Kokanee Fishing

DUDE: You know I have read so many times on various fishing forums about how some guy had a great time fishing for kokanee. He is bragging about how many he caught and retained, and how many he caught and released "in good shape to live for another day." Thoughts?

KOKANEE: Maybe I'm mellowing a bit in my old age. I am always grateful for good intentions. But I also believe that there are times when good intentions produce not so good results.

DUDE: Let me guess -- it is more complicated than I would have thought, and probably more complicated the well-intentioned kokanee fisherman realized.

KOKANEE: Indeed. Let's start first with the fact of just how old are the kokanee that bite. Most kokanee will respond to a well-balanced color and scented lure starting in their third year. Spawning will take place later in either their third or fourth year depending on location. Biting has everything to do with spawning. For the kokes that will be spawning later in the season, their scales are on course to transition from soft and flaky to absorbed and hardened.

DUDE: Come to think of it, the scales are very soft and flake off easily in the early spring bite. They get on everything. But late in the season, the scales do not flake off at all.

KOKANEE: It is a natural process of maturing. By pre-spawn, the kokes are well along in resorbing their own scales. They need hardened scales to withstand the rigors of the spawn. Do you know why fish have scales?

DUDE: Scales are the protective outer layer of the fish's skin. I can understand why hardened scales are protective, but what about soft scales?

KOKANEE: The outer part of these soft scales has a consistency similar to mucous, making the fish extra slippery in the battle not to become prey. The slime can come off without a problem. But the scales themselves have a very important function -- they act as a barrier to ward off infection. If some of the scales are removed from the fish, infection easily moves in. Remember, theirs is a water environment. Infection is easy to come by. Fish will not be able to get a prescription for an antibiotic, and the fish has no biological mechanisms to replace the lost scales. The result is usually a slow and painful death.

DUDE: So how does the well-meaning fisherman cause the harm?

KOKANEE: The harm is more likely early in the season when the scales are very soft. The scales come off with the use of any net, as well as any touching with the human hand. Well intentioned fisherman wanting to remove the hooks so the "fish can live another day" are shredding those protective scales. And although the fish when released happily swims off, the fatal damage is already inflicted. That fish gives the impression that all is well. All is not well.

DUDE: So how long does it take?

KOKANEE: You mean before the infection becomes fatal? Depends. Hours. Days. But it will happen. Of course other species benefit. Ospreys for example love those well-intentioned fisherman. So do mackinaw -- lake trout. Fish in weakened condition become a tasty addition to the food chain.

DUDE: So if a fisherman wanted to simply just release the kokanee without touching it from any means, just how is that accomplished?

KOKANEE: Let me refine your question a bit. Remember we are talking about the time in their life cycle before the scales are fully hardened. Let’s say a fisherman has a two rod stamp - which many states now have. Two rods - but single limit. Let’s further say that the fisherman is one fish shy of a limit. Both rods are out. Bam. A double. Only one can be taken. There are only two choices. First, land the one and then "release the other to live another day" using the net and manually removing the hooks - and thus killing the released fish. The other choice is to land the one fish, but as to the other fish, just let it have some slack. Unless it has a hook through the bone in the snoot, it will self-release. Neat - no net, no human hands, no loss of scales. Actually does live another day.

DUDE: What if it does have a hook through the snoot?

KOKANEE: Easy. If you have brought the fish to the side of the boat and just let it swim there, the fish will be pretty tired. Control the distance to the side of the boat with your rod. This works best with the boat moving forward. Without netting the fish or touching it, simply cut the line as close as you can to the hook and let the fish swim off. In most cases, the fish will be fine.

DUDE: You said "in most cases."

KOKANEE: Yes that is what I said. And kokes are generally resilient to injuries as long as the injury does not entail scale removal. I have seen some of my friends with broken and partially split lower jaws reach full fat maturity. There are some other injuries I have seen that even I have been amazed that the fish survived.

DUDE: So as you have explained it, any contact with the soft early season scales is likely fatal. But as the season progresses, the soft scales become harder, and don't flake off. When the pre-spawn kokes have reached this maturity, and I want or need to release it, then I can use the net and actually touch the fish to remove the hooks.

KOKANEE: Correct. Just be aware that this is a gradual process over the course of the fishing season. A smart and caring fisherman will make these timing observations and react appropriately.

DUDE: I have caught kokanee in the later part of the season, and the scales are flaky and come off easily. What gives?

KOKANEE: Think it through. I told you that the process of scale hardening and absorption is a characteristic of the pre-spawn kokanee. If you catch a late season kokanee with flaky scales, then it is not pre-spawn. As it turns out, there are quite a few precocious young kokanee that are ready to chase lures as they get towards the end of their second year. They will spawn the following year.

DUDE: I told you that I read as much as I can -- with a critical eye on content -- and I have run across a couple of other kokanee concepts that I would like to ask you about.

KOKANEE: I'll do the best I can.

DUDE: I have heard rumors that there are kokes that are bred to become "late season spawners." I have friends in Idaho, who tell me they can fish for kokes on Thanksgiving, and the scales are hardened, but the fish have not yet turned color and the males are just barely beginning to show signs of a kype. Seems like most of us see color and kypes sometime in late July, and definitely by late August and for sure by Labor Day.

KOKANEE: The rumors are true. We kokes are fairly adaptable to our environments wherever situated. Some kokes developed genetic characteristics that better guarantee survival. Let us suppose a particular kokanee world is a draw down reservoir - so the alfalfa farmers can get their late summer water. In that situation it makes good sense to spawn earlier in the streams and feeder creeks as they will not be water to spawn in in the main body of water. But some kokes have an easier situation. For these kokes size matters genetically. A longer growing season means consistently larger kokes if the food supply is adequate to support them.

DUDE: No harm in larger kokes.

KOKANEE: When the early spawn/late spawn characteristics become predictable, then such a population of kokes can be introduced into a water system that would be compatible with that characteristic. Manipulation of the species.

DUDE: You are not going to wax philosophical on me now are you?

KOKANEE: No. Just sayin'

DUDE: I got an invitation for next year to go and fish Wickiup Lake in La Pine, central Oregon.

KOKANEE: Believe me -- I know about La Pine and Wickiup.

DUDE: I hear the kokes there are huge -- sixteen to twenty two inches or more, and the daily limit is twenty five. I was passing through there last September and decided to go check the reservoir out. I could not believe what I saw. The only water I saw was in the river channel. There were vast wide areas of shallow dry lake bed gently sloping to the river, which was not very wide.

KOKANEE: And you probably want to know where the fish go when the reservoir dries up. Well let me tell you. The reservoir is to capacity just about every year in spring. But during the season, the water is gradually drained out down the Deschutes River. When the dam was constructed, it was not constructed for kokanee. It was built to provide irrigation water for downstream farmers and alfalfa growers. The kokanee in Wickiup are early spawners. They have to be. And it may come as a surprise to you but the kokanee fishery at Wickiup is entirely natural.

DUDE: Not supplemented?

KOKANEE: Not at all. This is a great example of the adaptation I was speaking about earlier. The kokes have to be ready to spawn before the water supply challenges and limits their ability to graze. Fortunately, just enough water is available to make redds that will be properly oxygenated even with the draw down.

DUDE: But the size and the great number?

KOKANEE: With so much of the reservoir being shallow when full, the draw down encourages a great variety of insect hatches. One species in particular thrives there. These are a type of fly. In larval form they are called chironomids. They are produced in such abundance as to be mind-boggling. Wickiup kokanee have discovered that these chironomids are a better source of protein than the zooplankton water fleas known as daphnia. These chironomids don't run and hide when the sun comes up, and the kokes can feed on them round the clock. And they do. An abundant protein source makes for very large kokes, much the same as the Mysis shrimp did for the third year kokes at Wallowa Lake. Only the chironomids don't destroy the next generation of kokes.

DUDE: And let me guess, the second year kokes at Wickiup can eat chironomids because the fly larvae are small enough, unlike the Mysis.

KOKANEE: Exactly. So the second year kokes gorge and become very large second year olds. As such, they have more strength to make it through the severe winter conditions at Wickiup. So when spring comes, now as three year olds, they are still in great shape, large and cranky - just the way they should be. In the meantime the three year olds have spawned. The drawdown of the reservoir provides a good measure of protection as virtually all motorized boating ceases. If left alone, the redds will produce huge numbers of kokanee fry ready to start the cycle.

