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Thread: 2013 Dworshak Fishing Thread

  1. #26
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    Jul 2009
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    Hell's Canyon, WA
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    Thanks for your comments elkbowhntr, makes me want to hook up the boat and head over there. Three questions, how far are you running the spinners behind your pop gear, what size were the kokanee, and were you able to mark the fish on your fishfinder?

  2. #27
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    Apr 2013
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    We run the spinner about 16" behind the pop gear (not including snubber). Fishfinder picked up plenty of fish and we spent a majority of our time about 100 to 200 yards from land. We also found that speed played a key role and varied from .5 to 1.5 mph and made plenty of turns. The fish seemed to like the faster speed that weekend. Size averaged 10 to 11 inches but we did pick up a handfull that were 14 inches or so.

    Hope this helps.
    Last edited by elkbowhntr; 04-09-2013 at 02:56 PM. Reason: more info

  3. #28
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    Jul 2009
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    Thank you for the information elkbowhntr, that was very generous of you. I ordered some of the Kokabow spinners, and can hardly wait to try them out, sounds like they are top quality, and best of all, the Kokanee like them, had never heard of them until I read your comment, so thanks again. I recently spooled our two Scotty downriggers with Spectra 150# braid, so with that and the Kokabow spinners it should be fun. The fish you caught were really nice size, looks like another good year for Dworshak, it is such a beautiful unpopulated place to fish.

  4. #29
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    Mar 2010
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    Colton
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    I missed some good spring break weather last week to fish but had some other things come up, back to work and now iam antsy to go and watching Sunday's forecast closely...glad to hear of some good catching,,,will put a report up as soon as I go...

  5. #30
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    Jul 2009
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    Hell's Canyon, WA
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    I have been anxious to read your fishing report fishingmom, have not been able to get out yet, first I got a horrible cold, with a terrible cough, just as I was getting over it my fishing partner and wife caught it. Can hardly wait to get on the water, new braided line on the downriggers, new Chamberlin Releases, and a nice assortment of Kokabow lures to use, lot of exciting stuff to try out, just hope we do as well as elkbowhntr on his last trip.

  6. #31
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    No I still have not gone,,, but, looking now at next Friday/Saturday, we don't have school and hoping the weather forecast holds as it shows sun and 70's- ready to try a few new things,,,soaking some corn in green fire trout bait and also anxious to try graybills Kokanee scent. There will be better fishing days/weather coming and the Kokanee are only growing as we wait :)

  7. #32
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    Feb 2010
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    North Idaho
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    Fishing Dworshak has been extremly slow with the snow melt off bringing some of the water temps to 39 to 42. Plus they have been letting a lot of water out of the dam. When it warms up next week, if it holds, the week after will produce fish, fast and a lot of them. By that I mean you should put 50 fish in the boat in around the 2 to 3 hour mark. A friend was just here in the shop and went 2 days last week and 3 days this week. I know he knows how to catch kokes. He said his best day was last week with 27 in the boat and his worst was yesterday with no hits. Said he talked to several other guys and they were done fishing until the weather changes.
    He did hang some good bass later in the day last week trolling a walleye rig with a night crawler on the bottom. One topped 6 pounds.

  8. #33
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    Mar 2010
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    Thanks for the report,, good to know and looking forward to some good weather and fishing.

  9. #34
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    Mar 2010
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    Fished yesterday, beautiful sunny day,,, painfully slow fishing - we ran 4 rods, changed depths lures dodgers and bait with 1 nice fat 11" to show in canyon creek, had a double in indian canyon and lost both,,,,fish hit at 45' line out and 65' with an ounce weight....talked to 3 other boats who had 0, 0, and 3 Kokanee who also tried everything...we also ran up and fished across from dicks creek - heard the fish are up around Magnus bay already, water level is very high already would that make them move so early?

  10. #35
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    Mar 2010
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    Dworshak reservoir associations website has a new trawl survey from Evans creek area above Magnus bay, they found more Kokanee in that area then anywhere down from there, fish are bigger as well....

  11. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by fishingmom View Post
    Fished yesterday, beautiful sunny day,,, painfully slow fishing - we ran 4 rods, changed depths lures dodgers and bait with 1 nice fat 11" to show in canyon creek, had a double in indian canyon and lost both,,,,fish hit at 45' line out and 65' with an ounce weight....talked to 3 other boats who had 0, 0, and 3 Kokanee who also tried everything...we also ran up and fished across from dicks creek - heard the fish are up around Magnus bay already, water level is very high already would that make them move so early?
    We were there Thursday with pretty much the same results. Surface water temp was 53 degrees so we thought we might get into a few but it was slow.

