Kokanee fishing, just the sound of it makes people think of the last time they caught one.

Spring, is the beginning of a new season to come, folks getting their rods and reels ready for yet another year, and yes all the tackle that they bought during the off season just waiting to see what is going to work and how well.

The summer heat, the meeting of old and new friends meeting at the boat ramp just before sunrise getting ready for a fun day on the lake hoping that they are going to be lucky enough to catch their limit of those eager, but sometimes very evasive silver bullets pulling at the end of that light weight rod, and hoping that their fishing partner for the day is going to be able to net that fish

Spring Were talking about the month of April, Its going to be exciting but can be frustrating at the same time, knowing people have been catching a few kokes, but where does one start? At what depth? At what part of the lake?

Lets think for a moment, where do they normally plant the fish every year? Its usually going to be in the same location, what direction does the wind blow from in the winter as opposed to in the summer? Think about shallow water areas of the lake like coves, small bays where the water warms faster, and plankton starts to bloom.Oh,, and where is the thermocline

Okay Sounds like to much to take in all at once? It can be.

Okay, lets go back to where they plant the fish, they normally plant the fish in the same location every year, if you are not sure where the plants take place, you can call the department of fish and game, local kokanee organizations will defiantly let you know and please ask other anglers fish generally go back to where they were first planted in the early season.

Wind direction ,Who cares All winter the wind generally blows from the south towards the north blowing everything like feed towards the north end of the lake, so this is were the fish will tend to be, this will also depend on how your favorite lake is laid out.

Also think about which side of the lake gets the most sun during the day, that is most of the time going to be the west and North banks, or where there is not a lot of wind movement is a good place to start.

Okay, now where is the thermocline going to be? Okay, Its pretty safe to say that there is not going to be one, since its too early in the season.

Since that there is no thermocline or it is just in the beginning stages of forming, the first part of the season the fish should be at about the twenty foot mark depending on the water temperature at your favorite lake and that will vary from lake to lake.

Okay, now lets talk about the easy way out!. Or you are just not in to the technical aspect of things and just want to catch fish and who doesn’t , please talk to people at the marinas at the lake, read fishing reports most people will be willing to help out, or get some buddies and their boats and go scouting and work different parts of the lake.

Lures Wow, Who doesn’t have a ton of them? and you end up not knowing what to use next

A good way to start out in the spring is by using smaller lures like kokanee bugs, kokanee Kandy, small hoochies and Spinners, and Sockeye slammers what ever you use try not to over power the fish this early on. Also when it comes to tipping your lures with corn, you might want to try a small piece of red worm on your lure, but make sure it doesn’t kill the action of the lure.

As the season progress and the Thermocline starts to develop, this is when things start to get exciting, the fish are into their zone that means a certain water temperature column usually around 50 to 57 degree water.

Now that there is a thermocline and say the fish are at depths of 30 feet and deeper you should now be able to see fish on your fish locator, this is where you will be able to drop your presentations to just a foot or two above them, remember they are always looking up to strike.

Did I mention speed? No, this is very important. The general rule of thumb has always been from .9 to 1.2 miles per hour, slow has always been the key to catching fish, keeping your presentation in front of the fish for a longer period of time, but many people are saying that they are catching fish at faster speeds, now remember most dodgers can not be trolled at speeds above 1.6 miles per hour, and if you are not sure at what speed you are trolling put your set-up in the water down about a foot along side the boat while you are trolling to see what the dodger is doing and if the dodger is rolling over I mean like a set of flashers you are going to fast, however there are some tackle manufactures that are producing dodgers that are made for trolling at faster speeds and they are having great success.

Also have you ever been trolling and the wind is blowing and you are only catching fish going against the wind, but when you troll down wind you get nothing, the reason behind that is the dodger is working fine going against the wind and when you are going with the wind you have picked up speed and the dodger is rolling over, not making your lure work properly.

Okay you have found the fish and you have been having good luck catching them for two weeks now, but the next time you go fishing and you head strait back to your old spot, the fish are gone no strikes nothing and you do not see any one else with their nets out, what to do.

Okay the wind direction, the wind is now coming and has been blowing from the North to the South, guess what! The fish are also following the wind direction, for the plankton.

Late summer the fish are getting very deep, 70 to120 feet, you start out fishing in the morning at 70 feet catching lots of fish and all of a sudden the fish stop biting, what do you do next?

Start out by changing the color of your lures, your dodgers remember you have a ton of them, try to keep the fish interested, do not keep the same old thing down their all day, give it 20 minutes

or just bring up your presentation and put fresh corn and scent on it, and since its been a few hours the fish are now starting to move deeper, the sun is getting higher in the sky and there is more boat traffic on the lake, pushing these fish to deeper depths and also pushing them closer to the outer edges of the lake, they will also be just over the tops of under water humps for protection

Now how do I catch these fish when they are over these under water humps you ask?

There is a method that is called bouncing the bottom, is that dangerous you ask?.

Well of course it is, nothing comes with out a price.

This is when you actually bounce or drag your down rigger ball on the bottom of the lake or these under water humps, thus stirring up the mud and pissing these fish off really gets them to strike, but it could also mean you lose a down rigger weight also or worse, so this is going to be a personal decision.

Now hopefully all this information will help you catch more fish and remember every lake is laid out different, so everything or just parts in this article may come into play at your favorite lake.

Now on a final note lets talk about corn and scents.

Can I use any old corn?

Some people you talk too might say yes, but most others will say no.

Everyone says white shoe peg corn made by jolly Green giant that comes in a can is it.

Please do not ask me why, most people have their own theories.

Pautzke now has corn that comes in jars ready to go and in all different colors that works great, no mixing of different scents no mess that will have your wife mad at you for staining her counter tops, just keep it in the refrigerator and it ready to go, they also have kokanee fuels in different colors for those of you like things a little different.

Now on the other hand if your are into feeling like a mad scientist and want to mix your own

concoction and you really do not care what your wife will say, pro-cure has a lot of many different scents and dyes to take you down that road.

So what ever corn you may use, or dodger type you buy or lure you make or buy, we are all after one thing, and that is the sport of catching fish, being with people we enjoy and making new friends at the many different lakes we travel to, or guiding people and getting them interested and showing them how to catch fish to keep this great sport fish the Kokanee Salmon alive!

Monte Smith

Visit Monte Smith and Gold Country Sport Fishing on the web.
www.goldcountrysportfishing.com

(209) 581-4734