VOL . 40 • ISS . 11
Off Season Preparation
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Downrigger balls , side planers , and snap weights all have their place in kokanee fishing . 6-8 pound weights are sufficient for kokanee trolling . If you are going to be dragging bottom , the stick-type downrigger weights are less prone to hanging up . The Church Tackle TX 6 is a good kokanee-sized planer board .
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Small , teardrop , and skateboard-style dodgers all catch fish . Be sure to have a wide range of 2 ” -6” dodgers in both nickel and gold finishes . Get some colored dodgers to match your lure colors as your collection grows .
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Have a full selection of colors for each type of lure . Run squids 6 ” -8” behind your dodgers . With spinners run 9 ” -12” leaders . For plugs like Apexes or Kokanee Killers , 16 ” -18” leaders work best .
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Try coloring your corn with Pro-Cure dye . Soak 2 teaspoons of dye per 7 oz . can of corn . Soak for three days , then rinse and pat dry before curing with scent . Pautzke and some other companies make pre-dyed corn in jars if you want go that route .
HOW TO ...
June 11 , 2021
Northern California Kokanee Trolling Basics
I am often asked how to troll for kokanee . When answering , I usually pause and say something like , “ Well , it ’ s kind of complicated …” Since we are entering the prime months to fish for kokanee in Northern California , this is a great time to cover the basics . I ’ ll throw in some advanced tips as well , just in case you are already a hard-core kokehead . Boat Setup You will need a boat capable of trolling between 0.8 and 1.8 miles-per-hour . Most anglers use a bow-mounted electric motor with autopilot for steering and slow-trolling . Thrust for faster trolling comes from either the main motor with a trolling plate , or a kicker motor . Can ’ t troll that slow ? Get some drift socks or buckets you can drag out the sides of the boat . A sonar unit with GPS is critical . You need GPS to accurately track your speed , and sonar is needed to determine the depth of kokanee on any given day . You might as well forget about kokanee fishing without these tools . Next , you will need some downriggers . You can troll with keel sinkers or snap weights , but downriggers will do a much better job of getting exactly to the right depth . Otherwise , you will need to experiment with speed and weight combinations until you start catching fish . For example , I have caught fish without downriggers at 50 feet deep using 3 ounce snap weights . The weights were clipped 50 feet in front of my dodgers , and I let out a total of 200 feet of line trolling at 1.6 miles-per-hour . Downrigger line clips are something of hot debate . Some anglers swear by the Chamberlain or Black ’ s mechanical-style releases . I use the black Off-Shore Tackle clip-style releases with a modification . First , I cut off the cable leash
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By Jack Naves
that comes attached . Next , I tie my own 36 inch long 80 pound test mono leash . The longer leash helps me to detect much lighter bites because of the added swing radius . Rod & Reel Setup Your rod should be super light and limber . Many manufacturers have kokanee-specific downrigger rods . I prefer graphite rods for smaller kokanee as they seem to lose less fish . Fiberglass rods have a little more backbone for fighting larger fish . Fiberglass rods telegraph light bites better than graphite rods , so keep that in mind when bites are hard to detect . Bait casting reels with line counters and clickers make it easier , but any lightweight reel with a good drag will get the job done . A super-smooth drag is the most important part of the entire package , but monofilament line also helps to absorb head-shakes . I use twelve pound test braid for my main line since it cuts the water when fishing deep . It also allows me to detect light bites better due to its lack of stretch . However , I add a 50 foot long ten pound test mono top shot to give me shock absorbing ability when fighting kokanee . I tie a really small duo-lock snap to the end of my main line where the dodger will be attached . Dodgers For kokanee we use small 2 to 6 inch dodgers . I mostly use the teardrop-shaped dodgers , but the skateboard-style dodgers work as well . Have at least four or five of each size of both gold and nickel dodgers in your box . My go-to is a 4.5 ” nickel teardrop dodger . Lures Buy at least two squids , spinners , and plugs in each color . Get some squids both
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