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Thread: Kokanee info for the Beginner and beyond

  1. #1
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    Default Kokanee info for the Beginner and beyond

    1st, There are numerous articles available for gleaning via the internet and on this forum. There are also forums specifically designed to address, how to catch, and offer multiple threads, relating to the catching of Kokanee. Whether you are new to Kokanee fishing, or a long time enthusiast, I hope the following information will assist you in deciding how you pursue them. Bear in mind, this is no panacea, and regardless of what anyone writes, there will be opposition. With that in mind, you decide. I beg you to study and come up with your own answers. When Kokanee are biting most anyone can catch them, however, I have seen Kokanee in full swing and still a lot of people suffer in the midst of the ordeal. The bottom line is I hope this compilation helps some of you learn, target, and catch more Kokanee. It is a fun sport, Kokanee have a good omega 3 content and are considered a good “bang for the buck”. You will either love it or perhaps hate the pursuit. You decide. I am not the author of most of these articles. Like I mentioned, it’s tips gleaned from the internet in hopes that you will not have to go hunt these sites down. Some of these tips are my ideas only and again subject to conjecture.

    There are a lot of arguments concerning sound, smell, and sight. Each of those applies to the type of fish you are actively pursuing. A couple of examples would sound like this. If it is true sound carries in the water 5 times faster than on land, then sound becomes very important. If you are fishing at night for catfish and bottom fishing then the catfish are coming in to smell and not sound. If fish navigate from their origins to the ocean and back, how do they do it? Many believe it’s smell that guides them. Either way, smell/scent has a play in this science. So what is the right order? Smell, sound, and then sight <my fav… but again you will have to decide because there are many different points of view. Color is another extremely diverse argument. Again, you decide. When it comes to scents, use your sense to figure out what works best for you.

    There are probably better articles written on this subject. Like I said, this is just to get some basic info out there for people to read and make decision on their own.

    I hope all of you continue to pursue a great sport and good eating fish. I wish for all, “Tight Line’s” and to hear that faint call, “Fish ON”!!!!!
    At any rate, my hope is if these articles broaden your fishing experience, then I’m glad.

    #1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpQTh...feature=relmfu
    #2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTi5n...feature=relmfu
    #3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTqyV...feature=relmfu
    #4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5P6U...feature=relmfu

    In the early morning to midday kokanee seem to have a preference for greens and chartreuse. Later, when good light is on the water, the best colors are bright red, pink, and hot orange. Silver chrome has also become a very popular color. Many fishermen will add fishscale or other holographic tape to their lures or dodgers. This material picks up sunlight and literally explodes into a rainbow of colors. If you are marking kokanee and not getting hit, changing colors, lure styles or scents can often make the difference. Some lures are made in "Glow in the Dark" colors. These prove exceptional in early morning and low light conditions such as deep depths.
    The Pro-Troll Kokanee Killer and the Wee Tad Plug have two rigging advantages for kokanee. On both of these, the lure will slide up your leader and the kokanee will not be able to use the lure for leverage to tear the hooks out of its soft mouth. Avoid using lures where the leader ties directly to the lure and the hooks are attached directly to the lure's body. Kokanee are tremendous head shakers and love to roll up on your lure and line. A lure that stays in a kokanee's mouth will provide a tremendous amount of leverage for tearing hooks out. Most anglers will tell you they lose at least 50% of the big kokanee they hook. Rigid hooks mounted in lures are frequently the problem. Free floating double rigged hooks behind kokanee lures seem to have an advantage. #2 to #4 red or gold Gamakatsu octopus style hooks or equivalents work very well. Approximately 1/4 inch distance between the bend of the top hook and the eye of the trailing hook is best.
    When you get kokanee on top of the water prior to netting they usually go crazy. They will start to roll up on your line. When a kokanee is exhausted and lying on top on its side it is perfectly OK to skim him across the surface of the water into your net. However, when a kokanee is on top and going wild, quickly lower your rod tip and get the fish to go under and start swimming again. If you attempt to horse a kokanee when it's on the surface going ballistic you will almost always tear the hook out, even with the two hook rig.
    Some lakes seem very color oriented. Greens and chartreuse may work well from first light until around 11:00 AM. when the sun is well up on the water. At this time if the bite slows down try the hot orange, bright reds, bright pink or pearl pink lures. Some lakes do not exhibit color patterns with light changes and more daily experimentation is required. Sometimes a color change can trigger action just because its different than what the fish have been seeing. In recent years a number of fishermen have had good luck fishing mid day with copper and pink or gold and pink lures. Vance Staplin likes copper under these conditions. He also drops the lures further back from his downrigger. Instead of his normal drop back of 10 to 15 feet he will go 30 feet or more when the sun is high.

