VOL . 40 • ISS . 11 June 11 , 2021
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HOW TO Continued from Pg 5
with and without a gold spinner blade . The most popular lure colors in order are : fluorescent pink , orange , green , purple , blue , and red . Pick up some gold lures too . Keep switching until you find what the fish want on any given day . Certain lures will get hot , so always have backups ! Bait Don ’ t ask me why , but canned white shoepeg corn is the best option for baiting kokanee lures . I hook one kernel per hook through the fat end of the kernel . Some anglers like to load two or three kernels per hook . Just keep in mind this will kill some of the lure ’ s action . Straight out of the can is probably fine , but mixing your corn three days in advance with Pro-Cure garlic or herring oil can produce fish . Smelly Jelly Sticky Liquid Kokanee Feast is also popular . An old standby that I usually employ is mixing a can of oil-packed tuna with my corn . Seasons I would classify December-April as the winter or early season . Kokanee will be in the top 15 feet of water at most lakes . When fish are above sonar range , you will have to hunt and experiment with depths until you find the right combination . At many lakes the fishing will be tough , so look up some reports before heading out ! Bullards Bar is usually good , but those fish seem to hold deeper than 15 feet all year long for some reason . When fishing shallow , be sure to run long setbacks like 150 ’ to 200 ’ behind the boat . Use side planers and top lines to keep the lines separated . Even when employing downriggers , you will be surprised when you catch most of your fish at four feet deep . I like running spinners during the early season . I will often downsize to micro setups tipped with smaller pieces of corn , and employ small dodgers like Crystal Basin Wild Things . The trolling speed this time of year is usually around 1.3 miles-per-hour . The prime season for kokanee is May-June . Some lakes will stratify into temperature zones , stacking kokanee at very similar depths . You may see small schools starting to form . The typical depth range this time of year is between 35 and 70 feet deep . Shorten your setbacks to between 8 and 60 feet behind the downrigger balls . During prime season I will try spinners , squids , and plugs to see what is working the best . When using squids , I can adjust the bend in my dodger to increase or decrease the zigzag action of the lure . At most lakes I ’ m running at about 1.6 miles-per-hour , but at lakes with smaller kokanee like Pardee I find myself trolling down around 1.0 miles-per-hour . July-November kicks off the late kokanee season . Pre-spawn fish will be deep , ranging between 60 and 120 feet deep at most lakes . They will form big schools and won ’ t be hard to spot once you know the right area of the lake . At this point , I shorten my setbacks to between six and thirty feet behind the downrigger balls . I mostly use plugs like the Hot-Spot Apex size 1.5 and the 2 ” Pro-Troll Kokanee Killer . I always run some glow-in-the-dark lures since it most likely is pitch dark down where the fish are . One trick is to add a small piece of glow-in-thedark rubber worm on each hook next to the corn . With late-season kokanee , I ’ m usually trolling between 0.8 and 1.0 miles-per-hour . Try sudden erratic turns and speed changes to get the big schools to bite . If you can ’ t get them to bite , try speeding up as fast as 1.8 miles-perhour . Keep adjusting until you get them to go . Game Plan It is important to develop a game plan before hitting a lake . Check the latest issue of The Fish Sniffer for recent reports . Review social media sites for individual lakes and kokanee fishing groups in your area . Recent reports on depths , locations , and lures will be more important than any of your gear or tackle . Web sites for organizations like CIFFI and Kokanee Power will detail which Northern California lakes are currently being planted with kokanee . There you have it , kokanee fishing in a nutshell ! We are entering the prime season , so get out there and put some delicious orange fillets into your cooler .
Turn To Silver Horde For Salmon And Trout Gear
Micro Squid are perfect for trout , landlocked kings and ‘ kokes . The squid are 1.75 inches long . They come in a long list of standard , ultra violet and glow colors . Slip them on a double hook leader , toss a dodger into the mix and you ’ re ready to fish ! An Ace Hi Fly is like a hoochie wearing a tuxedo , basically a greatly dressed up version of the old reliable plastic squid . Ace Hi Flies come with a hard bead head that boasts lifelike eyes . The skirt utilizes a hoochie , but adds to it with synthetic flash . Ace Hi Fly Juniors come either rigged or unrigged . The flies are 2 inches long . I generally go with the unrigged
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