Heron Lake Kokanee Porpoising

[L500768]

Hello

We went to Heron Lake on Saturday, Sep. 3 and saw many many kokanee porpoising out of the water. At times they were jumping out of the water all around us. Does anyone know why they do this. It didn't appear to us that they were eating any flies or bugs on the surface.

[HiTechKoke]

What size were they? That does sound odd... are there any predators of Kokanee in the lake and what is the general surface temp? Would have been cool to get a video of that action.

[L500768]

When I could get a glimpse of the fish they appeared to be about 1-2 lbs but once I saw a huge one that was easily 3lbs. They were definitely not carp which are also in this lake. I tried to cast to the fish but no takers. Usually with rainbow trout I can get a fish to hit a lure but with these fish nothing.

[RalphL]

I was there for the last 8 days and saw the same thing. I fish Heron 50 or more days a season and that happens relatively often, mostly early A.M.. They are Koke and rainbow, and I don't have a clue why they do it. My wife thinks they are just having fun, but we know there must be a biological reason. Could be the lake trout feeding aggressively. Heron is the southern-most lake with good laker populations. I see them frequently, under the schools of Koke on the fishfinder, and we know they feed on Koke, so perhaps they are driving them airborn. Could also be rainbow trout. There's some big ones there and that's common behavior for rainbow. Doesnt seem to alter the bite and it is real cool to watch.

Where do you camp, and do you fish Heron frequently? Maybe we could have a beer and compare notes. We keep our boats at the marina and are heading back up there next week.

[silverkoke]

the kokes were most likely spawning , the males come up and purpose to attract females , if u are seeing them do this use a slip float with a a small pink jig and tip it with a waxie , i nail them here in colorado this way

[RalphL]

can you explain that setup, maybe a pic and a how to?? I have never heard of the technique. Thanks

[silverkoke]

basically you have a stop a bead then ur slip bobber , then a put a swivel on and make a leader and put the pink jig on , tip the jig with a waxie and u are good to go , with the stop u can adjust ur depth to were the fish are holding , i personally only use thill tg waggler slip bobbers , they are sensitive for kokanee and other gamefish , they show lift bites while othere bobbers wont, thill slip floats are the best