PDA

View Full Version : Dawn in the East(Nantahala Lake)



rgarbar
05-07-2015, 02:39 PM
Finally got my boat on the water and went after some Kokanee this morning. I caught these two Kokes 30' down in the area from Shore Point to the Narrows. I marked a lot fish through out the water column in this area. Went and checked out some of my other favorite spots but found a lot of empty water. Hoping to hear some reports from some of you other Eastern trolls. The fishing at Nantahala should only get better in the next few weeks.

Be advised the Big Choga boat launch ramp is closed for an extended period for refurbishing and improvements.8011

trollmonkey
05-21-2015, 10:09 PM
Hey Ron, I was just thinking about seeing what you were up to. Good to see you're back after the kokes. I'm hoping to get out there May 30 or 31. We did our annual family trip May 6-9 to Apalachia. The fishing was slower overall at first but ended strong. Alex got a 9 lb 2 oz brown and we got quite a few nice browns and rainbows 2-4 pounds. In all the years I've trolled for trout we've only caught two catfish. On this trip we caught 6 catfish on lures from two to ten pounds .The two biggest cats were 9lbs 10oz and 10 lbs even. I'm hoping to get one or two trips to Nantahala by mid June . We've got Grandbaby # 4 coming in July ,so I 'll be sticking close around then. Take care and keep us posted on the fishing. Mark

richienc
05-21-2015, 11:10 PM
Nice Kokes ............... Planning on making a trip to Natahala in the mourning. Will be my first shot at kokes - been wanting to give them a shot and finally gonna try. Hope to get a few walleye to............... Will let ya know how it goes......

rgarbar
05-22-2015, 07:24 AM
Hey Ron, I was just thinking about seeing what you were up to. Good to see you're back after the kokes. I'm hoping to get out there May 30 or 31. We did our annual family trip May 6-9 to Apalachia. The fishing was slower overall at first but ended strong. Alex got a 9 lb 2 oz brown and we got quite a few nice browns and rainbows 2-4 pounds. In all the years I've trolled for trout we've only caught two catfish. On this trip we caught 6 catfish on lures from two to ten pounds .The two biggest cats were 9lbs 10oz and 10 lbs even. I'm hoping to get one or two trips to Nantahala by mid June . We've got Grandbaby # 4 coming in July ,so I 'll be sticking close around then. Take care and keep us posted on the fishing. Mark
Mark

Glad to hear that you are still hear. The eastern board has been real quiet these days. I did go out again last Wednesday. I only caught one but did lose 3 on the way to the boat and had quite a few strikes. They were hitting light and only pink 30' down. I have to do Lake Apalachia but that ramp gives me the "willies". Let me know if you want the koke heads again.
80568057

Bduck
05-22-2015, 08:58 AM
That's a fair size koke for a meal. Love the scenery, 101ok101 one can get lost gazing and forget there may be some rigs in the water. worthy12

trollmonkey
05-22-2015, 09:47 PM
Yeah Ron still here, can't run me out of the mountains. They still want heads ,not sure if they are reading the otoliths or just storing them to work on some day in the distant future. The ramp at Ap ain't too bad when the generators aren't running. If the waters up I get my motor running before we unhook from the trailer .We've had our best luck from point three down to the dam, the tailrace area is probably best in cooler weather .

richienc
05-24-2015, 05:03 PM
I did make the trip......... Did mark lots of kokes, but didn't boat one this trip. Being a newbie to this, I'm sure I'll have my learning/growing pains.......... Will try again hopefully during the first week of June.... Good luck to all!

rgarbar
05-25-2015, 09:27 AM
I did make the trip......... Did mark lots of kokes, but didn't boat one this trip. Being a newbie to this, I'm sure I'll have my learning/growing pains.......... Will try again hopefully during the first week of June.... Good luck to all!
Don't give up. It took 4 or 5 trips before I caught a koke. I still get the skunk up at Nantahala. June is a great month for catching kokes at Nantahala. Was hoping to get out this week but the pestilent weather up at the lake is cloudy, breezy, showers and thunderstorms for the next 4 or 5 days(not exactly good fishing weather)

richienc
05-25-2015, 05:42 PM
Don't give up. It took 4 or 5 trips before I caught a koke. I still get the skunk up at Nantahala. June is a great month for catching kokes at Nantahala. Was hoping to get out this week but the pestilent weather up at the lake is cloudy, breezy, showers and thunderstorms for the next 4 or 5 days(not exactly good fishing weather)