DUDE: You have taught me so much and I don’t know how to meaningfully repay you.

KOKANEE: Well, there is a way you can do that.

DUDE: Anything.

KOKANEE: You know all those mornings when you get on the lake just before first light, and then some light starts chasing the darkness away? How quiet and still things seem to be. Your mind is filled with anticipation of the great fishing day ahead. And you take a slow deep breath – just trying to take it all in. Don’t ever lose that feeling, and don’t keep it to yourself. Pass on such ethics to your children, and family and friends. Help out and encourage those just starting out in the sport.

DUDE: Yes, I can do that.

KOKANEE: I’ll be on my way now. Gotta fulfill my real purpose. It’s been great chatting with you and I’m really glad you responded in the way you did. As for me, the ladies are calling.

DUDE: Some years, kokanee are pretty small, but in other years out of the same fishery, the kokes are much bigger. Is there an explanation?

KOKANEE: Yes. The correct answer takes in many considerations. Better sit down, as this might take some time to lay out for you.

DUDE: Done.

KOKANEE: I want you to know that if I give away too much information, I might lose my spawning rights.

DUDE: All the more reason to pay attention.

KOKANEE: Size is first approached from an available food concept. And one needs to focus on the available food supply for a single kokanee. If you have just one large bucket of food for just one kokanee, that koke will be well fed. However, if all you have is one bucket of food for a thousand kokanee, then, with not much food to go around, no one is getting fat or big.

DUDE: OK -- number of fish and an available food supply – got it.

KOKANEE: You have only the start of it. Let’s talk about birth control.

DUDE: You are not going to play political football on me, are you?

KOKANEE: Would you rather catch a bunch of small kokanee or a few less of much larger kokanee?

DUDE: It’s obvious.

KOKANEE: Kokanee are not an endangered species. We are very successful at spawning, hatching, and generally have lower fry mortality than most salmon species. But if the spawning habitat is cut off from spawning kokes, then cutting off that habitat acts as birth control.

DUDE: Oh. Fewer fish for the same food supply equals bigger fish.

KOKANEE: For many excellent kokanee lakes, there are several spawning creeks coming into the main body of water. Placing weirs in the creeks so the kokes are not able to reach their spawning grounds effectively cuts down the population.

DUDE: So for the fisheries folks, it’s “to weir or not to weir – that is the question.”

KOKANEE: And their task is not quite that simple either. Science can make better predictions if there are fewer variables. And always keep in mind that science and politics don’t mix. To be considered are also the factors that affect the food supply itself. If the food supply has been constant over several years, then manipulating spawning grounds gives a more reliable result. Calculations are made based on the number of fish desired as a ratio to the reliable food source necessary to sustain that fish population.

DUDE: So you are saying if many variations affect the food supply, it becomes more challenging to use weirs as a means of birth control.

KOKANEE: Exactly. And many fish and game folks are thrown blame based on factors they cannot control.

DUDE: So what are some of the factors that affect the food supply?

KOKANEE: The pH of the water and the water temperature are the first to be considered. In chemistry, pH is a numeric scale used to specify the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of an aqueous solution. Recall that the primary food for kokanee is plankton, more specifically zooplankton. Kokanee's favorite food is the zooplankton called Daphnia. Kokanee fry devour copepods, a smaller zooplankton. Zooplankton can move about in the water column and are not dependent upon wind and wave action to go on an adventure. Zooplanktons eat their share of the phytoplankton. Phytoplankton needs sunlight to produce the carbohydrates that the zooplankton rely on. If the pH of the water is too acidic, the beneficial green algae cannot survive. Algae, like other plants, utilize light to photosynthesize food for growth. Low temperatures slow algae growth. During the day, photosynthesis takes place due to the presence of sunlight. Algae draw carbon dioxide from the water to utilize during photosynthesis, promoting cell growth. Removal of carbon dioxide from the water raises the pH levels, as a result of the reduction in carbonate and bicarbonate levels of water, since they are used to replenish the lost carbon dioxide. At night, no photosynthesis takes place, so algae stop taking in carbon dioxide from water and go into a respiratory stage. During this respiratory stage, algae consume oxygen that was produced during photosynthesis and release carbon dioxide into the water. This increased production of carbon dioxide decreases the pH levels in the water at night.

DUDE: There’s more?

KOKANEE: Algae are a very welcome part of a lake’s ecosystem. They form the base of the food chain and are thus vital. They provide a source of food, energy, and shelter for the zooplankton, fish, and other aquatic organisms. Algae also play a strong role in the ability of an ecosystem to absorb nutrients and heavy metals.

DUDE: Temperature?

KOKANEE: If the water is too cold, green algae cannot sustain growth. This is the situation in the cold months of late fall, all of winter, and early spring. If the winter produces abundant snow in the high country feeding a lake, the rate at which that snowpack melts and flows to the lake determines, in part, how fast a lake will warm up after winter. Remember too that in winter the angle of the sun to a lake is lower than when the days get longer in spring and summer. Water has a great capacity to absorb infrared radiation (from sunlight) and to retain that gained heat. And sunlight drives the growth of green algae. So, snowpack inflows and the angle of the sun on the lake work together to make the lake’s temperature what it is.

DUDE: Let me see if I can apply this. Fishing in the early spring for kokes can be frustrating because the water is too cold and there is little food for the kokanee to eat, making them less active.

KOKANEE: Right. The type and amount of dissolved nutrients also affect algae growth. The most important one is the amount of phosphorus available and dissolved in the water. Less phosphorus, less algae.

DUDE: How do the dissolved nutrients get into the lake?

KOKANEE: You really have to think in terms of the entire watershed that comes into the lake. When the watershed has wildfires, nutrients are released that are washed downstream and wind up in the lakes. Heavy storms can cause significant erosion in upstream water paths. Rapid snowmelt can do the same. While some of the nutrients are already dissolved in the water flowing downstream, sediments that enter the lakes will take time to dissolve, becoming part of that lake’s ecosystem. So you can see that there are a lot of factors. In the old days, runoff from agriculture produced too much phosphates and other gunk into reservoirs.

DUDE: What other factors affect size?

KOKANEE: Manipulation of the natural food supply has sometimes produced huge kokes with disastrous long-term effects. Many years ago, Mysis shrimp were introduced into the Flathead Lake watershed in Montana. The Mysis managed to migrate downstream into Flathead Lake. The sole purpose was to be an enhanced food supply for the resident kokanee in the upstream lakes. The goal was to create large kokanee. Mysis shrimp pack a lot more protein than processing plankton. It is sorta like the difference between steak and salad. At least that was the theory.

DUDE: Let me guess. Things did not go as planned?

KOKANEE: Not even close. Glad you are sitting down. Remember, phytoplankton is the primary food source of the zooplankton, which in turn is the main food source for kokanee. Phytoplankton needs sunlight, so in most waters, phytoplankton distribution is limited to about the top 30 feet of the water column. Once the sunlight that penetrates the water column falls below about 10%, phytoplankton cannot achieve photosynthesis. Zooplankton migrate up the water column to feed in the evening because they avoid light. They descend the water column in the morning.

DUDE: OK so far. So I guess zooplankton are like lawnmowers -- consuming the green algae and keeping it in check. But what do the Mysis shrimp eat?

KOKANEE: They eat the zooplankton that the kokanee depend on. In fact, the Mysis way is to devour all of the Daphnia. Kinda like water Vikings. Mysis are vast consumers of the Daphnia and easily out-compete kokanee for that food source. The remaining zooplanktons, such as the copepods, are much smaller and less efficient at keeping the algae in check, and are much less of a nutritious food source for the kokanee. It has been thought that Mysis consumes more than six times the zooplankton as the kokanee do.

DUDE: Why don’t the kokanee eat the Mysis?

KOKANEE: In case you had not noticed, when kokanee emerge as fry, they are tiny. Mysis being 1–2 centimeters would be more than a mouthful. And the Mysis are eating the food that the kokanee fry and fingerlings need. No food, no survival. The two-year-old kokanee don’t eat them. With less and less available food, kokanee become size-challenged. Of course, there was a temporary exception over in Wallowa Lake in Northeast Oregon. Mysis were introduced, and the chain reaction started. But somehow the adults managed to develop a taste for Mysis, and as a result grew to record sizes. But when these monster kokes were caught or spawned, the kokanee fishery collapsed. And putting huge numbers of kokanee fingerlings into that lake made no difference.