    Dodgers and multi blade attractors can often make the difference between catch and no catch. Dodgers are run in front of your lures and multi blade attractors are usually run off your downrigger cannonballs. Dodgers are flat metal blades that rotate in a side to side movement. These blades are not designed to spin completely over. If this happens you are trolling too fast. Multi blade attractors have blades that spin and appear like a school of kokanee. Most fishermen will not attach attractors to their fishing line but will attach them to the cannon balls. Combinations of silver, and silver and brass blades work well tied in tandem. The sequence of flasher tandems can be up to eight to ten feet long. When these are run from the cannonball your downrigger release must then be attached on the downrigger cable two or three feet above the ball. Pull out enough leader so that your lure ends up two to five feet behind your flasher blades. When fishing this way it is very important to lower your downrigger ball very slowly in to the water. If you lower it too fast the drag from the flasher tandem will cause it to rise upwards and tangle your lure line.

    Its more fun to land fish without a dodger on your line. However, the use of a dodger will usually help catch more fish. Some days the kokanee bite so well a dodger is not necessary. If you are consistently marking fish without getting bit on plain lures, add dodgers. If that doesn't work try adding tandem flasher blades off each downrigger ball. The best kokanee dodgers are four to five inches long with chrome or dimpled finishes. Wee Tads and Apexes are usually run 30 inches behind a dodger to allow the lure to swim freely. A shorter leader will greatly restrict lure action. Bugs and flies are usually tied 10 to 12 inches behind the dodger.

    Most experts will not use more than two downriggers in the water at once with one or two rods on each downrigger. More than two downriggers with four to eight lures, dodgers and tandem flashers may serve to attract kokanee but there is a limit. Too many lures and attractors can confuse the kokanee and they cannot focus on attacking a lure. When these fish attack they exert a tremendous amount of energy, but their burst of pursuit only lasts for a few seconds. The kokanee may simply get confused, tired and quit. You may be getting dozens of "almost" bites each day and never know it. Its best not to try fishing too many rods at once.
    Food for thought. What is the color of plankton, zooplankton in the water at different depths? Does it matter?
    A full moon is not just a night time phenomena. The moon is still full during the day, having the same effect on the tides as it does at night. Question: Do moon cycles affect fishing? In my opinion, YOU BET!! Can you catch a fish at full moon, YES, however; I do better on a new moon.

    I see this time after time… People keep trolling lures/presentations the same way, the same speed, and the same depth, and the same color hoping for something different. It is the definition of insanity.. I know , I know you have heard it a hundred times… but guess what… they continue to do it… some will change up a bit but many keep trying the their same concoction hoping for a different outcome…. Time for a change?
    Last edited by Rafting4fun; 04-13-2012 at 02:00 PM.

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    Default 2nd

    2nd, I have had days on the water where 1.2mph to 1.4mph was the ticket. I have had days as well where I had to bump the speed to 2.2 to really get into them. 2.2 mph is rare for me. If I had a speed I had to pick it would be about 1.5.

    If people are whacking fish near you, and you are not, pay attention.
    If you have a manual downrigger and looking for a gadget to make your life easier try the “ShuttleHawk”. It is a device that after you set your D/R ball depth, will do a lot of work for you. Set your ball depth, and then hook the shuttlehawk on your D/R line. Hook your line in the release, pull up on the shuttlehawk, and it will swim down to your pre adjusted stop. By the time you get your fish in, the Shuttlehawk will be back on top waiting for you to re- deploy. Kokaneetackle.com or the local "Tackle Shack" in Merville has them. Don’t be afraid to add a little glue to the split ring to keep it from breaking loose. They may have fixed this but it was an early design flaw.

