How has Kokanee been impacted in your state?

Ever since COVID hit in 2020 there has been more boaters out fishing in all lakes not counting the other recreational users. Koke fishing has been hammered hard at both Flaming Gorge 3hrs & Strawberry 2hrs making those long drives for me seem longer. A lot of folks has enjoyed the time away from their jobs but it has impacted the way we fish setting up a more difficult day on the water. This year alone in Utah we are hit with lack of snow pack to fill the lakes, early hot temps with the draw down of water leading to exposed launch ramps, and watering restrictions imposed. Water temps have risen deep into the water column making for a search for those silvers a little more difficult. Kokanee have not been hanging in schools much like I usually see but are scattered amongst the other populations so its guessing what is below. Also a question I've been pondering "are kokanee seeing the same presentation over & over we bait with and are not enticed?" Utah DNR has introduced kokanee to a few other lakes for the first time in the past couple of years and may be impacted before they get a chance to get established with some of the above mentioned.
Does anyone have anything to contribute from your state?

Fishing the same fisheries as you I can also echo your concerns, and observations. I grew up fishing for kokes at the gorge. My dad had a 7 day long change at work and kept a boat slipped at BB for years and I lived there in the summer time as a kid. He'd never believe the number of boats on that lake today. Our trophy fishery has a reputation challenged by few, and people love traveling to fish it. That fame comes at price though in the form of the commercialization of the fishery. Where I'm going here is echoing your question of have these fish grown shy of the same presentations that we'reall grabbing off the shelf? I personally tie a lot of my own hoochies as my Dad always did but I can't resist walking past a cool new looking hoochie, spoon, or dodger at Ace or Sportsman's either. I really feel like the shortfalls in the fishery we're seeing in our region is mostly due in part to the water crisis we're facing as a region. I think the inflow of nutrients has dramatically decreased with the low in flow of water. The first 10-15' at the Gorge is crystal clear this year and lacking the it's typically mossy green flurry and color. That with surface temps in the low 70s on some of the hotter days I think the fished are incredibly stressed. I'm hoping for a huge winter that will pack our mountains and replenish our reservoirs.


Tight Lines

Mike

Bduck, most of my fishing is at "non-destination" locations like Ririe and Palisades. There does seem to be a slight increase in fishing boats. What I seem to see more of than previous years are recreational boats. Some of our early outings on Ririe were pretty productive. We caught a fair number of fish up to 14 inches. I had high hopes for mid summer when they would be even bigger just before the spawn. I am still finding fish, but have not had any luck finding the bigger ones. My last outing, my biggest fish was 13 inches and two were just under 11 inches. I am reluctant to blame fishing pressure. I wonder if the long hot dry summer has driven the big fish even deeper than normal? Rapidly dropping Reservoir levels seem to be complicating things. Places where I would normally find fish are now 20 or 30 feet lower than in past years. I suspect those locations are now too warm. The question is where did the fish go? My one experience at Flaming Gorge in mid-July was pretty much the same as everyone else. I have not given up yet for this year, but I do hear the fat lady singing. I hope to get out at least once more this summer. Once hunting season starts, it is hard for me to find time to fish. Good luck to those who are still trying.

My most recent trip to FG was simply difficult at best. While we marked plenty of fish each day, they were like stated, reluctant to cooperate with us at all. As I read the mentioned thoughts about whats contributing to this slow down, I feel they are all contributors and i have to say the amout of pressure i think IMHO, has contributed to the slow fishing. I really dont see this changing even if we get some water for next year. The pressure and amout of fisher men and women is not going to go away. I think its just going to increase sadly.

Also want to add that I've caught a few of the 3lb class of kokes but not a whole lot, mostly what was caught 2yr fish. With that said it was getting hard to find those larger kokes let alone finishing out the season with not many spawners, instead I started seeing more dinks. I suspect with the pressure kokanee have been thru with the amount of boat predators that recovery from some of this could take a while to get back to where it was.

I Was at Navajo yesterday and limited out on Kokes. Navajo kokes aren't as big as some of you are used to, but they taste great smoked. Nothing but good reports out of Navajo of lots of kokes for those who know how to fish for kokes.