I'm determined to learn - The weather does seem to be worse for fishing this week. Guess it's the time to be scheduled for work. My plan is to make it up June 3rd and maybe 4th.......... Good Luck to you if you make it up there!

rgarbar
05-27-2015, 12:44 PM
The weather unexpectedly cleared today so I went out this morning to fish for kokanee. The action was slow as compared to when I went out last. Two strikes, two fish on and two fish in the box. Fish are still down at about 32'. Both fish caught on green. Hope to get out again this weekend.
80598060

rgarbar
06-01-2015, 01:19 PM
Went out this morning for a couple of hours. The weather was lousy(overcast, showers, downpours etc. Did manage to put one in the box and lost another in bound. Fish all over the water column. Hoping the lake will stratify soon. The thermocline is only 3 or 4' from the surface.
80818082

trollmonkey
06-02-2015, 08:44 PM
Nice Pix Ron.Where is the picture on the right from? Looks a little like the tunnel on Calderwood,but I haven't been there in two years.

rgarbar
06-03-2015, 07:33 AM
8088Mark

Thought that picture was taken by the dam near the flood gates/spillway but you are right it may have been taken at Calderwood and left on the camera chip. I can hook up with you some time the week of June 15th to give you the koke heads for Powell. Andrews(Ingles) would be best or the park at the junction of Wayah road and US 19/74(near the powerhouse) would also be a good choice. PM me and we can set the date/time. Wonder if this school of 20+" bass get this big eating Kokanee?

trollmonkey
06-03-2015, 11:17 PM
Sounds good Ron, I'll get up with you and drop heads off on my way through Balsam.Were those bass in Nantahala? Nice ones!!

rgarbar
06-08-2015, 07:08 PM
Hit the lake this morning. It was cold and windy(white caps) and overcast. I managed to catch one male Kokanee about 18" and one 12" skinny walleye(released). I lost another smaller Kokanee at the net. Had a lot of trouble trolling in my small boat because of the wind. Have some pictures but I am having trouble loading them up to the website.

Harpoon
06-10-2015, 09:21 AM
Hey Ron, I am waiting to here it is on so I can make a trip up. Thanks for the pics and keep the updates coming . Not as much time as in the past so I appreciate the reports.H

rgarbar
06-10-2015, 12:42 PM
Harpoon

Glad to see that you are still with us as the Eastern board seems dead. Hoping you are doing well at Jocassee, Glendale and Keyowee. The next 4 to 6 weeks should be prime kokanee time at Nantahala. The weather as always has been unsettling(popcorn thunderstorms and strong gusty winds). All the kokes I caught/hooked have been down 22' to 32'. None deeper at this point(that will change and they will start heading deeper. The thermocline was at about 10' down. The Most were caught/hooked on either pink or chartreuse squids or hootchies trailed behind a small color matched dodger. Have had problems posting pictures to this site lately. Don't know if it is me or the website.

rgarbar
06-10-2015, 04:13 PM
809480958096

These are the missing photos from the other day. The problem seemed to be that they were more than 1.0 MB. I cropped them to below 1 MB and they uploaded with no problemthumbsup.

rgarbar
06-15-2015, 01:14 PM
Hit Nantahala this morning. Nice weather for a change. Took about 2 1/2 hours to find the fish. The action picked up fast. Within an hour or so I boated 2 at about 17". Lost 2 on the way in, a had a couple of strikes as well. The fish were at 40' to 42' down in the vicinity of the "narrows" . All action on green/chartreuse. Had some brush hogging to do so I called it a day.
8108

trollmonkey
06-15-2015, 10:06 PM
Ron you're killing me, I can't get back out fishing until probably late July.Those are nice looking kokes ,I hope the fishing gets better and better as summer goes on . See you later this week to get your koke heads..

