Turn and burn kokes at the Gorge 08-22-11

[wiperhunter]

My wife and I got up at 2am on Monday and left at 3am for the 3 hour drive to the Gorge. We arrived at Buckboard a little after 6am and after getting on ONLY CHILD’s boat we were off. We headed over to Breezy hills and dropped the rigger balls down to 70ft, with the stackers 10ft above. We had the first fish on within minutes using a Kokanee Creek tackle, Black Pearl spinner. We caught a few later with a pearl squid but by in large the majority of the kokes were caught on the spinners. For the next hour we caught the kokes fairly steady with the White Knight being the second best lure for the day. A lot of the kokes were still silver but we did catch a few hook jaw males that were bright red. I’ve always wanted a pic of a big red koke so I keep one for the smoker and got a few pics. I forgot my camera, so Art was nice enough to take a few pics . We were off the water by 2pm and dreading the long drive home. I made it to the Little America outside Green River before I started dosing off, so I decided it was better to let the wife drive, instead of falling asleep at the wheel. Well, we made it home fine, then came the job of making the brine and getting the filets in it. I was out of soy sauce so I used teriyaki sauce instead and I think they came out good. Since I don’t have any pics of my red koke, I took a couple of the smoked kokes. All in all it was a good day and nice to get out one more time before the koke season closes for the year at the Gorge. I had always heard the red kokes were mushy but when smoked they taste great. Thanks Art and Karen for the nice day on the lake.
WH2