2018 Anderson Ranch Reservior Kokanee Fishing Report

[G3 longliner]

I extended my net with a adjustable paint pole

anderson yesterday no fish till we got up to curlew than started catching right off the boat ramp ended up with 8 , 14-17 inch koks kicked off bunch of small chinooks lost maybe 4 - nice to have a net man:) lots of boats

[salmonster]

Good weekend at Anderson. Fished from daylight until noon on Saturday and from daylight to 11:30 on Sunday. Kept 37 Saturday and 25 on Sunday. Maybe 12 total were 16 or better. 30-35ft seemed to be the best depth. We did our best to fish by ourselves as much as we could so we traveled at troll speed much of the time between Lime creek and Fall creek. All the normal colors worked but pink seemed best. I do fish more with pink at Anderson so that is likely why. Lost only about 20% of the fish hooked. Interesting that most lost at the net (I have an extending net that must be 10 or 12 feet long when extended. Several of fish lost stayed right where they came loose and flopped on the surface 3 or 4 times. Might have been able to just net them if we had not been dodging flying baits. You can tell from the other posts that the fishing at Anderson is really good right now. Enjoy.

[kokaneekevin]

Took a buddy with me to Anderson Ranch yesterday (5/25). Fished Curlew area from 9am to 3pm. Caught 17 Kokes, releasing one pretty small guy. Only Kokes caught, no chinooks or trout. Except for about an hour in the late morning, we had plenty of bites all day long. Maybe 50+ total. But for some reason, many of those never hooked up. Just a wham on the line and then nothing. Couldn't figure out why this was happening more than usual, except that it's Kokanee fishing. Also had the usual couple lost at the boat and several lost way out as they were jumping high out of the water a lot. Even had one jumping high out of the water at the boat. Think my buddy netted it in the air! :) And had 2 doubles, landing both each time. That's always fun! Used my usual stuff: Ford fenders, rainbow dodgers, pink hoochies, orange spinners, and purple spinners. All seemed to work well. Two lines with 3oz and 4oz in the morning, going to 5oz in the afternoon, 80 to 100 clicks back. One line on my downrigger, mostly set to 33' (the hot spot), but also tried 20' and 40'. No action at those depths. I think all our action was between 25' and 35'. Spent quite a bit of time out in front of the ramp again, having pretty good luck there, then moved down a bit to that bay just south of the ramp. Lots of bites there too. Weather cooperated for most of the day (very nice!). Got a bit windy in the afternoon making it a bit difficult to hold our trolling line. But not a big deal. Just another great day at Anderson!

It was amazing to see all the rigs pouring in all day long - with campers, ATVs, boats... I guess most were headed up into Pine, as the Curlew area was already mostly full when we got there. Should be wild times there over this long weekend. Hope we get lots of great fishing updates here from this weekend.

By the way, who launches their big jet boat and then starts to prep right there on the ramp, boat still on the trailer in the water? Boat even still had all the windows and windshield covered with those canvas snap-on covers. Aren't you supposed to get that all done before backing down the ramp?


KokaneeKevin

[formulaben]

By the way, who launches their big jet boat and then starts to prep right there on the ramp, boat still on the trailer in the water? Boat even still had all the windows and windshield covered with those canvas snap-on covers. Aren't you supposed to get that all done before backing down the ramp?KokaneeKevin

Soooo frustrating. Yes, I have a name for those but I can't write it here.

[F-Bomb]

Snuck up for a quick day trip on Monday. Everyone apparently had enough for the weekend because there was next to nobody on the lake. Dead calm and beautiful day to troll. Fished from 10am to 4pm. Not a bite other than a very large squaw fish for the first hour. Got a few here and there fish until 2 and then it was on. We had multiples over and over. Several times We ended up with no lines in the water as the fish just worked across our setups. We caught and brought about 15 nice ones home for the smoker. Let go a bunch of smallies and random baby chinooks. Had one small little weird looking fish that I think was a baby bull trout.