richienc
06-16-2015, 08:27 PM
Hit Nantahala this morning. Nice weather for a change. Took about 2 1/2 hours to find the fish. The action picked up fast. Within an hour or so I boated 2 at about 17". Lost 2 on the way in, a had a couple of strikes as well. The fish were at 40' to 42' down in the vicinity of the "narrows" . All action on green/chartreuse. Had some brush hogging to do so I called it a day.
8108

Nice...............

rgarbar
06-18-2015, 03:04 PM
Hit the water for about 2 hours and stayed fairly close to the dock as the skies were threatening. Still a bit slow action at Nantahala. Did catch this 18" kokanee @ 2 1/4 lbs. and lost another on the way in. The fish were in the 36' to 42' water column.

81148115

Blackened salmon with sweet potatoes fries and broccoli tonighttooexcited

trollmonkey
06-18-2015, 06:44 PM
Ron ,Great to see you and talk fishing today.Looks like I should have hung around for supper. I dropped the heads off as I went back to work, and managed to miss the rain. Stay after the kokes, and keep us posted. Mark

rgarbar
06-22-2015, 01:07 PM
Got out this morning. The action was slow for a while I looked for the fish. Marked fish in the vicinity of the dam all over the water column. Hooked up with these 2 bows and a koke. The three were down @ 32' to 42' deep. Lost another and had several other strikes. The sun is intense and the lake basin hot. Bring sun screen and a hat.

8121

rgarbar
06-25-2015, 01:02 PM
The bite was on early today and I found the fish fast not too far from the dock. Caught these 5 kokanee and lost a few others on the way in. Green/chartreuse caught the most. Lost a big "bow" and my favorite trout hootchie too a bad knot :mad: The kokes were down about 42' the trout at 34'. The kokes ran about 15" to 18".

81288129

rgarbar
06-29-2015, 05:22 PM
Had a few good hours fishing until the wind picked up and killed the bite for me. Caught 4 kokes to 18+". Lost at least 3 on the way in and had a number of strikes. All fish were caught 42' down and green/chartreuse was the only color that saw action. The males are starting to develop the hooked jaws. Should be a good spawn this October.

8133

trollmonkey
06-29-2015, 07:18 PM
Awesome Ron ,You are into them. I hope to get out in late July /early August. My new Grandson should be here just about anytime now. In a few years I am going to need a way bigger boat. Take Care

Dr. Oc
06-29-2015, 10:03 PM
Ron, You seem to be having a fantastic year! Hope it continues. Our family will be up there in 3-4 weeks (last week in July). Keep up the good work. Can't wait to get back up there.

Dr. Oc
07-05-2015, 11:41 PM
Trollmonkey/Rgarbar, I was looking to try something a little different on our trip this year and get off L. Nant. I've fished the Nant. Riv. for trout and the Little Tenn. R. for smallmouths. The trout at Lake Apalachia was on the bucket list. Is late July too late to go up there or would I be wasting my time? I have the equipment to fish any depth I need to, but how deep is the lake on average? The boat ramp looks a little iffy. Are the 6-8ft water depth changes a problem for a 19 ft?

rgarbar
07-06-2015, 02:48 PM
doc

Give Calderwood or cheoah a shot. Got some smaller trout but a lot of hits and fish lost on Calderwood last september. Marked a lot of fish at cheoah on a kayak/w fish finder. I am back in Fl for a week, will start fishing for kokes and report sometimes next week.

trollmonkey
07-06-2015, 08:02 PM
Dr. Oc, July can be iffy but rewarding. Cheoah has trout and musky . I haven't heard about any musky being caught but could be interesting. The upper end of Cheoah is fairly shallow with lots of sand bars the lower end is pushing 200' deep. A nice narrow lake with not much boat traffic. Our first day trip to Apalachia was in August 2013,we caught smallmouth chasing herring and 7 trout (15-17"). The ramp is definitely not a one man deal if they are generating, but we probably only saw a 1'-2' level change. Ap is shallow from the landing down the lake for three miles or so the drops to 40 or so . Down near the dam the lake is around 120' ,there are some standing trees down deep( 40+) that like to snatch lures and downrigger wts. We got some nice trout there in May and 6 catfish( two cats pushed 10 lbs) trolling. Have a great trip let us know how it goes. Mark

