Kokanee Salmon

The Sockeye Salmon lives in a freshwater lake for a time and travels downstream to live in the ocean for a time. The Sockeye then returns to its native home to spawn. When it is ready to spawn it turns its distinctive red color, giving it the name of redfish. Back say oh 100,000 years ago the glaciers and floods cut off some of these ocean routes and the Sockeye became landlocked. Hence, we have Kokanee, one of the most beloved lake sport fish in the Northwest. The name Kokanee means redfish.

Here in Idaho we have one struggling Sockeye anadromous run still surviving. This run originates at Red Fish Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains. The Idaho Fish and Game had about 4 adult salmon return to the lake in the year 2000. There used to be thousands.

The Kokanee is native to British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Siberia, and Japan. It has silver sides and a bluish-black back and white belly. Sexual maturity is reached after 4 years and may occur at 4 or 5 years. It turns red at spawning time in late fall. There are two types of spawners, stream spawners and lake shore or beach spawners. Redfish spawn and then die.

Preferred temperatures are 50 to 55 degrees and colder. They will usually be found at levels in the lake that have 50 degree water. In the spring they can often be found around the surface and as the summer progresses they will congregate at deeper levels as the sun warms the surface waters. In most large lakes a thermocline will develop with a sharp change in water temperature at a distinct level. The thermocline has cooler temperatures below this level and also more dissolved oxygen. Many fish hang in the thermocline, like rainbow trout.

Hearing

Kokes have pores in a canal along their sides called the lateral line. They sense vibrations in the water.

Vision

They have no eyelids. Their pupil is large and does not change shape like a humans, therefore they do avoid bright light. They can perceive color.

Smell

Kokanee have an olfactory system which is contained in sacs in their snout. They can smell well enough to find their way home from the ocean simply by the smell of their home waters. Many fishermen swear by using scents on their lures or baits.

Kokanee feed on zooplankton primarily. They must compete with mysis shrimp, rainbow trout, northern pike minnow, and suckers for this small food item. Also, large rainbow trout feed on Kokanee, so they must avoid these predators.

Kokanee Salmon and Mysis Shrimp

Mysis freshwater shrimp - about 1/4 inch.

There has emerged a biological management problem with Kokanee as regards the Mysis shrimp. A fish biologist discovered a Kokanee feeding on mysis shrimp and it was thought that planting these shrimp in a lake would help the Kokanee fishery. It did work great for about 10 years, but then it was found that the population of Kokes would plummet and would not sustain.

What was finally learned was that the mysis shrimp were feeding on the plankton and zooplankton that the young Kokanee fry require for survival. The mysis were actually competing with the Kokanee instead of providing a food resource! Also, the mysis stay at the dark depths during the day and rise to the surface at night to feed. The Kokanee's movements are actually opposite of this, they come to near the surface in the daylight so they can see the plankton they are feeding on and then go to darker depths during the night, probably to avoid surface predators. So the Kokes miss the shrimp entirely.

Many lakes and Reservoirs have this mysis problem and biologists currently have not found a solution. Fish stocking programs still provide fishing opportunities in appropriate fishing waters.

Kokanee Fishing Techniques

Zooplankton

Bluebacks eat zooplankton. Zooplankton are very small. I sure haven't noticed any when I have been out on the lake. So, why do Kokes strike lures? Who knows? One theory is that the fish get excited by the flashing of the lures or attractors used, which resemble a feeding frenzy of a school of Kokanee, and then attack the lure. While we may not know why they strike lures we have found certain lures and lure combinations that do catch fish and we can use these techniques to have success.

Each lake may have a different lure or rig setup that works best for Kokes. It is recommended that a lake be fished many times, over and over, to find good information, and then send us a fishing tip here at Idaho Lake Fishing.com.

Most Kokanee are caught by trolling.

In the spring the fish are scattered around the lake in the top 10 to 20 feet of water. Simply long lining or flat lining works well. The fish will swim to the side of the boat as it goes by so it is a good idea to drive in S curves and/or let your line way out so the fish can see it when it finally swims back to where it was. A side planer will get the lure out to where the fish will see it. Your fish finder won't see many fish under the boat so a side view fish finder would be helpful. In the spring the Silvers won't be schooled up as much, but will congregate in good areas. Kokanee like open waters and don't relate to structure as much as other fish do.

Double Whammy Wedding ring Note double hook setup

In the summer these fish will seek deeper waters, seeking water temperatures around 50 degrees or cooler. They will school up at these preferred depths. A thermometer will help you locate the depth of this water. Start your search there. Kokanee will swim to different depths at different bodies of water. Sometimes they will be 30 to 40 feet, sometimes 60 to 70 feet. I have read that Kokanee follow the daily vertical movements of zooplankton. Find out where they are hanging out and get your lures down to them. Weights, lead core line, or downrigger systems will work for this.

Troll slowly. Most Koke fishermen troll very slowly, around 1.2 mph.

Rigs and Lures

Kokanee like the smaller lures. Probably because they don't really eat anything bigger than a bug. Many manufacturers make lures specially developed for Bluebacks. Needlefish, Wedding rings, Kokanee Killers, Mepps Bantam Syclops, Sep's Pro Secrets or Kokanee Kandys, and Vance's Sockeye Slammers are good.

Try to appeal to all of the Kokanee's senses. The lures should provide flash and sound. Bait added to your offering will help your catch. Baits used are corn (try white shoe peg corn), maggots, salmon egg, and worms. Scents applied to the bait is a matter of taste. Some say anise is the best. Some make their own. Experiment with scents but always use them if you can. It can't hurt! And keep your lures clean, don't put noxious scents on the baits such as gasoline or sun tan lotion.

For maximum flash, trolling gear such as dodgers and lake trolls will allow the fish to see and hear your rig a long way off. Silver and gold colors work well for Kokes. A Dodger is a single flat piece of shaped metal that flashes sunlight and sometimes puts erratic movement onto the lure. It is designed to give a side to side movement. It does not turn over. A lake troll is a string of flashing blades 2 to 6 in number. They come in a large array of sizes and shapes.

Place your lure 18 to 36 inches behind the flashers on a monofilament leader. A rubber snubber, and small length of surgical tubing, will absorb the shock of the Koke strike and help keep the hook from tearing out of the Silvers soft mouth. Tie the snubber after the flasher or dodger. A smaller or lightweight rig will give the fighting salmon less to leverage his weight against.

Kokanee have soft mouths and are great head shakers and rollers, and many are lost after initially hooked. It is important to maintain sharp hooks. Purchasing premium hooks will surprise you with the increased catch rate you get. A double hook set up is fantastic for hooking fish. You can buy double hook lures or tie your own. Tie a good quality hook such as a Gamakatsu #4 egg hook on a line and a second on the same line about an inch back. This is a deadly technique. But be careful, grabbing a fish flopping around in the bottom of your boat with two extra sharp hooks flinging around can be painful.