DUDE: So the kokes that did survive had their main food source removed until the Daphnia could get re-established. And with less food, smaller kokes.

KOKANEE: And, another factor is the presence of predator fish that feed on kokanee. Generally, these predator fish, such as lake trout and larger rainbows, hang out at the lower part of the water column, and that is where the Mysis hang out during the day. These predator fish love Mysis and grow fat and large on the bounty. As a result, their numbers increase dramatically. And in turn, more predator fish feed on the kokanee population, reducing and in some cases devastating the kokanee population.

DUDE: So the kokanee never get a chance to get very big.

KOKANEE: Exactly. A double whammy.

DUDE: How long can it take to get things back in balance?

KOKANEE: 20 to 25 years. Some lakes never recover.

DUDE: I’ve got a feeling you can tell me more.

KOKANEE: So you are paying attention. Yes, there are more factors.

Next Month, the Conclusion of Interview with a Kokanee!

"Look at all those fish marks - kokanee for sure - darn things aren't biting though!"

It was a tough weekend of fishing for my wife JoAnn and I - lots of fish marks, but just a couple bites. Such is kokanee fishing. Kokanee anglers know this and accept our lot in life - some days can be lights out, other days you're scratching your head in frustration.

Kokanee anglers are always looking for the next great kokanee fishery and are eagerly searching the internet for fisheries that are exploding or unknown. To that list we humbly add Billy Clapp Reservoir. This reservoir and kokanee have an interesting history and offer a tantalizing possibility of another kokanee destination to add to Washington's list of quality kokanee fisheries.

I first became aware of Billy Clapp kokanee reading old reports from Dave Graybill, The Fishing Magician, a Central Washington expert on all things fishing. He talked about (and filmed) big, 18" kokanee coming out of Billy Clapp Lake. I scoured the internet and found tantalizing glimpses and reports of big kokanee caught over the years. Intrigued, I dig deeper, trying to puzzle out the mystery that is Billy Clapp kokanee.

My research revealed a few interesting factoids. First, up until recently (more on that in a bit) Billy Clapp Lake has never been stocked with kokanee. So how is it that it holds kokanee? For the answer to that, we have to talk about Banks Lake, just north of Billy Clapp.

Banks Lake has a long history of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife efforts to create a thriving kokanee fishery, but due to white fish and walleye predication the kokanee fishery has never been able to get firmly established. Oh, there's been some scattered reports of 14-18" kokanee being caught, but overall reports indicate small fish and little angler effort, save some locals that "may" have the fishery dialed in. Certainly, Banks is not considered a destination kokanee fishery. Add to that my recent conversation with WDFW biologist Mike Schmuk who informed me that the long term plan was to end the Banks Lake kokanee planting program. Mind you, WDFW has been planting 400-500,000 kokanee fry per year into Banks, so it's a big deal that WDFW has decided to close the chapter on kokanee in Banks Lake.

At this point you're probably asking what in the heck Banks lake kokanee have to do with Billy Clapp kokanee? Well, Banks Lake and Billy Clapp are connected by a long, large irrigation pipe which fills Billy Clapp Lake. This is all part of an amazing vision by one Billy Clapp, lawyer, who in the early 1930s with fellow community members of the town of Ephrata came up with the proposal of damming the Columbia River to supply irrigation water. Namely, their vision led to the creation of the Grand Coulee Dam. We can thank Billy Clapp for an irrigation and electricity producing system that has fed millions of people since its construction. Say what you will about the loss of free-flowing water for salmon reproduction, you have to concede that the Columbia Basin has been an amazing engineering accomplishment that has benefited and fed generations of people since its construction.

The underwater pipe that flows water from Banks reservoir into Billy Clapp reservoir also delivered thousands of kokanee into Billy Clapp. Those kokanee thrived in a nutrient rich environment and produced (for those in the know) some amazing kokanee fishing. But for most anglers Billy Clapp was an enigma, a tale, a destination less traveled and a place of legendary but seldom fished kokanee lore.

Fast forward to 2021. I spoke with WDFW biologist Mike Smuck regarding my interest in Banks Lake kokanee. During our conversation he mentioned several interesting things to me. First, after an involved study WDFD had concluded that further planting of kokanee in Banks Lake was futile. The plan is to stop kokanee plants after 2020, and to focus on planting Banks Lake for rainbow trout. Then Mike dropped a bombshell on me. He reported that rather than me fishing Banks Lake for kokanee I should consider Billy Clapp Reservoir. The reason being, as fish biologist for that region, Mike had the discretion to plant excess kokanee wherever he thought appropriate, and he chose Billy Clapp Reservoir. He revealed that in 2018 285,000 kokanee fry were planted in Billy Clapp, and in the next two years over 100,000 additional fry were planted. That’s a lot of kokanee fry planted in Billy Clapp Lake!

With that information in mind, my wife JoAnn and I decided to give Billy Clapp a try in mid-April of this year. We fished hard for two days and came up with no kokanee. Despite the poor fishing, I was heartened by a couple things. First, the water temp was cold - 46 to 48 degrees. What this told me was we were a tad early in our quest. Second and just as important, we marked a lot of kokanee, especially at the north end of the lake by the power lines. This told me the fish were there, and we were early.

For kokanee anglers willing to take a chance and spend a few days exploring Billy Clapp Reservoir, I think the potential payoff could be substantial. The lake has a history of producing large kokanee, that is well documented. And with a recent heavy stocking program there may well be a couple years of outstanding kokanee production for anglers willing to give it a try. The wild card is what does the future hold for Billy Clapp Reservoir? Will WDFW continue to plant excess kokanee fry in Billy Clapp? Will they support this fishery? Or will they let it die, to become another Kokanee Destination Legend? Only time will tell. In the meanwhile, Billy Clapp could be a sleeper kokanee destination that may yield you your next 18-20" kokanee.

*Pictured - a beautiful rainbow trout caught on our trip. These beautiful trout are in there and make an amazing bonus catch to those elusive kokanee!

This may or may not have taken place on one of my favorite kokanee lakes… but the advice is good whether it really happened or was just in my head…

KOKANEE: Ok, I'll admit it. I'm moody. But that does not mean I'm impossible. But being moody is as much fun for me as it is for the fisherman.

DUDE: You know, that might not be the case for all kokanee fishermen. Some can spend all day chasing you with no results. That is not fun.

KOKANEE: I suppose it is all in your perspective.

DUDE: So tell me why some days you cannot resist one particular color, and then the very next day you shun it.

KOKANEE: Well, it is a little more complicated. I hope you get it. If your readers had really carefully read and understood Kokanee University, Part 1, then the answer would be easy. But alas, you can lead some fish to water, but you can't make them swim.
So here goes.
Humans live in their world, and I live in mine. Most everything is different in my world from the human world. If a kokanee fisherman wants to become a whole lot better, he had better stop thinking about the material world and start thinking about what life is like in my water world.
I wonder how humans would like it if their favorite views were seen in contrasts of shades of gray, and light and dark. It might change their perspective a bit. Or suppose humans could only see color a distance of about 21 inches, and then only right in front of their nose. Or, how would humans react if they could not focus their eyes? Limited color vision and no ability to focus. For humans, limited color vision and no ability to focus would likely change a few things in your material world.

DUDE: You sound, maybe a little bitter. Only a guess, of course.

KOKANEE: I can do things in my world that humans only dream they could do. That kinda makes up for any human deficiency in my water world. Balance is achieved. It helps comfort me that my brain is the size of a pea, while the human brain…

DUDE: Please don't go there.

KOKANEE: As I was saying, my color vision is quite limited. And although I can see in shades of gray and black, the clarity of the water becomes a major issue for me. If the water clarity is limited, then that governs how far I can see contrast. Sometimes, the lack of water clarity makes it almost impossible for me to even see color within that 21-inch window.

DUDE: And the effect of light at depth?

KOKANEE: For sure, things get darker at depth. Go deep enoug,h and there is no light. Water literally eats light. Water gobbles light. Depending on the time of year, as much as 40-50% of the light that hits the water is reflected back and away from the water. That means there is less light under the water. Always. No exception.

