State of the Kokanee at Nantahala Lake

[rgarbar]

To date I have only heard of 3 Kokanee being caught at Nantahala during the 2017 season(none larger than 14"). Most of the fishermen/fisher women who targeted the Kokanee, including myself are targeting other species and/or have moved on to fish other lakes. I have heard of a number of larger trout being taking at the lake possibly a result of the blueback herring added to their diet.

Trout fishing at Calderwood reservoir has been hot for me especially in the vicinity of Calderwood dam trolling spoons and spinners 5' to 15' down.

Getting back to the Kokanee, the state and local concerned fisher persons are going to try to monitor the upcoming spawning run up the Nantahala River late September through October. That should give us an idea of about how many kokes are left in the lake. Perhaps the tenacious Kokanee will rebound in future years. The Kokanee and blueback might be able to coexist but the size of to kokes will probably be much smaller than the large ones that have been harvested to last 10 years. Less people targeting them might also help them rebound. It will also be interesting to see what the state will do for the Kokanee and Nantahala Lake in the future. With all the bluebacks present is a trophy trout lake in the future? Next spring I plan to target the kokes in hope of a rebound but the rebound if any might take several years.

I would appreciate any information regarding the fate of the kokanee or Nantahala Lake.

[trollmonkey]

Hi Ron,Hope you're doing well and are out of Irma's path. I am heartsick over the Kokanee in Nantahala. I kept hoping I had just went on a tough day and everyone else was just missing the kokes. Unfortunately it looks like our fishery is in trouble. I hope they are still there and perhaps living off some other plankton or small critters. The day Greg and me were out there we saw plenty of herring. I was running my Waterwolf and the videos would be blacked out when I trolled under a school of herring. I think they are in just about every lake in the mountains now. Will and me were at Bear Lake recently and saw shad/herring on the surface and marked schools on the FF. I hope where the opportunities present the state will try to grow some big trout. The downfall is that walleyes and white bass suffer greatly from bluebacks, and trout reproduction also is negatively affected. I hope the sorry &$holes who released the bluebacks are happy and their bass get big and fat. They have in short order destroyed a world class kokanee fishery.

[smokysteelhead]

Does the state of NC even raise and stock kokanee? I though these fish are self sustaining.

Will and me were at Bear Lake recently and saw shad/herring on the surface and marked schools on the FF.

The state at one time I thought stocked shad into Bear Lake.

[rgarbar]

Does the state of NC even raise and stock kokanee? I though these fish are self sustaining.



The state at one time I thought stocked shad into Bear Lake.

Nantahala Lake kokanee salmon are all naturally reproducing. The kokanee at Nantahala have recently been plagued by drought and an infestation of plankton eating blueback herring. The pristine spawning grounds in the head waters on the Nantahala river still exist and the kokanee will probably still spawn in the fall. Because the large population of herring the mature kokanee may not be very large thus this fishery will collapse. With the large population of herring expect more large browns and rainbows to be caught at the lake. Only a die off of the herring will restore the great kokanee fishery at Nantahala. Expect the state to do little or nothing regarding the kokanee.

[trollmonkey]

Hey Ron , Hope you and yours are doing well. I haven't talked to anyone at the state in a while,don't think they have any good ways to deal with the herring. I wish there would be a die off of the evil herring. If the herring numbers ever got knocked down,any kokanee left would probably flourish. Really would like to see something good happen for the kokes. I was late to the game fishing them wish I'd started years eariler. Take Care Ron ,see you this summer.

[smokysteelhead]

Sorry to hear that.