    Electricity on Your Downrigger Wire

    Flowing from your boat down your downrigger cable is an invisible electrical current. If the voltage is just right it will attract kokanee to your lures. If it is too high or too low you will repel kokanee. Kokanee are extremely sensitive to these electric charges and most experts now use a black box to regulate the charge on the downrigger wire. Every serious kokanee fisherman should measure the amount of electrical charge his boat puts out through the downrigger cables. To do this you will need an volt meter capable of reading from zero to one volt. With your boat in the water and the downrigger lowered a few feet into the water, clip the meter's positive lead to your downrigger cable and the negative lead to your battery or a ground point on the boat. If you measure over 7/10ths of a volt or below 4/10ths positive you are repelling fish. The ideal voltage for kokanee is about .65 volts although some fishermen will run a little lower (.60) and get good results. For a complete discussion on how to test your boat and correct for voltage that is too high or too low go to the Black Box section on this website and click on Chapter 3 describing how to test your boat.

    Another important step is to insulate your downrigger ball from your downrigger cable. This should be done in addition to vinyl coating your lead. Lead downrigger weights can frequently contain tin or other metals that can cause an electrical reaction with your downrigger wire. The result is a repellant electrical charge right where you don't want it. Insulating the ball from your wire with a nylon snap (Scotty #1009) or a piece of heavy monofilament will help see that you have a neutral electrical zone around your ball.


    Most kokanee are taken on small lures or bugs trolled either by themselves or behind a kokanee dodger. Kokanee are attackers. Some large solitary fish are very territorial. They will attack strange intruders as long as they believe they have the advantage. If kokanee feel they are outnumbered they will stay away from your lures. In some bodies of water you will find kokanee tightly schooled. In others they will be found almost one by one.

    Kokanee are unlike any other fish. They are primarily plankton feeders, and also feed on tiny mysis shrimp. Since they do not readily feed on minnows, lures or standard bait, kokanee must be targeted specifically. Larger kokanee are very territorial. Kokanee are attackers. What triggers this attack seems to be the right style of lure in the right color for the moment. Corn and scent seem to be the final key to triggering an attack.
    The material presented here will give you some proven guidelines to follow for taking kokanee. However, kokanee can be very unpredictable. What works one day may not work the next. If your marking fish and not catching them don't be afraid to experiment. Good Luck!

    Varying your speed can be critical.. some fish will follow your lure for an incredibly long period of time.. one little change in your speed can trigger a strike, time and time, again…..
    When you have a riffle on the water it also diffuses the bait presented to the Kokanee, Trout, or whatever you are fishing for.
    Trolling speed.. this, like everything else is controversial.. You can postulate that slowing your speed drops your lure into a depth hence, triggering a strike where fish were suspended. Conversely, that same fish may have been following your lure (my choice) and noticed a difference which provoked an attack ( not related to depth but an alteration of speed).. think of fly fishing where you are stripping the line or letting it sink… it can trigger a fish not necessarily interested in eating, to attack. … That is exactly what you want… This is why you see a lot of folks making turns. If it turns out <no pun intended, that the fish are deeper and that is why you are getting fish, then it’s time to lower your gear or let more LL out. You can also add more weight to your line if you hate LL.

    When the fishing is hot everything is out the window… when it get’s tough??? People continue to catch fish and the reason they do is they change it up… leave the comfort zone… move on and continue to experiment..
    Colors vs Ultraviolet.. UV gear can absolutely make your otherwise dreary day, a lot of fun.
    UV.. Point of interest…

    We humans tend to view things just one dimensionally through our own eyes or the way we imagine everything should look to us. If only we could see through the eyes of a fish, we could understand a lot more about our quarry and catch more fish! With the help of scientific knowledge, we can now imagine how to look through the eyes of a fish, or at least understand how fish see what we have to offer them, including artificial light sources from underwater fishing lights. The following tips should no doubt help you catch more fish and understand how fish see and why they often refuse our baits and lures or wildly go after lures and baits that have the fish-attracting power of underwater fishing lights.
    1. Choosing the right lure colors
    Lure colors vary from crude oil black to bright neon, ‘Vegas style light colors that stop you in your tracks and then draw you in as if mesmorized by a mythical spell. As anglers, we often choose lure colors based on how we see them instead of how the fish see them. Did you know fish see differently than humans? We humans cannot see as many light spectrums (frequencies) as fish. Fish see the standard light frequencies that we see as well as infrared and ultraviolet frequencies (UV).