DUDE: You said that water eats light?

KOKANEE: So I did. You are paying attention. When you go down the water column, things get darker. But not darker red or darker orange. As you descend the water column, it gets a reducing combination of darker green, blue, and indigo and purple before it goes completely black.

DUDE: So what happened to red, orange, and yellow?

KOKANEE: Dude, the water ate it.

DUDE: When?

KOKANEE: Up front. First the red, then the orange, and then the yellow. Gone. And this happens very quickly in fresh water. Except for early season, most of the fishing for us kokanee takes place in water that contains only green, blue, indigo, and violet light.

DUDE: Ok. I know that visible light can be put through a prism, and it then breaks down into the colors of the rainbow. In fact, as I recall, the colors of the rainbow are always displayed in the same sequence. Freaky?

KOKANEE: This is where you could benefit from having a pea-sized brain. When I am talking about color, I am really talking about wavelengths. Most colors that are visible are a blend of other visible colors.

DUDE: Let me stop you right there. You used the term "visible." Are there colors that are invisible?

KOKANEE: No. And I guess I have to make an admission that you humans and we fish actually have something in common. We are both vertebrates, and we have vertebrate eyes. Within our eyes are structures that connect our eyes to our brain. We both have corneas, and attached to these corneas are both rods and cones. Although we have them in different proportions, these rods and cones operate the same way. Simply stated, rods help us differentiate between light and dark, while cones take care of visible color detection.
Color is only a visible concept. If you put all of the visible colors together, you get white. White light is what daylight is all about. Run that white light through a prism, and you get a display of the rainbow.
When you look at that rainbow, the colors are always displayed the same way. That is because visible colors have specific wavelengths. Wavelengths are measured by frequency. Frequency can be thought of as a way to measure how long or how short the wavelength is. In the visible spectrum, red has the longest wavelength, whereas violet has the shortest. All of the other visible colors are in between.

DUDE: OK. But how does water eat light?

KOKANEE: It eats light by wavelength frequency. As you descend the water column, the longest wavelengths are eaten first. That would be the visible color red. Go a bit deeper, and you also lose the visible color orange. Go deeper, and you also lose the visible color yellow. The very last visible color to get eaten is violet. After that, the water is black.

DUDE: I guess that black is the absence of light.

KOKANEE: Technically, black is the absence of visible light. There are other wavelengths out there that you might understand and feel the effects of, but their wavelengths are outside of the visible color spectrum.

DUDE: I hear so much about UV light. All of the manufacturers want me to buy their stuff because it is "UV."

KOKANEE: Here is where I get to "see" how much you have been paying attention. "UV" is short for ultraviolet. It is called ultraviolet because it is in that part of the spectrum that is beyond violet. It has shorter wavelengths than violet.

DUDE: But if UV light has a shorter wavelength than violet, then that means that it is not part of the visible spectrum.

KOKANEE: Exactly.

DUDE: So what about the claims that fish can see UV light?

KOKANEE: That claim is nonsense. Go back to our discussion of the vertebrate eye. We have rods and cones. There are no rods or cones that can detect UV light. There is a study that attributes UV detection to the Japanese Dace and some goldfish. It has never been shown that salmonids can detect UV light.

DUDE: But the fishing tackle makers would never lie to us, would they?

KOKANEE: Decide that for yourself. I can tell you this: their terminology is incorrect, and the reasons they give for their product's effectiveness are incorrect. However, the products are effective.

DUDE: Now you are really confusing me.

KOKANEE: I specialize in confusing fishermen.

DUDE: Well then, what is the correct terminology for "UV?"

KOKANEE: The correct terminology is the term "fluorescent."

DUDE: Then why don't the tackle makers call it "fluorescent?"

KOKANEE: I suppose because it is a lot harder to spell than "UV." And "UV" is a lot easier to text.

DUDE: Is that black light charging the material, you know, to make it glow?

KOKANEE: No. Glow is phosphorescence. It gives off light energy (glow) regardless of whether there is light present, provided that it has been "charged. Fluorescent materials do not need to be charged. All that is required is for some available light to act on it. Fluorescent materials retain their color all the way down the water column. There is no color fade.

DUDE: Color fade?

KOKANEE: Ordinary colors can fade as you go down the water column. Ordinary red will turn black in just a few feet of water. But a fluorescent red will remain red all the way down the water column, provided there is some light to act on it. Even if there is only one percent light way down deep.
Fluorescent red will remain red in the absence of the red wavelength in the water column. And you will recall that red is the first wavelength to be eaten by the water as you descend the water column. Because I have cones in my eyes, I can see a fluorescent red at 50 feet - if there is some light - even just blue/purple light at that depth.

DUDE: So no fading. Does this work the same for all fluorescent colors?

KOKANEE: Yes. In fact, some fluorescent colors are so effective, they get brighter in the water as you go down the water column. In any event, no fade.

DUDE: You said that the stuff marketed as "UV" is mislabeled.

KOKANEE: All of the stuff marketed as "UV" is really fluorescent. So all of the stuff you bought as UV is still good stuff, but call it UV as much as you like, it is not a dragonfly - it is fluorescent. Remember, since that stuff is in fact fluorescent, there is no color fade as you descend the water column and likely gets brighter as well.

DUDE: Would using UV/fluorescent materials increase the visibility of my presentation?

KOKANEE: That is exactly what it does.

DUDE: But you earlier told me that you can only see color about 21 inches in front of your snoot.

KOKANEE: True. But you forgot that I can see contrast in shades of dark, light, and grey at a farther distance. Fluorescent material can still be detected outside that 21 inches because they do provide good contrast.

DUDE: Fluorescent colors retain their color all the way down the water column, independent of your ability to detect them at distance, correct?

KOKANEE: Correct. Color is not the way I get attracted to your lure. What makes me want to investigate is not color, but vibration.

DUDE: Vibration?

KOKANEE: Yep. I'm thinking about good vibrations.

DUDE: Is there a difference between the way sound acts in water than it does in the air?

KOKANEE: Yes, and very much yes. For one thing, sound travels in air at about 1,000 feet per second. You humans see a flash of lightning, then count off one/one-thousand, two/one-thousand, three/one-thousand to determine how far away that lightning struck.
But sound travels way faster in water than in air. Sound travels in water at 5,000 feet per second. And I'm not just talking about sounds that you humans can hear. I'm talking about sounds that are beyond human ability to detect. I assure you that I can detect sounds that you cannot. Just because you cannot hear such a sound does not mean that such sounds do not exist.

DUDE: My head is starting to reel.

KOKANEE: It is fine with me if you would like to take a break. A few minutes to stretch, perhaps?

DUDE: Yes, that would be fine. Catch you then.

KOKANEE: Not likely.

To be continued....
 

Where superstitions rule on my boat, making sense of scents is a bit of a challenge. What scent, how often to apply it, and washing things down at the end of the day are all done with a nod toward my personal superstitions. Get it wrong, and I’m facing seven years of bad luck! Whether or not you’re superstitious, here are a few smelly tips to help ensure luck is on your side.

The application of scents to your lures and bait can act as an attractant or bite stimulant. It can also mask odors that repel fish. You can help reduce offensive orders by keeping your hands clean and free of sunscreen, bug repellent, petroleum products jellyfish goo, and tobacco products residue. On the day of your fishing trip, try to use unscented soaps or a light vinegar solution to wash your hands.

The use of scents should complement your game plan. They should work together with your presentation, location, and gear set-up.

There are numerous scent formulations out there: gels, liquid, sticky liquid, wax, oils, and water-soluble. Most scents are available in different “flavors". 

Frequently scent oils are used to infuse other bait to create a hybrid cocktail that your target species will find irresistible. 

With most sticky liquids, gels, paste and waxes you simply apply a small amount to your lures and let it work its smelly magic. Apply a thin even layer to the underside of spoons, spinner blades and plugs. Assure that the application doesn’t hinder the lure action. Scents can be very effective when applied to your dodgers or even downrigger balls.

Water temperature is your driver for how frequently to refresh your scent. With warmer water, you should pull your gear and refresh the scent more frequently. For most fisheries, I check the gear every 20 minutes or so and reapply the scent at that point. 

