Spring Kokanee Fishing
So the Long “Wait” of winter is almost over and spring kokanee fishing will be in full swing very shortly. I’m going to give you a few tips that will help you fish more rods on your boat effectively and give you some tips & tricks on attacking spring kokanee.
Most of the early spring kokanee fishing will be in the top 15 feet of the water column, and they will be congregating in tributaries of the lakes or in area’s that will warm up first, like the shallows. These areas of the lake will have more kokanee because they hold a more abundant food source early in the season. By checking out the lake you are planning on fishing and looking for flats or tributaries, you’ll set yourself up with a productive “GAME PLAN” instead of trying to attacking the whole lake blind. In Lakes with Dams, the area toward the Dam are the last to warm up and I would avoid fishing that area of the lake all together until later in the season. A good way to take a look at different lakes and areas to fish is with a “Smart Phone” or I-Pad. The “Navionics App” can not only be used while on the water, but even at the house or AT WORK. You can check out different lakes you’re wanting to fish and make a game plan before heading out on the water. Another thing to keep in mind is the elevation of the lake you are planning on fishing; I prefer to start fishing lakes with a lower elevation early in the season and save the higher elevation lakes for later in the season. By fishing the higher elevations lakes later in the season you’ll have the ability to catch chrome bright kokanee late in the season while the lower elevation kokanee are gearing up for the spawn and or already in full swing of the spawn.
Ok here is my tip for fishing more rods effectively and catching the Kokanee running in the top 15 feet of the water column. I used this technique in November at Green Peter when all the fish I caught were picked up in the top 10 feet of the water column using my downriggers.
Green Peter 11/10/12 All fish caught in the top 10 feet of the water column
I stacked two rods on each downrigger which is very hard to do early or later in the season unless you’re using the right gear. I ran my bottom rod back 100 feet behind my boat with an “Arrow Flash Dodger” (check out the large variety here on my website), I then attached it to my downrigger and dropped it 4 feet down. Then I rig my second rod up with a Mack’s Lure Double D Dodger (also sold on my website) and used hole #4 on the Right hand side of my boat and hole #1 on the Left hand side of my boat. “Facing The Back Of My Boat” I would run my second rod 75 feet behind my boat attached it to the downrigger and run it down until my line touched the water.
By doing this your top rod will be running 3 feet under the water surface and your bottom rod will be running 7 feet under the water surface. If you tried this without a Mack’s Lure dodger you would have the biggest mess behind our boat stacking two rods that far back and that close together. This technique if very effective and very easy to do and trust me it works GREAT.
I’ll be posting a video of this technique in April showing exactly how to do this. Remember to troll slow and look for areas of your lake that are getting full sun which will in turn have a warmer surface temperature.
We’ll see you out on the Lake!!!
Fish On Kokaneekid