2023 Lucky Peak Reservoir Kokanee Report

[sawtooth]

Wake boarders, jet skis, and party barges, oh my! May the fishing be worth the Boating Circus that is this Boise area reservoir.

[Pauli]

Looking forward to the 2023 season. Get your fishing in while the weather is still chilly, and the schools are still in session.

Pauli

[callelk]

Any guesses on the season this year? Above/below average??? Has to be better than last year though they may blow the res out because of the snowpack.

[Pauli]

We should be OK this year....if the Koke cycle holds true. Who knows anymore? Water will be high in the spring, but that can be a good thing too. If there is a lot of water in the reservoirs the water temperature tends to stay cool....something the Kokes need. I'm optimistic. I'm not so sure that fish being "flushed" from the dams is a big deal here. It's not like there is a large flowing river behind the dams like the conditions with the dams on the Columbia....which "flushes" the fish over (or through). I guess we just have to wait and see. Has anyone checked the Koke planting schedule to see if Fish and Game is going to plant DEADWOOD originated juveniles into the system?


Pauli

[formulaben]

Can't wait to get out there this year!

[dustyjohns]

Pauli- I was told they were not able to get any eggs from Deadwood again. So anything planted will most likely be from the late spawn fish coming from other waters.

[Pauli]

Well.....That's a drag....

Pauli

[dustyjohns]

We fished Saturday 4/08 for most of the day. Marked fish in all the usual spots. Just couldn’t get more than 2 to bite. They were caught on green at 9 and 28 feet.

[Westwindsraider]

Pauli- I was told they were not able to get any eggs from Deadwood again. So anything planted will most likely be from the late spawn fish coming from other waters.

I heard the same thing from multiple sources. Sad situation.

[Pauli]

I heard the same thing from multiple sources. Sad situation.

That blows......

Pauli

[callelk]

Went out yesterday for a couple of hours just to get the boat wet and dial in my two graphs after updates and reset. They moved the temporary dock down at Turner as the water was dropping but I see its up a foot today. Stayed around the dam area and graphed a couple of fish at 40' but no schools. Tough launching so I guess I'll wait until next week to try again.

Signed-up for a slip at shores but I'm on the waiting list, good thing actually as I think its going to be a short season this year.....again.

[callelk]

Been out three times now. Water is up a little but very dirty and still a little cold. Temps were 45 at 30', 50 at 20' and around 53 in the sun at the surface. Last two trips picked up three rainbows long-lining and both days was really done by 7 am. Trolling around until noon on both days resulted in zip. Around 11:30 or so the idiots show up with their ski boats so I pack it in.


Hopefully I will get out again the week after next and the water will have cleared up some and more of the ramps are floating.

[callelk]

Went Friday (26th), rain and a total bust. Went Tuesday (30th), lot of boats on the water and more came in at noon when I packed it in. Landed one nice 18" and lost a smaller fish at the boat. It appears that was the story of the day with everyone I talked to, 1 koke or no koke and the odd rainbow here and there. Water is up but still dirty and clutters the sonar. 60 degrees on top and 55 at 5'.

Will try again tomorrow or Friday. I'll let the barometer dictate....

[msusprtn]

Crushed it in the dam area. Peak time was around noon. It's nice to see Lucky Peak coming back strong. Been out 3 times this year and have done well each time. Fished spin and glows. Fish aren't right on the top, but are 10' or so down. I've been 100' back with a one ounce weight. I typically don't like fish LP due to the boat traffic, but the fish size is pretty nice.

[msusprtn]

Marked lots of fish in the damn area. Most were 55’ deep. Mainly loose schools. Had lots of difficulty getting them to bite. Purple wedding rings caught a few, but no limit today. The fish I caught were at 25’…. There just weren’t many at that depth.
Water temps:
0’ - 63.7F
5’ - 63.5F
10’ - 63.2F
15’ - 63.1F
20’ - 62.3F
25’ - 53.2F
30’ - 52.5F
35’ - 51.1F
40’ - 50.9F
45’ - 50.5F
50’ - 50.4F
55’ - 50.4F
60’ - 50.4F
65’ - 50.2F
85’ - 50.2F

[callelk]

Fished from 7-1, landed 5 but I think its going to be like a couple of years ago, not many but they are footballs. Smallest was 18-3/4 largest was 19-1/2. That tells me that next year is going to be terrible. 65 deg on top.

[msusprtn]

fished within sight of the dam. 6:30AM - 10:00AM. Green dodger with a plain green hoochie with white corn.

[callelk]

fished within sight of the dam. 6:30AM - 10:00AM. Green dodger with a plain green hoochie with white corn.

How deep and what were their size? I have only managed 10 in the last 3 outings to 19-3/4". Cant keep the trout from hitting my line as I let out.....

[msusprtn]

I've been fishing LP quite a bit. My method in the Spring is typically to fish the top and fish it fast (1.7-2.0 mph).... force the kokes to make a quick decision. For some reason unknown to me, I seem to catch more kokes on green than any other color in LP. If I find deep fish and want to go after them, I use smaller presentations (4" tear drop dodgers without much bend on them & plain hoochies without spinners or blades) and slow down (1.0-1.2 mph).

I've been catching mainly 15-18" fish this year. The last trip I was catching 13-15" fish. I would have rather them be a little bigger, but the action was fast & the flesh was superb and deep red.

[msusprtn]

Was on the water around 6:30AM. quite few boats to the east across from spring shores. Saw 3 fish landed. Several boats were gabby and weren't having any luck. (Their set-up wasn't right in my opinion). Caught fish fairly consistently (landed about 2 per hr). Caught a couple 13" (sent back to grow up) but the rest were 16-19". The large ones were in great shape. No color & the meat was red and firm. Marked fish at 10-20 but the ones at 30-35' were the ones that were willing to bite.

[dustyjohns]

Caught a couple 13" (sent back to grow up)

I’ve been wondering about this. I have been under the impression that Kokanee have a high mortality rate after release. With that being even higher in smaller fish and warmer temps. Have you ever noticed them not making it after release?

[msusprtn]

I’ve been wondering about this. I have been under the impression that Kokanee have a high mortality rate after release. With that being even higher in smaller fish and warmer temps. Have you ever noticed them not making it after release?

Jordan Messner (SW IDFG), has encouraged me to keep every koke I catch during the summer as he believed they would likely die. I personally haven't seen any white papers that support that, but I haven't looked either. I can't recall seeing any floating around; however they might sink. They all seemed to be very lively upon release.

For good or bad, I let the smaller ones go unless I feel they have been "damaged".

[dustyjohns]

Thank you! I think we’d see quite a few floating around if it were true. I’d never thought of that somehow.

[River Rat]

I personally release a lot of them, a lot of times if you simply net them, keep the net in the water they get off by them selves, if there is any blood or if they are hooked deep, they go into the cooler. A few times I have went back by and seen one flopping on top of the water, if so, grab the net and scoop them up, I think, just like trout, if injured or dead, they float. I think the main thing is dont keep them out of the water any longer than necessary, dont squeeze them hard, be gentle. Thats my two bits worth

[callelk]

I need to go out and burn the fuel out of my integral tank kicker. I want to try for blackmouth down deep but I really don't want to hook into Koke's this time of year and the trout are buggy. Should I wait another month?