When using some of the paste type of scents it is a good idea to wipe your lures down between each application. Otherwise, you may experience waxy buildup which could affect the lure’s action or even your hearing. What was that, did I just hear a groan?

If using a scent cocktail that includes dyes, it is a good idea to wear nitrile gloves and work over a towel or a work surface separate from your boat. Bait dyes are potent and will stain both your boat and skin. There were many times during my suit and tie days when I was giving a presentation with orange, pink, or blue fingers

Liquid scents can be used to marinate herring, shrimp, white shoepeg corn, chicken livers, salmon eggs, and dough baits. Place your bait of choice in one liquid scent or another overnight.

One of my go-to kokanee baits is tuna corn. A day before a trip I upend a can of white shoepeg corn into a mesh strainer and let it drain overnight in the fridge. Then I open a tin of packed-in oil tuna and pour the excess oil into my drained corn. I divide the corn/tuna juice mix evenly between some small containers or Zip-Lok snack bags and then add a different scent of oil to each container or bag. 

Many freshwater salmon anglers marinate herring, sardine fillets, or shrimp in their secret mix of scent oils and amino acids then use the enhanced bait for trolling or wrapping their plugs.

Regarding flavor, everyone has their personal favorites for a given fishery. I find that garlic, anise, and carp-spit oils work best for Westside kokanee. For most Puget Sound salmon fisheries, I am partial to Anchovy. For general freshwater fishing, you can’t beat nightcrawler/garlic or anise. These are a few of my personal preferences (superstitions). There are a gazillion different scents available. Here in the PNW, scents like anise, sand shrimp, krill garlic, or bloody tuna seem to enhance any fishery.

It would be a good idea to visit a tackle shop in the vicinity of your fishery to pick up the local favorite. With its proximity to some solid fresh and saltwater fisheries, Holiday Sports in Burlington is a great source for local fishing information. Their scent corner is well stocked with numerous brands and different scents. 

Any scent discussion must include a segment on proper storage. Scents have different shelf lives depending on the product. Generally, they are: 

Super Gels, Sauces and Paste: 7–10 years

Bait Oils: 3–5 years

Water Soluble: 3–5 years

It would be a good idea to use a permanent marker to mark the purchase date on your scent bottles. Typically, you’ll run out before they are ineffective but knowing when you purchased them gives you something to talk about. “I caught that huge walleye on 10-year-old worm sauce”.  

A couple of thoughts on storage:

On the boat store your scent collection out of direct sunlight in a cool place. While fishing I put a wet towel over my scent containers on my workstation, making sure to keep it damp as required.

At home store them in a dry, cool place. Preferably a metal cabinet in the garage or in the bait/beer fridge. The mice in my garage love to chew through scent bottles.

At the end of the day, make sure you clean your gear. Being superstitious I use Lemon Joy to wash all my lures and attractors. Lemon Joy or not, just make sure you clean everything after each trip.

Where your local knowledge, trip planning, gear set-up, and presentation are important in a successful outing, the use of scents will help you consistently fill the fish box. 

Proper scent storage, application, and clean-up will go a long way in making sure your fishing trip doesn’t stink!

So, you want to become a better kokanee fisherman? Yes, we all do. I assure you that you can be, but it takes some effort. It is not just getting out on the water, but it is using solid knowledge about kokanee that will make you more effective when you are on the water.

A while back I put together a wheel showing the inter-related concepts that occur in successful kokanee fishing. For a starting point of this paper, please consider:

The idea is that if you get all of these factors right in your presentation, then you are fishing with 100% efficiency. There is some truth that IF you are in the right temperature zone, using a correct dodger at the right speed, then you are hovering around 50-55% effectiveness. Even a blind sow gets an acorn occasionally. But you will be at 0% effectiveness if you are not in the correct temperature and using the wrong presentation setup. As a fisherman, you already know that from practical experience. Taking the time to learn about all of these related factors will most likely help you become a better overall fisherman for kokanee and other species as well.

The single best predictor of kokanee location is temperature. I am not talking about surface water temperature, but rather the correct temperature down in the water column, or temperature at depth. For kokanee, the preferred temperature is close to 54 degrees. They can indeed be found at temperatures between 44 and 59 degrees. Below 54 degrees the kokanee are less active. Much above 54°, any extended stay will have detrimental or even lethal effects. Kokanee biology functions best at 54 degrees, and they will seek it out if it is available.

That temperature provides the most efficient growth from feeding. That temperature also allows for the least amount of energy consumed for swimming and generally being in the business of being a kokanee. Wherever that 54 degrees is in the water column, that is your target depth. Early season temperatures may not be as high as 54°, which accounts for sometimes slower fishing. There are a few reliable devices available that you can use such as the Fish Hawk model 840. Search Amazon for more options. 

Since kokanee have a very elongated air bladder, you can use your fishfinder to determine their approximate depth. Kokanee will show a bright orange with a color fishfinder. Take an average depth of the images and have that as your initial target depth. Set your presentation within five feet top and bottom of that target depth. If the fish that hit your presentation are smaller than what is generally being caught, lower your target by five feet. Continue this process until you are zoned in.

Generally, kokanee fishing picks up in the spring, when water temperatures are warming, and continues through August. This period can be broken down further into categories, each with distinctive features and methods for the best approach to your fishing. But to grasp the reasons for the differences, some additional discussion is necessary.

Zooplankton is animal plankton. Zooplankton can move about without being totally dependent on current and wave/wind action. For our kokanee, the most important zooplankton are daphnia (water fleas). Daphnia are intolerant of light and when sunlight hits the water, daphnia descend down the water column. In spring, the kokanee are waiting for them from below. The chase often ends (or continues) with kokanee jumping out of the water, much to our entertainment.

The absolute enemy of kokanee is the tiny mysis shrimp. Mysis eat the phytoplankton at such a rate that it virtually eliminates the food supply available to young kokanee. If there are no young kokanee, soon there will be no mature kokanee. These lessons were learned too late in Flathead Lake and Lake Tahoe.

As long as the kokanee can find that plankton in their preferred temperature range, all is good. Kokanee gorge and grow and grow and gorge. But as the season progresses, 54 degrees continues to lower in the water column and reaches a point where there is no growing phytoplankton where the 54-degree temperature depth is located.

The temperature range has dropped in the water column to the point where 54 degrees is below 10% light. The result is that the phytoplankton, though abundant, is in a temperature that is too warm for the kokanee. When that happens, kokanee will stop eating. And stop growing too. This is when kokanee enter the pre-spawn period. And changes start happening to the kokanee, as their stored energy (from gorging) is then directed to those body parts necessary for spawning.

A key factor for growing large kokanee is how long that 54 degree zone can remain within the growing plankton. Keeping that zone in the phytoplankton is influenced by inflows (the cooler the better), reservoir depth, and amount of heating (infrared) by the sun. If the water warms too quickly, kokanee will not have enough time to feed to achieve their maximum potential size. And there can be even more dramatic size downward if there are too many mouths for the available food supply at the temperature where kokanee prefer. Obviously, the spring weather and natural spawn success have a lot to do with it in either case. A mild spring, with an excellent slow melting substantial snowpack is ideal.

You can easily confirm the pre-spawn time. If you land a kokanee and clean it, and if the stomach is empty, that not only tells you it is pre-spawn, but it also tells you that the 54 degrees is now below that 10% light threshold in the water column. Fortunately for us, kokanee will continue to strike out at a proper setup, even in reduced light. Even in no light.

Understanding this fundamental principle that water absorbs light and that there is always less light at depth is the first step in deciding what dodger and lure combination (the setup) to fish.

To proceed further, we have to understand another two interlocking principles. Kokanee are first attracted to proper vibration, then to color. It is not the other way around. Proper vibration and color cannot be separated.

Yes, scent does play a role, but even the correct scent will not make up for a bad presentation at incorrect depth, speed, and dodger/lure choice. In fact, a bad scent choice will condition the kokanee not to strike. That is one of the best reasons to have scent choices on hand and to move to new fishing areas with a different scent. Simply staying in the same area but changing scents will do nothing to remove the bad scent already in the water. Only time and current can do that.