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    Default 3rd

    The standard “visible” light spectrum for humans is 700 nanometers (abbreviated nm) to approximately 400 nm and known as ROYGBIV, which stands for (R), orange (O), yellow (Y), green (G), blue (B), indigo (I), and violet (V). The higher the frequency the deeper it will travel in the water column. In nanometers, lower numbers have higher frequencies of light that penetrate the water column deeper than higher frequencies of light. For example, Red 700 nm, orange 630, yellow 550, green 500, blue 450, violet 400 represents the spectrum of light that penetrates shallowest to deepest. Standard light is pure white, but shined through a prism the light separates into the individual colors above. The absence of all frequency of light is black. Black, technically is not an actual color, as it has no frequency. Because fish see ultraviolet light, (UVA) which is just beyond the violet frequency at 400nm to 320 nm, it can penetrate to depths greater than 500 feet. Scientists have proven that many species of fish, especially salmonoids, use UVA light to find their prey. Ultraviolet light’s main source comes mainly from the sun and to a lesser degree, other stars. Ultraviolet light causes some objects to glow, or become “fluorescent” upon contact. Molecules in the object gain energy on contact with UV light and then release the energy in the form of visible light. This glow is what some fish look for when searching for food.
    This information can help anglers in many ways. Choosing lures for different depths or presentation is easy if you can remember the ROYGBIV chart. Since red is the first color to disappear or turn black in the water column and violet is the last color, you should choose colors based on the depth you plan to fish and amount of available light. You should also choose to fish with underwater fishing lights that create an artificial light source that attracts fish to your offering. The most powerful underwater light is the UV Trophy Torch. The UV Trophy Torch does not seem bright to the human eye because its light source emits a wavelength of light we cannot see. As seen by the illustration above, UV penetrates the water column to as much as 500 or more feet, depending on water clarity, plankton bloom and intensity of the UV light. UV rays come from our sun, as well as stars throughout the galaxy. Unlike a standard light source, the UV light will travel horizontally underwater just like the sun's UV rays travel vertically through the water column. In other words, your UV Trophy Torch, Diamond Light & Glow Light Wand will produce UV light waves that will travel in all directions underwater. That is the power of using UV light and lures that reflect UV light -- fish can see it from great distances.
    Armed with this knowledge, savvy tackle manufactures have incorporated UV enhancing materials into their color dies to create better, brighter lure colors that fish see from greater distances. You can also use this science to your advantage and learn to choose lures enhanced with UV “brightener” or “enhancer.” To do this you can artificially produce a visible UV light with a black light. While the black light does not perfectly match the UVA spectrum, it comes close enough to the light spectrum we humans can see.
    You should also choose colors based on your presentation. Contrast can be a powerful way to attract fish. Also, consider that each lure presentation actually has three presentations at once. Since fish can see up, down and horizontally, your color choice can look different depending on the amount of light that reaches the area of lure directly in line with light frequencies. As an example, if you were for halibut fishing in shallow water and the bottom was light colored sand, a black lure on the bottom would create a contrast for a fish looking down. It would also create a contrast if the fish were looking up, with the light shinning down. Horizontally the black would blend into the water but still create contrast. Therefore, I choose lure colors based on my intended presentation to maximize their ability to be easily seen by fish.
    Before choosing lures and even flies, I use a AA battery-powered black light to examine how the lure colors reflect UV. To see the effects of this powerful color-selecting tool, put the black light close to the lure and watch for a glow-like appearance. For best results turn out the lights and pick the lures that glow super bright. It should also be noted that any glow lure enhanced with glow pigment will reflect UVA light. Glow lures have chemical compound that stores light and releases it until gone, giving the lure an artificial light source. While speaking at fishing clubs I often ask anglers to bring in their tackle boxes. With lights turned out, I can usually pick out 3 or 4 out of 5 of most anglers’ favorite lures. Lures not picked are always dark and used for special light conditions or presentations. Using a UV enhanced lure also makes it easy to take advantage of all three possible lure presentations because the lure will reflect light making it visible to the fish at all angles.

    If Kokanee feed primarily on ZooPlankton why do they succumb to my lure’s????