A very nasty storm showed up about 4:30 and this time we packed it in just in time and made it out dry and not electrocuted! The 4K weekend taught me how the those storms roll down from Featherville side and you need to not be out there or you are going to suffer. Loading up the pontoon in a windy monsoon is not fun and might end up with an insurance claim.

Fish on DR 24ft to 28ft depth and 45ft back of the ball. Orange customized WR spinner behind silver paper flashers as usual. Any color of blade off of that combo caught them evenly. No action on the long lines until we removed weight and at 1/2 ounce at 110ft back we found them.

Fun day!

[fish4kok]

The weather forecast for Memorial weekend wasn't good in Pine area. Anyhow my wife and I went to camp and fish in Anderson Ranch Reservoir for 5 days, started from Wed. May 23 thru Sunday morning May 27. The weather wasn't good but fishing was good ( for us anyway). We fish 4 ~5 hrs every day and quit when it was windy and rain. There was a big wind storm on Friday evening that almost blew off 2 canopies of those young couple camp by us. We ran over to help them to take down the top cover...
We BBQ 3 at the camp for dinner and took home 50 Kok size from 13" ~ 16".
Most of the fish we caught by Curlew. We troll from Curlew boat ramp to North Curlew creek then troll toward opposite side of Curlew (West side) This area is shallow 46' or so but we caught fish in this area with DR set at 28' deep. Couple times we had the lead ball drag to the bottom...OOps we were at the shallow 35'...
Wed Few hits but didn't get any Kok, few small Chinnok that we released.
Thursday caught 17
Friday caught 20
Saturday morning caught 7
Sunday morning 9

Vance copper dodger + pink squid + white corn + Anise or Herring scent. DR from 25 ~ 30'
Kokabow dodger + Signature squid UV Cotton Candy + white corn + Anise or Herring scent. 30' line out then DR from 25 ~ 30'.
The long line pole wasn't very productive. On Thurs morning we caught 4 Kok right on the surface at Deer Creek in 1 hour then they seem to go deeper. Same above set up, no weight and 80' line out.

There were not many boats fishing in Curlew, they concentrate more by Lime Creek. Fishing must be good in that area. Most people drove up here for camping than fishing.

That was a good trip and we had everything from sunshine, rain, windy, wind storm...

[G3 longliner]

The weather forecast for Memorial weekend wasn't good in Pine area. Anyhow my wife and I went to camp and fish in Anderson Ranch Reservoir for 5 days, started from Wed. May 23 thru Sunday morning May 27. The weather wasn't good but fishing was good ( for us anyway). We fish 4 ~5 hrs every day and quit when it was windy and rain. There was a big wind storm on Friday evening that almost blew off 2 canopies of those young couple camp by us. We ran over to help them to take down the top cover...
We BBQ 3 at the camp for dinner and took home 50 Kok size from 13" ~ 16".
Most of the fish we caught by Curlew. We troll from Curlew boat ramp to North Curlew creek then troll toward opposite side of Curlew (West side) This area is shallow 46' or so but we caught fish in this area with DR set at 28' deep. Couple times we had the lead ball drag to the bottom...OOps we were at the shallow 35'...
Wed Few hits but didn't get any Kok, few small Chinnok that we released.
Thursday caught 17
Friday caught 20
Saturday morning caught 7
Sunday morning 9

Vance copper dodger + pink squid + white corn + Anise or Herring scent. DR from 25 ~ 30'
Kokabow dodger + Signature squid UV Cotton Candy + white corn + Anise or Herring scent. 30' line out then DR from 25 ~ 30'.
The long line pole wasn't very productive. On Thurs morning we caught 4 Kok right on the surface at Deer Creek in 1 hour then they seem to go deeper. Same above set up, no weight and 80' line out.

There were not many boats fishing in Curlew, they concentrate more by Lime Creek. Fishing must be good in that area. Most people drove up here for camping than fishing.