Regardless of species, we have all seen at times fish come and have a look at our presentation, only to swim away. When we send a setup to the target depth we are trying to accomplish two things. We want our setup to attract our target fish, and we want our setup to provoke a striking response to our lure. The whole point of kokanee fishing is to catch kokanee (and enjoy being on the water of course). But we do not put microscopic plankton or tiny daphnia water fleas on our hooks and go from there. As it turns out, kokanee are in fact attracted to colors, contrasts and objects that do not exist naturally in their environment.

Leading the proper setup is a dodger. The lure is then attached to the dodger by a short leader. Frankly, the shorter the better - a minimum of five inches but no more than 14 inches (except for apex types). The deeper your target depth is in the water column, the shorter the leader. For squids, RGTs, hoochies and bugs a five-inch setback is more productive than a 14-inch setback regardless of target depth.

But what does the dodger really do? The dodger is the most crucial part of your setup.

As the dodger moves forward through the water, it displaces water. When water is displaced, it creates a wave. The kind of wave and its intensity is determined by the shape of the object moving in the water and how fast it is moving. While a sleek shape will still make a wave, a shape that moves side to side will produce more intense waves. Squids, RGTs, hoochies and bugs are sleek. But while they still make a wave as they are pulled through the water, they do not make much of a wave. Yet place them a short distance behind a dodger that is moving side to side, and you have given your sleek presentation abundant action.

This back-and-forth displacement of water is creating a particular kind of wave: a low-frequency sound wave. Even though we cannot hear it, the important thing is that kokanee can hear it. How they can hear it deserves some comment. Kokanee have three tools to aid in sound detection. The first is their inner ears up front. The second is the lateral line on each side. Lateral lines are really a series of pores that contain a network of sensory structures called neuromasts. The third is the very elongated air bladder that kokanee have (much longer than in other freshwater fish). This air bladder acts like a drum in picking up sound waves. The three tools work together to give the kokanee a three-dimensional picture of what direction the sound is coming from.

Be assured that the sound you are creating with your dodger travels outward, upward, downward, backward, sideways and forward at speeds way in excess of the speed you are trolling. And kokanee can swim way faster than you are trolling.

If you are to be a successful kokanee fisherman, then you want your setup to make the kind of sound waves that will in fact attract kokanee. This is to also say that if you want to be a successful kokanee fisherman, you do not want your setup to make sound waves that repel kokanee. In my opinion, using flashers either ahead of the dodger or on the downrigger ball produce just the kind of sounds that repel kokanee. The reasons are basic. 

Every manufacturer of flashers claims that their action produces sound that mimics wounded baitfish. And that they do, without question. Essentially flashers are predator attractants. Except kokanee are not attracted to wounded baitfish. But fish that eat kokanee are attracted to wounded baitfish. Any right-thinking kokanee (a survivor) has learned the sound of predators and what attracts them.

Kokanee hear that sound and go the opposite direction. You might in fact pick up a kokanee using flashers because there is always a really dumb one in the mix. But you will scatter the rest quickly. Many times I have heard and read that when the fishing is slow, use flashers. Bad advice. If the fishing is slow, change your setup to a larger dodger and different matching lure. Change location. Change scent. Change speed. Adjust depth.

Next month I will go further into kokanee eyesight, colors, and presentation to up your kokanee success. 

Gary Gordon | Fish With Gary Tackle Company

https://www.fishwithgary.com

Some new products are truly unique, for example, Wiggle Fins. These products create and define new methods and fishing techniques. Other products take a great idea, refine it and make it better. In this category falls a new kokanee fly produced by Arctic Fox Trolling Flies. I had the opportunity to recently tackle test this product on Lake Conconully and came away very impressed. It’s going to be a “go to” lure in my kokanee arsenal.

Denis Peirce, the owner of Arctic Fox Trolling Flies, sent me some flies to try out. He told me they were based on an eighties steelhead fly pattern, the Krystal Bullet. Of course, just making a copy of an old fly is not going to cut it in today’s world of new and innovative kokanee products. Denis knows that, having been in the trolling fly business since 1993.

He knows the industry and, more importantly, he has a wealth of knowledge and information about trolling for game fish. Thus far his focus has been on salmon and trout and he has teamed up with Wiggle Fins to make a phenomenal line up of larger trolling flies. It was a natural evolution with the recent explosion in interest for kokanee that Denis turned his knowledge and expertise to kokanee flies. Hence, his new series of kokanee trolling flies.

My wife JoAnn and I took our annual trip to Conconully to try the flies out. We stayed at our favorite resort, Liar’s Cove on the lower lake. The ambiance is family-friendly and the fishing in Conconully around Memorial Day is off the charts! Both the upper and the lower lakes have excellent trout and kokanee action. The upper lake the past few years has produced the larger kokanee so we decided to start our test there.

We ran four lines, two off downriggers and two off leaded core long lines. Each rig had an Artic Fox Trolling Fly and a dodger in front of it. Leader length ran 8-10”. The flies come without leaders. This is actually something I appreciated. If you’re like me, over time a successful lure gets bit a lot and the leader becomes frayed and needs to be replaced. 

Unlike hoochie or spinner rigs, single flies are quite easy to quickly replace the leader. Another option I like is the ability to adjust the leader to conditions. For Conconully we ran 12 pound fluocarbon leader. We ran some flies with no attractor, some with a small spinner blade, and some with a Mack’s smile blade. All rigs had a piece of corn on both the primary fly hook and the trailing treble hook.

We started fishing at a leisurely 8am. The action began slow but gradually began to build. At the start, we caught a fish here, a fish there. I can’t say that there was a significant difference between the flies that had attractors and the flies that were “naked”. We ran the downriggers at 35 and 45 feet deep, chasing meter marks. Last year, the downriggers performed well for us. This year, it was a leaded line show. We eventually reached the point where the action was fast enough that the downriggers got put away and we just ran two rods with leaded lines. We trolled with three colors out, and 60 feet of mono leader, trolling at 1.1 to 1.4, using an itroll from ifish solutions to vary the trolling speeds automatically.

The fish at the upper lake were a plump 14-15” fish, shiny bright. Much to my surprise, later after cleaning the fish I had one hen that spilled mature eggs out. Other than that it was mostly bucks in our bucket. The hotspots for us were up lake of the houses to the narrow north end of the lake. Close to shore, middle of the lake – the kokanee are everywhere right now. Watch out for floating logs and debris. The lake has received more runoff than in past years so there is a lot of debris to avoid.

The Arctic Fox Trolling Flies were an obvious hit with the kokanee. Denis has definitely created an effective series of flies for kokanee.

The Arctic Fox Trolling Flies Kokanee series come in seven different colors. Five are fluorescent chenille and mylar. Denis reports that under UV light these flies are very “hot”, meaning they have excellent underwater color reflection. The two non-fluorescent flies are fire red and purple with silver core chenille. Purple remains visible at depth, while red is one of the first colors to be filtered out by water depth, meaning it turns grey-black at depth. The mylar, however, gives it a nice contrasting UV orange that continues to reflect available light at depth.

With seven color choices you’ll be able to fish whatever conditions you’re presented with, from cloudy Pacific Northwest to bright Central Washington days. You’ll also have a sufficient variety of colors to find what the finicky kokanee want on any given day.
For us the hot set up was without a doubt the orange with 10” of leader and an orange crush wobbler run at three colors out. The fish were just slamming this set up!

One concern I had when first checking out these flies was the size of the hooks. The main fly is tied on a #8 long hook, and the trailing hook is a #10 treble hook. Denis uses gamakatsu hooks and I will be the first to attest that these hooks are sticky sharp! Our experience was that the combination of these two hooks was incredibly effective.

We had few lost fish and noted several that missed the main body hook but were secured by the treble hook. Remember when I started this article and mentioned “refining” the pattern? Well, Denis has taken the treble hook and secured it using a loop of stainless steel leader that creates an articulation for the treble hook that the fish have a hard time throwing. Put another way, the treble hook is free to move around meaning the fish can’t get leverage on it to pull the hook free. I’ve reviewed underwater footage of kokanee and one thing that struck me was that once a kokanee is hooked it does incredible body shakes and spins in a desperate attempt to get away. It’s amazing we catch any of these acrobatic fish at all! Any small edge an angler can have against these wild gyrations will help land more fish. I would say our hook to catch ratio was higher than trips using standard kokanee lures.