    What do they eat?
    Kokanee feed almost exclusively on
    zooplankton, tiny aquatic animals from the
    size of a pinprick to the size of a small fish
    hook. They strain zooplankton from the
    water by means of many fine combs on
    the gills called gill rakers. They will also eat
    tiny plants, insects,


    Scientists do not know exactly how a salmon "remembers" the way back to its native stream after an ocean journey possibly lasting several years and covering several thousand miles. They agree, however, that salmon, like homing pigeons, appear to have an innate compass or "search recognition" mechanism that does not rely on the sun, moon, stars, or physical signs.
    Some scientists theorize that the salmon's internal compass uses the tiny electrical voltages, generated by ocean currents, moving through the earth's magnetic field. Others believe that the salmon's homing mechanism may take its cues from the varying salinities (levels of saltiness) of the water or the specific smells encountered along the journey.
    What is it that points them in the right direction?
    Probably there is more than one homing mechanism that fish use to find their way. An olfactory "imprint" is made on smolts as they leave their home stream. This enables them to identify it by smell as they approach it later from the ocean. But to approach the stream mouth from the open sea, at least one other imprint must first be made in order for them to arrive in the general area. It has been shown that some fish are remarkably perceptive of the sun's azimuth and altitude, and that they are sensitive to the time of day. Under ideal conditions, this would permit a method of determining geographic north. But in a region where overcast conditions predominate (as they do in the North Pacific and Bering Sea), and because the fish move at night and in deeper water during the day, celestial clues are not consistently available.Therefore another means of correcting navigation is probably used. It is strongly suspected that the ability to sense the earth's magnetic field may provide this additional method.
    It has already been demonstrated that such diverse creatures as homing pigeons, salamanders and bees can detect a magnetic field. So can salmon fry; that will change their orientation when subjected to an artificially applied magnetic field.

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    Default 4th

    4th, Extrapolating these findings to the migration process, the conjecture is that, after the salmon fry have grown to smolts and entered salt water, chemical and hormonal changes occur which imprint upon the fishes' nervous system a "memory" of its magnetic latitude and longitude at the time that it enters the ocean.
    There appear to be two possible ways by which the magnetic field can influence a fish's nervous system. The first is that the ferromagnetic mineral magnetite in the creature's brain may function as a biological compass which is "set" at the time of entry into the ocean (magnetite occurs across the biologic spectrum from bacteria to dolphins). The information retained is the vertical and horizontal components of the earth's magnetic field at that point, and the declination of the horizontal component, which is the difference between magnetic and true north, presumably determined by the sun. These factors taken together provide a combination that is unique for any geographic location.
    Another means by which it may be possible for a fish to sense the magnetic field is by merely moving through the water. When a long conductor, say a wire, is moved across a magnetic field, an electrical current which is dependent on the field is set up in the wire. If the fish's nervous system functions approximately as a wire under these circumstances, possibly the amount of current generated could tell the fish in which direction it was heading.
    At present, this is all hypothetical, but experiments may soon begin in Alaska to test the hypothesis. Mike Cheek, a Ph.D. candidate and Professor Tsuneo Nishiyama of the University of Alaska's Institute of Marine Science hope to begin such a study in collaboration with Professor David Stone of the Geophysical Institute.
    The initial efforts will be made under controlled conditions during which salmon fry will be reared and brought to the smolt stage artificially by injection. They will then be subjected to a variety of controlled lighting and magnetic field conditions; and experiments will be made along the way to determine the degree to which the fish have acquired imprinting.
    A final field test of the program might be one in which fish stocks from, say, Ketchikan would be imprinted with the geomagnetic characteristics of Cold Bay at the end of the Alaska Peninsula. If the fish were to be released at Ketchikan and then captured at Cold Bay during their final migration, the hypothesis of geomagnetic imprinting as a means of open sea navigation would prove to be true.
    Does it really matter??

    How does all this info directly affect us?? Ok, one way is to hang out on the forums and rely on everyone else to lead the way, right? You decide… you have all been out there and seen other people catch fish when you were not catching squat! Right?