That was a good trip and we had everything from sunshine, rain, windy, wind storm...

Anderson today got 7 before we got blown off - think would have been a good day without the gale - talked to one boat had a dozen

[fish4kok]

Anderson today got 7 before we got blown off - think would have been a good day without the gale - talked to one boat had a dozen

Did you catch those 7 with long line or with DR?

[G3 longliner]

Did you catch those 7 with long line or with DR?

G3 Longliner only long lines - ford fender 1 or 2 ounces ball weight on slide - pink kokabow hootchie and pink blade weddingring garlic corn and bloody tuna out 90-100 ft did get a couple by the dam after we got blown off curlew - not much caught right out from curlew ramp that i saw - see ya next week - going to try LP sunday against my better judgment Gran daughters want to go for boat ride - 90 degrees will be lots of googins

[Patience]

Should have easily had my limit, but with the wind and the doubles I didn't boat, I could only finish with these, most were only 14-15". Netting solo, in the wind, is tough.
Only my second time to Anderson, so I thought I did pretty good. Fished from 10-5. Launched from the airport and didn't make it beyond the Curlew ramp.
Downrigger at 14-22 feet down all day, 75 feet back, 1.7-2.3 MPH, surface temp 62-63, sling blades, home-made wedding ring style lures, corn swimming in Anise.

[G3 longliner]

Should have easily had my limit, but with the wind and the doubles I didn't boat, I could only finish with these, most were only 14-15". Netting solo, in the wind, is tough.
Only my second time to Anderson, so I thought I did pretty good. Fished from 10-5. Launched from the airport and didn't make it beyond the Curlew ramp.
Downrigger at 14-22 feet down all day, 75 feet back, 1.7-2.3 MPH, surface temp 62-63, sling blades, home-made wedding ring style lures, corn swimming in Anise.

nice load:):):) aint it fun traeger is smoking right now

[Bassmeet]

Fished from 10am-2 pm. on 6-2-18, lost the first 8 that smacked the rods in about the first 30 minutes. Once we got the misses out of the way we ended up keeping 20 all over 14 inches, biggest being 18.5 inches. Fishing silver/watermelon dodger, trailed by red w/r spinner, (I know it’s weird but I like the w/r behind the dodger instead of tradition pop gear). Most fish caught between 25-30 on dr. Picked up a few on long lines at 80ft back with 1 oz early and 2 ounces later on, rolling about 1.6-1.8 with shoe peg and bloody tuna. I’ll be up here in the morning on 6-3-18 stop and say hi. Green custom weld cobra with screaming kids most the time hahah. Hope this report helps.

[dustyjohns]

Setup camp Friday night in the wind. It finally quit blowing around 10pm. Fished 10-1 and put 3 in the cooler. Swam and played rest of the day. This morning we fished from Curlew to Lime Creek and ended up with 12 on ice. Lost quite a few before even getting to the boat. Running a big the little Kokabow dodger 7” apart. One setup was watermelon with pink Kokabow behind it and shoepeg. Other was the pink and yellow dodgers with orange Kokabow hoochie. 2 1/2 oz 69 and 80 feet back. No downriggers on this redneck yacht....

[hooknhunter]

Anderson today got 7 before we got blown off - think would have been a good day without the gale - talked to one boat had a dozen

I think I talked to you on the boat ramp. I was the guy who got 5, was happy with the size, but wanted more.

[Papa1905]

What time has the bite been most active lately? Going up Monday for 4 days. Hoping to bring back a few nice ones. Long Liners no DR on my father in laws little boat. 10 foot sun tracker with 9.9 Mercury but gets us on the water and fishing. That is the important thing.
Thanks
Terry

[dustyjohns]

Most people say it’s between 10 and 2. I like to start early because it can get toasty on the water by noonish. I would disagree with you though. Being safe is more important to me. Just my opinion though.