  12. #37
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    Mar 2013
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    North Central ID
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    Same results here. Fished Canyon Creek for half the day yesterday and no luck. Saw two caught, everyone else I talked too was having no luck either. Sheriff's boat doing safety checks siad that he only talked to one person who had any luck. Plenty of fish on the FF though.

    Had quite an adventure putting in at the Canyon Creek ramp. Wow. Not something I plan on doing ever again. Got all sorts of lost getting there and then backing down a long ramp barely wider than the truck. I was so stressed out by the time I got there I forgot to put the drain plug in the boat - DOH!. Yep, that was me, the doomass bailing with my battery box first thing in the AM if anyone got the show. Got a flat tire on the truck on the way out to boot. Next time I'll stay on pavement....

  13. #38
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    Jul 2009
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    Hell's Canyon, WA
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    Thanks for the reports fishingmom, hard to believe the kokanee have moved that far uplake, but it sounds like they have, guess we will be going to Dent Acres, and fishing from there. Elk Creek might be a good place to start.

  14. #39
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    Jul 2009
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    Thanks for the heads up jumperzee, thought that might be a good spot for a quick trip, but not so. Some days are just better than others, but it sounds like yours started off bad, and went downhill from there. Thanks for sharing, reminds me of a few I would like to forget.

  15. #40
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    (Water temp was 50-52 Friday),,,friend was up yesterday and caught 1 around canyon creek, one boat they spoke to was doing well on the surface with no weight.

  16. #41
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    Remember that your "surface temp"---- 50 to 52 thats perfect for kokes. Thats why the report of the catching on top with no weight. When the water temp is that at 18 to 28 feet down then game on.
    The trawl survey is missleading at best. The water temp down closer to the dam is colder right now. So a lot of the kokes are showing on the fish finder at a 100 feet down and further. To low to be trawled up.
    Magnus bay being, not near as deep is warmer, so makes total scince to me that they would catch more there right now .

    All the fish do not travel the whole length of the lake to spawn, some people think they only spawn in the rivers coming in. Probably most do, but
    ANY large creek they can navigate they will spawn in if they came from there to begin with. It will turn on pretty soon. When I go down there this time of year I run an agitater on the surface with no weight, trolled very slow and 100 ft plus behind the boat, with a 4 foot leader to a spinner with red on top and green on bottom of the blade.

  17. #42
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    Mar 2010
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    Colton
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    Thanks fishslayer13 for a different look at it, makes sense....

  18. #43
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    Fished Saturday evening a few hours in the wind, 1 nice rainbow aT the edge of Indian canyon,,,started 6am Sunday in Freeman creek and worked my way across and down to canyon crk, 1 hit with line near surface, fished all over and hit my usual favorite spots ran different weights lures bait etc got 2 other bites, others had about the same and saw no action anywhere - some friends fri night in canyon crk got 3 running 2 oz and 45' out but 0 yesterday...boats were coming fishing a bit and leaving...surface was 52-53 - saw 1 fish rise the entire time, but it was very windy Saturday and off and on yesterday morning. Any other reports?

  19. #44
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    Mar 2013
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    North Central ID
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    About the same for us yesterday (Sun). Did a bunch of laps in Canyon, then Indian. Lost one in Canyon and that was it for the day. Very few boats around compared to the previous weekend. Is everyone up higher?

  20. #45

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    Yesterday we found some fish at Canyon Creek. Surface water temp was 63, 10 degrees warmer than our last trip. Fish were at 10-20 feet. We caught them on downriggers, leaded line, and long line, it didn't seem to matter. Same is true of lures, no single lure was better than the others. The biggest were 12 inches but most were 10 inches. We only landed 10, but lost another 15 or more.

    We also got to listen to the Mariners pummel the hated Yankees. Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul!

  21. #46
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    Jul 2009
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    Hell's Canyon, WA
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    We finally made it to Dworshak, pulled into the Dworshak State Park at 6:30, it's a beautiful morning with the smell of pine trees in the air. Had to get the downriggers and fishing gear ready prior to boat launch, took a little longer than expected, but we eventually launched the boat and started fishing at 7:30, sun is shining, but it's chilly enough for a jacket, water surface temp. is 62F, slight breeze, looks great for Kokanee fishing.