    A salmon can detect the smell of it's home stream five thousand miles at sea, and follow it home to spawn 2 to 5 years later. This amazing ability allows the salmon to detect very small concentrations of some compounds in the water.
    Members of the she salmonid family can detect L-serine amino acid in quantities as little as 1 part per 8 billion. This phenomena will work against fisherpersons far more than for them. If you understand & take advantage of this information, you will put more fish in your fish-box. There are many manufacturers of fishing scent that have dedicated clients with testimonials as to the effectiveness of their product.
    SIGHT, SMELL & SOUND : In the sport fishing world there is documentation that this is mandatory if you plan on increasing your catch rate. All of these working together will increase your catch percentages. Any one alone can catch fish under the right conditions. If the water is clear & shallow enough to allow light to penetrate, then SIGHT alone may be all that is needed. However once you move to deeper, or murky water then things change dramatically.
    How do you think deep sea fish find food? It is dark down there below 100' so sight is probably out of the equation. Sound made by the preys movement could very well be helpful. But SMELL is also a very important item here.
    The photo below shows a Spiny Lathrope crab taken from the stomach of a 45# halibut pulled from 450' of water off Neah Bay Washington in the early summer of 2008 & is shown laying on the bottom side of the tail of the halibut that just had ate it.
    This crab was small, (about 2 1/2" across the body, not counting the legs) & was 100% intact, meaning it had just been picked out of the gravel on this bottom. As you can see it is covered with a hairy type substance that would help camouflage & allow it to hide it in the gravel. However the one thing that may have been a demise of this crab was that it was a female that was laden with eggs, a few (about 10% of which can be seen as an orange mass on her under belly. The mass of these eggs was 10 times the amount seen in the photo. I am sure the eggs gave off a distinct smell separate from the crab itself leading to her demise.
    Spiny Lathrope crab recovered from the stomach of a halibut caught at 450'


    SOUND would be from the vibrations of the lure in the water whereby the fish can zoom in as if it was using radar. How many times have you been in your yard & a younger person drives by with their vehicle sound system set so high using a BOOM BOX that you can feel them coming?
    Again relationship to fishing for halibut in deep depths one common practice is when using a spreader bar (a heavy wire in the shape of an Ell designed to separate the weight from the bait as it is descending to the bottom & to keep them from tangling) is to bounce it on the bottom occasionally. It is known by some as "Ringing the Dinner Bell". This creates noise of the up to a 32ounze lead weight & the spreader bar when they hit the bottom inviting the fish to investigate.
    I have heard it said, time and time again, that Kokanee perceive their bait in many ways. They smell, hear, and see and pursue, but what perplexes us the most is that they do this in a particular order. The arguments ring out in a way that that lends credence to a particular order. You will have to decide which order you believe and trust in… .so think about it…
    Smell: it is thought if you place a trout on one end of an Olympic size swimming pool and place one drop of scent in the opposite end, the trout can smell it

    Given the above scenario, what do you believe? Stick your head under water and you will hear long before you see, the noise that’s capable of making it. Long before you can see, you will hear it. And, long before both of those occur you would be able to smell, (providing the conditions were right) the origin in which your prey originates….. Food for thought…
    A dead horse: Plunk a chunk of bait and wait. Are the fish visually acquiring the bait or do they smell it, attracted to it, and hunt it down. Lets move this scenario to night time. There is little ambient lilght, if any, how do they acquire the bait… If it were moving, there would be sound, but many times over, they acquire the bait by smell. If you are in close proximity the odds change in favor of sound/sight, then , smell…. You decide….
    Last edited by Rafting4fun; 04-18-2012 at 12:15 AM.

  5. #5
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    i am new to kokanee fishing, i dont have downriggers can i still catch fish?

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    Default New to Kokanee

    Sure. Try leaded line, or some folks like to put on 3/4 to an oz of lead above your dodger/sling blade and count the pulls or use a reel with a counter on it until you find where they are suspended.
    I have been out of town. Sorry for the late response. Feel free to ask any questions you like. I will try and help you the best I can. Good luck, Jt

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    Default New to Trolling in General

    I tried searching the site and didn't come up with anything on this. I've got leaded line, and we were marking a good number of fish between 40'-60'.

    Based on the weight of the line I know it's about a 2:1 drop and we have line counters so we deployed two lines one at 110' and one at 95', my issue is no matter how giant of a turn I make, I seem to always cross/tangle my lines. We were fighting a bit of wind, but it's a bit crazy that I can't seem to turn without gumming up my lines, and I've got them kicked out sideways off the back of the boat.