Dr. Oc
07-07-2015, 12:07 PM
Mark, thanks for the tips. Good intel to have. Out of curiosity, how deep did you find the trout last Aug. and did you notice if the bite improved with moving water/generating. My experience is that it usually helps, but haven't been there before and it may be different. Ron, good luck on your return. Hope you are still finding them active. I can't wait to get back up there after missing a trip last year. Let me know if y'all will be there the last week in July.

trollmonkey
07-07-2015, 06:59 PM
We found them 30'-45' in Aug.At the upper end I've caught a few in colder months especially with moving water. On our spring trips the upper end would hit the low 70's with no water running, and we didn't get any trout. Down lake you can't really detect any current but the fish probably notice. The water going through seems to affect the temp stratification. On the summer trip we found mid 60's from 25'down a long way, didn't seem to be cooling much with depth. This May we caught trout 10'-20'. Good Luck

rgarbar
07-13-2015, 01:28 PM
Finally got back on the lake after about a two week layover. The bite is still on at Nantahala but not as good as it was 2 weeks ago. The fish are deeper. Caught two at about 17" each. The fish were caught at about 52' down, both fell to a chartreuse hootchie in the Rocky Branch abyss. Did mark fish 50 to 65' down but scattered. Lots of recreational boats flying up and down the lake.

8160

rgarbar
07-16-2015, 02:32 PM
Another slow day but did catch my biggest Kokanee this year. It came in shy of 19" and weighed 2 3/4 lbs. Caught it at 54' down on a chartreuse hootchie. Lost another on the way to the boat at the same depth and same lure. Will probably try one more time next week. The thermocline is all over the place with all the generating at the dam/penstocks and the kokes are scattered and going deep. Will begin trailering the boat and trolling for trout at Calderwood and Cheoah reservoirs.

8161

trollmonkey
07-16-2015, 06:52 PM
Nice one Ron,We are still waiting for the new Grandbaby. It will probably be mid August before I get out there. Keep at 'em.

rgarbar
07-20-2015, 05:10 PM
8165Hit Nantahala Lake this morning probably for the last time for awhile. Caught 4 nice kokanee 16" to 18+". All fish were caught at the block houses by the dam. Strangely the fish were caught at about 42' down, a far cry from the 50+' down the last several times I went out. They might have been drawing water for generating from that far penstock pulling in cold water into the pocket. Today all they hit was a white micro hootch with a pearl glow spinner blade. Chartreuse was ignored. Anyway may not get back on the lake until August if at all. Who knows where the kokanee will be then. Thanks all for reading my posts. Hope to be back next year. I will be trailering to the likes of Calderwood and Cheoah starting in August. Will report on any success I have there.

ps What ever happened to the Connecticut kokanee crew?

richienc
07-21-2015, 01:27 AM
8165Hit Nantahala Lake this morning probably for the last time for awhile. Caught 4 nice kokanee 16" to 18+". All fish were caught at the block houses by the dam. Strangely the fish were caught at about 42' down, a far cry from the 50+' down the last several times I went out. They might have been drawing water for generating from that far penstock pulling in cold water into the pocket. Today all they hit was a white micro hootch with a pearl glow spinner blade. Chartreuse was ignored. Anyway may not get back on the lake until August if at all. Who knows where the kokanee will be then. Thanks all for reading my posts. Hope to be back next year. I will be trailering to the likes of Calderwood and Cheoah starting in August. Will report on any success I have there.

ps What ever happened to the Connecticut kokanee crew?

Congrats and thanks for all the updates and pics............ Haven't been able to make it back up myself, if no soon, maybe next year. Been a really busy year for me at work, so can only hope for more time out in the future..... Again thanks for all the updates and info......

