September 4, 1997
September 4, 1997
I went to Sampede over the long holiday weekend --chasing Kokes--3 days there
& 1 day on Tahoe.On friday(8/29) I took two 11 year old boys to stampede.They
had a blast & I had even more fun watching them fight & sometimes land
several fish.We got 8 in the boat & lost 3 for each one netted.10 to 13 inches
small for stampede but mighty tastey.Most were caught at 40ft in 110 -- 130ft
of water S.E. of the islands.1/4 of these fish were caught w/ a Vance's bug &
a Vance's green metalflack dodger[could not find Ted's bugs] . The hot lure (for
us any way), was a green metalflack canadian wobbler [ 3" / 1/2" lure
used as a dodger], trailed by a green wedding ring. I can't think of a better
way introduce a kid to the outdoors/fishing than chasing Kokanee when there is
a hot bite! On saturday I went to Tahoe (alone),to try for bigger kokes.Read in
the "Fishsniffer" that fish 14--17" were staging outside the mouth
of Taylor creek.They were right.Found the fish,had lotsa company[even a "Fishsniffer
boat"],just did not hook up much.Went 4 for 4 --100% !! 14" to 16"
size and just starting to turn to spawning colors.I found it hard to stay on top
of the fish.They stayed at 85' to 90' in 300' of water.All of my hookups came
on the Vance's setup.Guess I just have to learn the water ( lots of it in that
lake!) Monday 9/1 went back to stampede for more action.Limit by 10 am -- shook
off 4 or 5 -- 8"/9" fish & did the old long distance release with
a dozen more fish. Tuesday 9/2 Stampede again [ Say it! Tahoe is a big lake &
I have a little boat] not as much action.A front moved in dropping a shower (w/thunder),
about 10am--10:30 and it started up again.I have spent years pulling on the oars
of my driftboat in the rain so that wasn't gonna send me packin .But seeing that
bolt of lighting strike the hillside 1/2 mile away got my attention.Left w/ another
limit not a bad trip.
This report submitted by Ken RNHDFSH @ aol.com
August 4, 1997
I guided on Stampede Sat. and today (Mon.). Lots of fish. Today we got 21
Kokanee and 3 Mackinaw, two of which were only about 12 inches. We started at
6:30 AM and were done by 10:30 AM. I did best on Sep's new Watermelon dodger and
Chicken Pox dodger trailed with a Ted bug with white corn dyed red. Have you ever
tryed a Ted Bug? My partner Ted Samford owner of Fishin Not Wishin Guide and Tackle
came up with these a few years back and now my wife makes them for him. They are
about the hottest thing for Kokanee at Stampede. We run them behind a dodger with
a short leader, about 7 inches. Today all my fish came from 60 to 70 feet down.
The fish are starting to school a little tighter, almost Buzz-Bomb time. You should
try Sep's new dodgers I talked about above. They are not in the stores yet but
you can call or e-mail Sep and he will send
them to you.
Rick Kennedy
Tight Lines Guide Service
Grass Valley, CA
916-273-1986
This report submitted by Rick Kennedy
June 30, 1997
I just went this past Sunday and Monday. The wind was BLOWING Monday 5pm
but I managed to get 2 (one with a homemade lure). The next morning at 5 am
the water was smooth, we got in position, lines in and WHAM, the wind started
with 1 - 1.5 ft swells w/whitecaps. The rain started around 10 off and on. We
quit at 11:30 after I picked up 1 more and my buddy got 5, kept 4. Of the 7,
6 were in the 12-14" range. After loading the boat, we saw two old fishermen
fishing from shore with their 12' boat still on their truck (too windy/choppy
for small craft). They had a stringer full of nice rainbows. When they limited,
we spent and hour and caught 3 bows. Naturally, the wind all but stopped when
we were on shore!
When the weather stabilizes (end of July), go to Stampede. Last year the Kokes
were in the 1.5 - 2.5 pound range. Check the Truckee ACE (I think) hardware
store for fishing information (where, when etc.). They have a TON of fishing
stuff.
This report submitted by John Sawicky
Febuary 13, 1997
Lake Pardee, east of Lodi, California opened on February 7 at sunrise. I did not have my home-made downriggers completed, or my boat in order so I had to pass. According to reports in the paper, I did not miss much. This normally very clear lake had a visibility level of only 20 INCHES and with 12,000 lbs of plant, it was the worst opener ever. The recent storms in northern California have stirred up nearly all the lakes making fishing very slow.
This report submitted by John Sawicky
January 20, 1997
The state record for Kokanee is 4-13 on lake Tahoe in 1973.
Stampede (up by Tahoe) drains in to a smaller reservoir called Boca. It too has a fair number of Kokes, but smaller in size as does Tahoe. Another spot on my list of lakes to try is Hell Hole. It is supposed to have large Kokes. 1250 acre surface with 208,400 acre-ft storage at an elevation of 4650.
This is a very remote lake in a relatively narrow steep gorge. It is 410 feet deep at the dam. My family and I were out for a drive and ended up near Hell Hole, so we went the extra mile. It was about a 200 mile round trip, but took 6 hours. Very windy roads. We were very impressed and surprised. We stopped at the top of the boat ramp (in August) and saw the lake was low. We proceeded to drive down the triple wide launch ramp and followed it around a u-turn. We continued down and around a bend and there was another truck trying to launch. These two fishermen had driven from the Bay area (about a 6 hour trip) only to find the lake had dropped from completely full July 4 to a level at least 150 feet down. The bottom of the ramp was filled with silt and boat retrieval would be impossible. It looked like the ramp u-turned again but I'm not sure.
The moral, Call before going. My trailer is set up for beach launch, so had I brought the boat I could have got in and out OK.
This report submitted by John Sawicky