    Am I running them to close together (in terms of their depth), to close together in the same depth plane? Any tips for a new troller?

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    At 1.5 mph with those line counter readings, your only down about15-20 ft. Figure about 5.5 ft down per color out,(10yds) And your only30 yds behind the boat

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    That certainly explains the problem. Sure seemed like the lines were extanding out back at a flat angle. Thanks! Do some people run weights with leaded line to help get them down?

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    Default sorry Stripes

    I have been on the road a bit and not on the forums for quite a while... There is a certain amount of controversy in reference to how far down leaded line (LL) goes. Personally, I doubt you are down beyond 40'... add to which, and I think there is an argument, with heavier line you have more resistance (line by volume) or diameter and some folks think that the heavier line creates more resistance which limits the true depth it can achieve by virtue of the greater diameter.

    I cannot remember who told me this, however; maybe superD....??? i'm guessing... run your line over a sandy bottom and ck it against your depth finder... that is truly one way you will find out how far you line is sinking....

    As far as getting tangled in the wind.. all bet's are off.. ... when you are tracking in even moderate wind it's unlikely you are going to get tangled.. Even at this , there is a formula... it becomes a toss up. Unless you are using the same weight line on both you can never reconcile your results. If you are in fact using the same weight line, in my opinion, giving you are even at the same depth, you should be good.. The wind will trump this every time. Even on longer D/R set backs you can catch your LL and that is why you need to know how deep u R at a certain color.

    I think you are on the right track... Again , I apologize, I have been a ghost... busy fishing :) :) :)...... I hope you do well, and feel free to contact me with any questions.... better yet..."E" me... rafting4fun@cableone.net... tight lines, Jt

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    87

    Default weights LL

    Yes, feel free to run weights with LL.. Later in the year due to thermoclines, boat traffic, etc.. the fish run deeper looking for sol lice or perhaps that 55deg water......
    LL can be a B*&^%$ to reel in at six colors, However , put a 1 oz lead on 6lb and achieve the same with that. So the question becomes this.... Is there less resistance on 6 colors of leaded line 18-26lb compared to 1oz of weight added to 6lb test???
    For me, I would rather bring in a koke on mono with a 1oz lead ANY DAY over that much leaded line out.. LL is heavy and it takes away a lot from the fight.

    I think what I'm tugging at is this. I would rather have an 1oz lead on 6lb seaguar line out at (so many pulls) than 5 or 6 colors out of LL which really reduces the play of the fish.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Steamboat Springs,CO
    Posts
    60

    Default

    Rafting4fun,

    Thanks for taking the time to post all of this information. After 25 years of charter fishing for Salmon I have to agree with your observations. Twenty-five years ago I ran across research done by a company that made Risnerine, a hand soap used to wash away L-syrine amino acid; and a scent called Masking. Their research back then showed that L-Syrine was common to mammals, like whales, seals, bears and man, all natural enemies of salmon. They did salmon counts in a river in Canada and when they added tiny amount of L-Syrine to the water the salmon stopped coming upstream. An interesting aside was when they soaked their lures in bilge water with gas & oil mixed in, it had no effect on the salmon. They went so far as to sell sea-weed that you could wrap your lures in and "soak" overnight before fishing the next day. They were big fans of washing your hands before touching your lures. We used to run all of our metal lures through the dish-washer a couple times a season to get rid of unwanted or unseen (smelled) odors.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Snohomish, WA
    Posts
    52

    Default

    this is probably the single greatest peice of information i have ever read on the internet

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    South Gulf Cove, FL & Topton NC
    Posts
    196

    Default

    Thanks for your time and effort. Great informative read!
    "There's no losing in fishing. You either catch or you learn."

  15. #15

    Default

    Outstanding thread, it should be a sticky.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Meridian
    Posts
    87

    Default Thank you

    I wanted to write a quick note to those of you who responded to this thread. I appreciate the compliments and I do hope the info helps others to obtain the knowledge to do better at pursuing Kokanee. I have been a stranger do too many things but mostly, WINTER!!! :) As I learn more, I will share. Until then if you guys have any questions feel free to PM or just post your questions. I will try and ck in more often.. With the water warming a bit more, the bite is ready to get intense... I'm ready for yet another good year chasing kokanee.... Good luck to all of you, Jt

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