JoAnn and I continued to pull in plump, healthy 14-15” kokanee and over the two days of fishing and easily got our limits. I came away very impressed with the Artic Fox Trolling Fly kokanee series. I’m definitely moving it into my first tier of kokanee lures. I like the smaller size profile compared to the majority of the kokanee lures on the market. It gives kokanee anglers an option to downsize when the fish are looking for a smaller presentation. With the articulated treble hook I don’t have any concerns about losing fish due to the smaller hooks.

Give these flies a look see! You can order them online at Arctic Fox Trolling Flies.

For most people, a trip to Lake Washington means a day of kayaking, jet skiing, or picnicking. But did you know that the lake plays host to thousands of kokanee? These land-locked sockeye salmon are smaller than their ocean-going cousins, but they taste great and are available year-round. Early summer is the perfect time to target them.

They are aggressive and plentiful. Learning how to troll for kokanee is a great way to dip your toe in the water before you fish for salmon in the fall. Whether you're an avid kokanee fisherman or a beginner, you should add Lake Washington to your list of summer fishing destinations. Not sure how to start? Let's go over some key information to make your trip to Lake Washington a success: which launches to use, tried and true techniques, and productive locations to start with.

Launches

There are many boat launches surrounding Lake Washington, so I'll just name the most popular ones here. In the south, the Atlantic City boat ramp is pretty spacious and has restrooms available. There is a fee to launch your boat, but the parking is free and plentiful. Gene Coulon Park is another popular option at the southern end of the lake. Parking can be tight, especially during weekends. There is a launch fee but there are restrooms and an Ivar's close by if you get hungry! 

Near the middle of the lake, the Kirkland Marina has a small boat ramp. The launch fee is steep, but you can buy an annual pass to save some money. On the other side of the lake, Magnuson Park offers a well-maintained and easy to use boat ramp. At the very northern tip of the lake is the Kenmore boat ramp. It gets pretty shallow here, so be careful when launching in the early morning. There is no dock, but there's a nice bathroom and there's no launch fee. Although Lake Washington is quite large, you're never very far from a boat ramp!

Techniques

Although Lake Washington has a wealth of shore access, kokanee tend to hang out in water out of casting distance. Your best bet is to troll for them. Typical kokanee gear works well. Toss out a variety of lures and let the fish tell you what they want. Some days they like spinners, other days they want plugs. Kokanee can be very picky. 

Artificial maggots and corn should both be in your tackle bag, as well as a few bottles of scent. While pink is the classic kokanee color for a reason, orange, red, and watermelon are all great choices for lure colors too. Sometimes giving the fish something they haven't seen before is the key to success. Trolling flies works great! Make sure you have a variety of dodgers too. You can experiment with different dodger styles and colors. I also tend to use a shorter leader than usual on Lake Washington. The fish seem to respond well to a 9-inch leader. 

Make sure to bring a long-handled net for landing the fish. Kokanee have soft mouths- boat flipping them often results in lost fish. It's also a good idea to bring a stringer or a bucket to bleed the fish in. A cooler full of ice to keep your fish cool once bled is also crucial. Kokanee also has soft meat, to get the best meat quality it's a good idea to bleed and ice them. 

Locations 

One of the most important things to bring along on your Lake Washington trip is a fish finder. Especially during late summer when the kokanee dive down deep to escape the warm surface water, you'll need your fish finder to show you what depth to fish. I also recommend placing marks when you get hits or reel in a fish. Set your fish finder to show your trail, and you can set up a good trolling pattern. On the southern end of the lake, try fishing on either side of the I-90 bridge. On the north end, try fishing south of Highway 520. Target points and coves. The fish will move depending on the time of day and weather. Don't be afraid to try somewhere new! 

Before we wrap up, let's talk about a few last-minute tips for your Lake Washington trip. First, I highly recommend planning on starting and ending your fishing trip early in the morning. This lake is incredibly popular with jet skiers, inner tubers, and water skiers, particularly later in the day.

If you get off the water early, you'll minimize your chances of tangling your lines or getting a rocky ride. It's a good idea to wear a life jacket and make sure your kids and/or dogs have them as well. The limit is 5 fish, and you must release any fish over 18 inches in length. This rule is in place to protect sockeye that run in the lake during late summer.

Lake Washington kokanee are the perfect fish to go after on a warm summer day. They're absolutely delicious on the smoker or even fried. Kids will love reeling in fish after fish! So, head out to Lake Washington and get your limit!

There’s an Alpine Kokanee Trifecta that is often over-looked compared to the more well-known and popular kokanee fisheries. What if I told you that within an hour and a quarter of traffic-free driving from Seattle you could enjoy pristine Alpine lake fishing with little to no other boats on the water and have the chance to catch generous limits of kokanee every time out? No way you say? It’s true and waiting for you. But a little planning and tempering of expectations is required. These fisheries won’t yield 18-20” Lake Roosevelt kokanee, but they do have an abundance of under-fished kokanee that will still give you a nice bounty to bring home. Have I got your attention yet?

The Alpine Kokanee Trifecta I speak of is familiar to many, but passed by with a reputation of having small kokanee. I’m here to tell you, that is a myth. While it’s true you won’t find those 20” koks, you will find fish that range from 10” up to 14”. The lakes I’m referring to?

Keechelus, Kachess, and Cle Elum. Yup, that first big reservoir as you crest Snoqualmie Pass going east is one of three Alpine Kokanee Lakes that I think you should make plans to visit. Let’s look at them one by one, going from west to east.

Keechelus Reservoir

This lake is the one that we all gaze at as we are driving somewhere else. It’s also the one that come August turns into a giant stump field. At 2,408 acres, it’s the smallest of the three lakes. At 2,521 feet of elevation it’s also the highest of the three lakes. The lake holds rainbow, cutthroat, whitefish, bull trout (which are endangered and are to be carefully released), burbot, and kokanee. Of the three lakes we will look at, this lake probably has the smallest kokanee in it. But check this out – the 2016 stocking numbers for this lake were a whopping 256,892 kokanee! In 2015 it was 265,000 and in 2014 it was 238,000 kokanee. So bottom line, that’s a lot of kokanee swimming around waiting to be caught!

Here’s the catch (there’s always a catch, right?). This reservoir gets drawn down as the summer progresses. Seriously drawn down, as in not able to launch a boat drawn down. So if you want to fish the Trifecta next year, you’d best plan on hitting this lake first. The primary boat launch is found on the west end of the lake. The earthen dam is on the far east end of the lake. Be aware, this lake, perhaps worst of the three, is prone to heavier wind and whitecaps. Be prepared to get back to the launch if the wind picks up. The lake is also the least serene of the three lakes as the constant hum of the freeway and view of semis roaring past are a sharp contrast to the beautiful surrounding mountains. This lake is a one pole only lake.

Kachess Reservoir

If you’re looking for a beautiful camping location with stunning scenery this is your lake. The Kachess Forest Service Campground is one of the nicer ones around. Plenty of camping spots and some larger pull through sites make it “boat friendly”. The restrooms are - surprise – running water and flush toilets! The boat launch is a two lane concrete ramp with nice grade and plenty of surrounding shoreline to pull your boat up on. Winds can be an issue as it’s not in a sheltered location. Parking is good.

Like Keechelus, Kachess holds a nice variety of fish. Rainbow, cutthroat, bull trout (protected), whitefish and burbot can all be found in addition to the kokanee. As to kokanee stocking, in 2014 WDFW stocked 365,000 fish, 2015 490,000, and for 2016 413,098. You’ll get into the kokanee as soon as you launch the boat. Motor out a hundred yards and watch as your depth finder shows the bottom dropping to 180 feet and deeper. And then you’ll see your fish finder light up with kokanee arches 35 to 80 feet deep. You’ll find fish all the way the length of the lake down to the dam end, over four miles away. But beware, if you head north the lake shallows up at a choke point north of the launch and you’ll find yourself in ten feet of water.

On our most recent trip, we found a great early morning bite that turned off at 8:30am. After an hour of fruitless trolling we ran all the way down to the dam and were rewarded with good action the rest of the morning. Don’t be afraid to leave non-biting fish in search of the biters! On this trip we also caught and safely released a powerful 16” bull trout. What a thrilling fight on kokanee gear. We hooked him at 55 feet deep on the downrigger. To help protect these beautiful fish bring a knotless net.

