing to bet the kokanee there shy away from noises of a gas trolling motor. Even electric puts some sound signature in the water. There is probably a time when they don't care but now is probably a time when they do. Do you think some of the kokes have wised up to a common squid pattern?[/quote]
The guys using gas motors and electronics were catching just as many as me, and I don't have any of that stuff. The downrigger cable actually makes some noise too, and some believe the downrigger weight scares fish as well. For wary fish you set the lure far behind the release clip. I produced hits 20'-70' behind the pontoon, and trolled 35' down. Makes no difference how far back you set the rig, they just won't bite. They're full of tiny invertebrates and phytoplankton. I have been thinking about shrinking my presentation a bit more, but I need a few more days to even consider going back. Guys I talked to said this was the worst they have seen it in 30 years, and they were not marking many fish. I have been reading about other lakes in the northwest that have been uncharacteristically slow, and some believe their was a disruption in water quality/oxygen that caused a big "culling" event or die out. Its very possible that the numbers just ain't there. I hope somebody could prove that wrong.
Does anybody know how causey has been doing for kokanee?
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The koke fishing is definitely the slowest it has been in a LOOONG time. I agree with what everyone says about the fish being bigger, but far fewer than in the past. 5 years ago you could get several limits in a few hours. Now you are lucky to get a limit for the whole boat. If you ended up with 5, you have done better than anyone else I have talked to.... I hope the numbers are not really down, but there is a good chance that is the way its going to be. Ice fishing has been uncharacteristically slow the last couple years, so I was afraid this may be the be d result.... Maybe fish and game would be willing to supplement the population sometime in the future if the numbers continue to stay low.
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