[kodiak1]

Papa1905,
First, welcome to the site. We fished Anderson yesterday from 9-12:30. Brought home 24. The advice above is correct. The bite seems to be later. Last time we were up there the fish were much deeper. Our best depth was 14', and then 17 at around 10, and finally 19. I realize that when people say there is a poor morning bite, the fish are simply feeding near the surface, but that didn't seem to be the case yesterday. By the way, there were two longliners fishing in our area, and they were hammering 'em. Our lead core did well later in the day, at 4 colors. The area by Lime Creek, and towards the dam from there, was most productive. Hoochies and wedding rings performed equally. When we left at 12:30, the fishing was at its hottest....we had back-to-back triples!! Good luck. Mike

[Papa1905]

Most people say it’s between 10 and 2. I like to start early because it can get toasty on the water by noonish. I would disagree with you though. Being safe is more important to me. Just my opinion though.

Yes I agree. That should go hand in hand with boating.

[Papa1905]

Papa1905,
First, welcome to the site. We fished Anderson yesterday from 9-12:30. Brought home 24. The advice above is correct. The bite seems to be later. Last time we were up there the fish were much deeper. Our best depth was 14', and then 17 at around 10, and finally 19. I realize that when people say there is a poor morning bite, the fish are simply feeding near the surface, but that didn't seem to be the case yesterday. By the way, there were two longliners fishing in our area, and they were hammering 'em. Our lead core did well later in the day, at 4 colors. The area by Lime Creek, and towards the dam from there, was most productive. Hoochies and wedding rings performed equally. When we left at 12:30, the fishing was at its hottest....we had back-to-back triples!! Good luck. Mike

Thank You Kodiak. I have been the forum a few years but changed internet providers and emails. Lost my password so I just registered with another name. Been fishing Anderson for a few years but don't get up there often as it is 150 miles one way. Only fairly close places to get Kokanee near me are Lucky Peak and Arrowrock which have not produced many fish any time I have been there.
Terry

[dustyjohns]

We fished this morning and put 5 in the cooler from Curlew. Wind got to be more than I wanted to fight. Running Kokabow dodgers with Kokabow orange and white hoochie, 1oz longlined anywhere from 50-90 feet back.

Guy at the ramp said his buddy caught limits Monday using black and white. Anyone else have luck with that?

[Spit the Hook]

Just my opinion but I'm not a fan of the Kokabow dodgers. They pull much harder for me than regular slingblades and I haven't caught more fish using them over the easier pulling blades.

[Chasing tail]

Just my opinion but I'm not a fan of the Kokabow dodgers. They pull much harder for me than regular slingblades and I haven't caught more fish using them over the easier pulling blades.

I agree that they do pull hard but they have good action. I personally don’t use them either but I can’t deny they catch a lot of fish. I own a handful of them. A lot of people use them. I prefer the sling blades as well since they are more stream lined but by bending them I can get the same action. I also like the extra flash of holographic tape that Kokabow doesn’t use.

[KokaneeJoe]

Just my opinion but I'm not a fan of the Kokabow dodgers. They pull much harder for me than regular slingblades and I haven't caught more fish using them over the easier pulling blades.

I sometimes use them because they do catch fish though and they are not the only dodgers that have a lot of resistance. There are several brands that have this problem. It kind of defeats the purpose of using a dodger over pop-gear. Funny thing is Kokabow in flight trolls have very light resistance and they also catch a lot of fish.

[Chasing tail]

I sometimes use them because they do catch fish though and they are not the only dodgers that have a lot of resistance. There are several brands that have this problem. It kind of defeats the purpose of using a dodger over pop-gear. Funny thing is Kokabow in flight trolls have very light resistance and they also catch a lot of fish.

Gulls make the same dodgers as kokabow but they have the flash tape and come in all different colors but I haven’t bought any just for the same reason, because they feel like you already have a fish on

[dustyjohns]

I only started using them last year. I still have and use the Flash-lites too. I agree that the Kokabow do have that extra drag to them. But they are catching fish. I will be trying one of the in flight trolls soon.