    We make a large loop in front of the park, marking a lot of fish, and checking water depth. Start fishing two rods off the downriggers, set one at thirty feet, the other at forty feet, using Sling Blades and Kokabow Lures, all attached to new braided Spectra 150# downrigger line, how could you miss with rigging like this? Well we make one loop marking fish, but no hits, change lures and depths several times, still no hits. In the distance across the lake in the Canyon Creek area we can barley see a couple of boats, so we pick up and head over there.

    We go a little downlake from Canyon Creek and put the lines down, same results that we had at the park, it's around 9:30am, and not even a tap. Time to go back to basics, so I rig a rod with a set of Les Davis silver spinners that must be forty years old, and a wedding ring, fake maggot on the upper hook, red corn on the trailer, using a little weight Barb puts out sixty feet of line, then parks the rod in the holder. In about five minutes the rod tip starts to bounce, Barb reels in the first Kokanee, we give each other a high five, at least we aren't going to get skunked, thats a relief, but we need one more to make a meal.

    We decide to quit using the downriggers, rig all the rods the same, and hope for better results, while doing the rigging Barb caught another one. We finally have the right combination, it is non stop Kokanee fishing, don't think a ten minute period went by without getting action on one of the rods, either just a hit, losing it at the boat, or landing it, did not have any triples, but did get several doubles, did not seem to matter where we fished to catch them, there were lots of them everywhere, and they were shallow.

    When we had twenty kakonne on ice, all around ten to eleven inches, we decided to call it quits for the day. Looking for a place to pull in and have lunch, and a break for our little English Setter "Happy", we found the Canyon Creek Campground. This is a great place to stop for a break if you are in the area, has a nice clean restroom, a couple of spots with park benches overlooking the lake that are good for having lunch. One is well shaded, there are several other shaded ones that are back in the timber.

    What started out as a very slow day, ended up being a pretty productive one, but I've got to tell you, it would have been great without a single fish, Dworshak is such a delightful place to visit, and the Kokanee make it extra special. We grilled four Kokanee for dinner yesterday, the bright red meat was absolutely delicious, here's the way I fixed them if you want to try it: Skin the fish, coat each fish with butter, sprinkle with seasoning powder of your choice, place in foil pan made from foil wrap, prior to putting fish in the pan spray bottom of the pan with Pam. Broiler should be preheated to high, place fish in broiler, turn heat to medium, cook for eight (8) minutes. you will never eat better fish.

    Hope to see you on the lake, Ken & Barb

  22. #47
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    Feb 2010
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    North Idaho
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    K& B glad you guys had a good time! Sounds like if you were down lake from canyon, you were in Indian creek. Thats my go to spot early in the year like this.
    Sling blades rarely work well in Dworshak, the water is to dirty. The more flash the better. Agitators work too, but most people dont have them on their boats. I use a sling blade above Grandad late when the water up there is clearer and the fish stacked up. I use a 2 blade troll most of the time.
    I have been tied up working and havent put a line in the water this year. I have friends that call and rub it in my face about them catching fish and Im not there. LOL.
    You are right Dworshak is worth the time, just to be there ! Made me hungry when I read your cooking fresh Kokes.
    Maybe we will see you down there some time.

    Tangle free lines !

  23. #48
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    Jul 2009
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    Hell's Canyon, WA
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    Thanks for the good information fishslayer13, now I know why we didn't get a hit the first couple of hours, it all makes sense. Hope your work schedule will let you make the trip over there soon.

  24. #49
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    Feb 2010
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    North Idaho
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    Yeah, it takes me less than 30 minutes to have the boat in the water at Dworshak and I cant seem to get loose to do some fishhing. Ahh but the best is yet to come !!

  25. #50
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    Jul 2009
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    Hell's Canyon, WA
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    fishslayer13, Looks like you know Dworshak pretty good, maybe you can answer a couple of questions I have been wondering about. How long do you think fishing will be good in the upper end of the lake, in the Freeman Creek, Canyon Creek and Indian Creek areas, when do you think the fishing will be good in the Elk Creek, and Dent Bridge area (maybe it is now)? When you said the best is yet to come, when would that be.

    You are lucky to be only thirty minutes away, we live on Ackerman Bar on the Snake River, and it is about a two hour trip for us, but it it is a pretty drive taking the Kendrick route.

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