Dr. Oc
07-21-2015, 12:17 PM
Ron, Great posts and glad to see you're still on them and in the same area that has produced for me in the past. Seeing your posts has got me really excited to get back up there. Missed it last year. I'll be there this weekend thru next and hope to fish several days next week. Look for my green Jones Brothers boat with the Yamaha and say hello. Are you marking the thermocline regularly now and marking the fish or are most "blind" strikes? What scents, if any, have been producing for you? Thanks

rgarbar
07-21-2015, 03:35 PM
Ron, Great posts and glad to see you're still on them and in the same area that has produced for me in the past. Seeing your posts has got me really excited to get back up there. Missed it last year. I'll be there this weekend thru next and hope to fish several days next week. Look for my green Jones Brothers boat with the Yamaha and say hello. Are you marking the thermocline regularly now and marking the fish or are most "blind" strikes? What scents, if any, have been producing for you? Thanks

Sorry I will miss you next week as I will be out of town. The thermocline has been fluctuating I guess because of all the rain and summer generating. I have been going with blind strikes and fishing at that depth when I catch one. I do use the fish finder to locate fish as well. I have not uses a scent at all. Most of my kokes were caught from Little Choga Island to that camping point on the forestry side as you come to the dam. The dam had produced pretty poorly until yesterday. Fish were concentrated at the block house corner but I did have several strikes and one fish on(lost) trolling to that corner so they are in the dam area, possibly be driven there by all the boat traffic running down to lakes end marina. I only fished hootchies following a small dodger. The majority of kokes were caught on a Green dodger towing a chartreuse hootchie. A hot pink hootchie towed by a small red dodger came in second. However yesterday those colors were ignored and they only hit a clear hootchie towed by a small silver dodger. As always the lures were tipped with shoe peg corn. I am sure other lures/colors(wedding rings, bugs etc.) will produce as well. Change colors as it worked for me yesterday and as always be patient. Let us know of your success. Enjoy your stay at Nantahala.

Dr. Oc
07-23-2015, 10:36 PM
Sorry I'll miss you. I'll post any results from our trip. Your input hopefully will have me on a few. In the past I've caught most of my fish around 1.4-1.6 mph, but my 2 biggest at 1.8 mph. I've noticed that you tended to troll a little slower. What speed have you found them to be responsive to this summer? Thanks again for your input. Have a safe trip.

rgarbar
07-24-2015, 06:45 AM
Sorry I'll miss you. I'll post any results from our trip. Your input hopefully will have me on a few. In the past I've caught most of my fish around 1.4-1.6 mph, but my 2 biggest at 1.8 mph. I've noticed that you tended to troll a little slower. What speed have you found them to be responsive to this summer? Thanks again for your input. Have a safe trip.

I do tend to troll slower than most at Nantahala. I have no GPS so I have no idea how fast i am going. I do have one of those trolling plates on my motor which really can slow my boat down. Hope to ad GPS/sonar combo for the next season. Think I will give faster trolling a try on slow days.

rgarbar
08-03-2015, 04:52 PM
82148213Sorry to beat a dead horse but after a week of family reunion deep in Yankee territory NJ:mad: I had to get some solitude on Nantahala. The fishing was typically slow and the fish were deep. The two I caught were at 61' and 66' down, the fringe range of my light duty downriggers. The fish were caught at the deep end of the Rocky Branch abyss(forestry side). Marked a lot fish 65' to 90' down from the abyss to the dam. The lake basin was hot. My sacorocrackerjack was popped out like a bedspring doing all that deep water downrigger crankinglaugh hyst. If you plan to fish for kokanee bring some heavy cannonballs and have plenty of cable on the spool. Took one on a pink hootchie and one on a chartreuse hootchie.

trollmonkey
08-03-2015, 10:03 PM
Nice Ron,I hope to get out in two weeks. We have a new Grandson Ronan James born 7/22.Man I am going to need a bigger boat. Good to see Doc Oc getting into some fish.