Kachess is 4,377 acres and an elevation of 2,258 feet.

Cle Elum Reservoir

The final gem of our trifecta is Cle Elum reservoir. Although the farthest of the three lakes, it’s still a day trip for the Seattle area angler. Cle Elum also has a Forest Service campsite and nice paved launch (an old road, actually). Not as nice as Kachess, but the scenery is again spectacular and there is no freeway sound to ruin the experience. Cle Elum also has the nearby town of Roslyn to grab provisions and a nice dinner at the end of your day of fishing.

Cle Elum is the largest of the three reservoirs at 4,566 acres. It’s the lowest lake, at 2,227 acres. As the summer water draw down lowers the lake, the ramp becomes high and dry. Boaters then will launch among the stumps at the southeast side of the lake by the dam. Watch your props and winds out of the north as this can be a risky proposition.

The lake holds the same species as our other two lakes with a notable and significant difference. First there is Mackinaw trout in the lake.

These fish are on WDFW and the Yakima Tribe’s radar screen to remove from the lake. Why, you may ask, when some dandy lakers up to 15 pounds and more have been caught? Well, in the (hopefully) not too distant future Cle Elum may join Baker and Wenatchee lakes as a destination sockeye fishery.

That’s right; the Yakima Tribe has been working since 2009 to restore a sockeye run to Lake Cle Elum. It works like this: the sockeye are captured at Priest Rapids dam and transferred to the lake. They then run up the Cle Elum River and spawn. When the fish hatch, they spend 1-2 years in the lake and then leave the lake via a flue around an earthen dam to the Yakima River. From the Yakima River, they will swim to the Columbia, and traveling on another 330 miles, around four Columbia River dams, to the Pacific Ocean.

Here’s more information from the Yakima Nation Fisheries website:

“One thousand adult sockeye were transplanted in the summer of 2009, 2,500 in 2010, 4,500 in 2011, 10,000 in 2012 and 4,000 in 2013. The sockeye successfully spawned in tributaries above the Lake in all years becoming the first sockeye to spawn in the Yakima Basin in over 100 years. Juveniles from the 2009 brood were observed migrating downstream at Roza and Prosser Dams in 2011. Preliminary data from trapping operations at Prosser indicated a 2011 smolt outmigration of approximately 80,000 sockeye. From July - Oct. 2013, 701 Sockeye migrated to the Yakima River Basin (numbers reported at October 17, 2013). So far, 211 sockeye have migrated back home to the Yakima River Basin (updated July 1, 2014).Once these fish move north to Roza Dam they will be transported into Lake Cle Elum or Cle Elum River. So far, we have trapped and hauled 4,500 sockeye from Priest Rapids to Lake Cle Elum. We will continue to monitor fish run numbers and trap and haul accordingly (updated July 1, 2014).”

So where are the kokanee you may ask? Well, WDFW has stopped stocking Lake Cle Elum since this recovery process started. But that doesn’t mean you can’t catch kokanee.

According to a fisheries biologist I spoke with on the subject, some of the kokanee you catch are actually sockeye that have decided to not migrate back to the ocean. Instead, they spend their adult lives in lake Cle Elum, and then spawn as well in the Cle Elum River. In order to protect the sockeye in Cle Elum, WDFW has placed a slot limit of 9” to 15”on kokanee in Cle Elum. The limits are different on Cle Elum as well. As of 2016, Keechelus and Kachess had ten kokanee limits, and not including trout. Cle Elum has a five fish limit, including trout. Cle Elum is also the only lake of the three to allow the two pole endorsement. Finally, there is NO limit on lakers, brown, and eastern brook trout. WDFW wants these non-native species out of the lake to benefit juvenile sockeye salmon and encourages anglers to help in that effort. As always, be sure to check current regs for any updates.

There you have it. Three Alpine Lake Kokanee gems, all day trips from the greater Seattle region offer the angler spectacular scenery and fisheries that produce abundant (if not huge) kokanee. With gas prices at historical lows now is the time to plan a trip to these great destinations and leave the masses behind.

I will offer a couple words of caution for boating anglers. First, the winds blowing down the mountainsides on these three lakes can kick up and blow whitecaps, especially in the afternoon. So keep an eye on the weather and be ready to head back in if things start blowing. Second, if you troll with downriggers, be aware that these reservoirs may have trees sticking up from the bottom that didn't get clear cut. So be ready to bring those downrigger balls up fast!

See you on the water catching some tasty kokanee on these Alpine Lake Gems!

By Mike Carey

There has been speculation exactly why anglers are seeing such large and healthy kokanee in Lake Chelan. Site member Toni (Wannafishalure.com) recently contacted WDFW Fish Management and got these two responses:

From Larry Phillips, Fishery Manager

"My understanding of Kokanee (based on what I’ve read in the published literature) is that growth is closely related to density. More kokanee=smaller size. Because they are specialized feeders (almost exclusively daphnia which is a species of zooplankton), they can overgraze their forage base.

I suspect that in the case of Lake Chelan we had a couple of weak year classes prior to the year-class that supported last year’s fishery. The weak year classes may have been the result of high water or high predation which limited overgrazing.

This would have given the prey base a couple years to build and support much higher growth. Obviously this is a guess because I’m not the biologist for that area.

Recall that all kokanee are genetically identical to sockeye and most naturally occurring sockeye populations have an associated resident (kokanee) component. Also recall that several 20+ inch kokanee were caught in American last year……so Whatcom Lake (our state source for kokanee) also has high growth potential.

When prey abundance is high kokanee have the potential to get very large. Several other factor can affect growth but it typically comes down to the relationship between kokanee abundance, prey availability, and prey size. Other issues include predation, temperature, and turbidity."

From Travis Maitland, Fish Biologist

"Larry’s previous explanation to you of what has been going on with the Kokanee in Lake Chelan the last couple of years is “spot on”. I will only elaborate a bit more on a few points that I hope will help answer your questions.

Historical Lake Productivity: Lake Chelan is the textbook example of an oligotrophic body of water. Bodies of water like this tend to be relatively deep, nutrient poor, clear, light transmission is high and the euphotic zone is deep.

Even though light penetrates to a considerable depth, primary production of phytoplankton is limited by the lack of nutrients, all of which results in a biologically limited body of water.

Lake Chelan Kokanee history: Although details (Strain and numbers) of stocking history prior to 1933 are missing….we do know that Kokanee were first stocked into Lake Chelan in 1917. WDFW stocked only this initial naturally reproducing stock of kokanee back into the lake from the early 1940's until about 1957.

In 1957 Kootenay Lake stock kokanee were introduced as eyed eggs, and in 1966 Whatcom stock kokanee plus, Kootenay stock kokanee began to be stocked as eyed eggs and in later years as fry. Recently only lake Chelan stock (so, a conglomerate of Kootenay, Whatcom and what was originally stocked) are being stocked.

There are no records that I know of that point to the ocean going form (Sockeye) ever being stocked into the lake and no genetics work has been conducted to my knowledge.

Recent Year Classes

During the last couple of years, the Kokanee available in the fishery came off of relatively low adult spawning escapements….and by that I mean the parents of these fish were in relatively low abundance by the time they made it to spawn. As Larry also mentioned, this can also be caused or compounded by things such as predation or high water events that may have taken place on the spawning tributaries.

All of this comes back around to numbers. So, for what information we have at this point…I am comfortable in saying that the fish have grown to some larger sizes in recent years because they have been present in relatively lower densities with the same available food source, thus giving them the opportunity to grow larger. There is no evidence that suggest this is genetically driven.

I have been hearing a few good angler reports as well of good sized Kokanee already this year…..12”-16”.

I hope this has helped and please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions."

Best regards
Travis Maitland
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Dist. 7 Fish Biologist
Wenatchee District Office
3860 Hwy 97a
Wenatchee, WA 98801
(509) 665-3337
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No doubt, the quality of the kokanee in 2013 was phenomenal and hopefully 2014 will prove a repeat. As noted above, fish are beginning to be caught. For my wife and I, last year April was red-hot into early May.

Anglers continued to catch fish into the late spring/early summer, but early spring was best. By mid-April the weather generally is pretty good in Chelan, and the crowds are light. The fishery is well worth the drive from east or west side to centrally located Lake Chelan.