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View Full Version : Koke's at GP, are they not feeding



Metal Manipulator
04-05-2011, 10:40 AM
We caught 6 fish at GP on Sunday. I examined the intestines to find that one of the fish had a sculpin in the stomac, mostly digested. Another fish had green in the intestial track. The remainder of the fish were void of anything leading me to believe that they are not feeding. The flesh is pail compared to last years koles in july and august. The size of the fish were 10.5" to 13.25" which is a good size and I think a few of the kokes will reach 17" by mid summer. It is going to be a fun year with some nice fish. I did not see nearly as many on the fish finder this trip. Two weeks ago there were lots and lots of fish on the finder from 40 ft. to the bottom every where we went. Blue spinners was the color of the day. The lake seemed busy for this early with at least 20 boats on the water.

Rikker99
04-05-2011, 11:09 AM
I think that many of the koke fisherman have tried Springer fishing and have gotten disillusioned. I have only been once but my reliable resources say that this year has been so-so. If the salmon fishing improves that will change. RP

skookum9
04-06-2011, 02:32 AM
It is somewhat surprising to hear that you caught a koke with a sculpin in it. That's really cool and all but falls way outside of the norm for their diet. The green in the intestinal tract is pretty much the norm since their diet pretty much consists of little green plankton. The empty stomach can often be attributed to the fact that fish will often puke up their stomach contents in the heat of the battle for their lives. There are only four times that I know of when kokanee will stop eating. 1) During the spawn. 2) When there absolutely is no food supply. 3) When the water is so warm that it doesn't hold adequate oxygen supply and the fish become ill and die from it. 4) When the water temp is too cold and their metabolic rate slows too much to digest food. Most likely, what you have witnessed is that the fish you caught had purged their stomach contents somewhere between hook-set and boat-net.
Congrats on getting out on the water, you're way ahead of me on that one this year.