Oregon (Miscellaneous) Kokanee Reports 1998

August 10, 1998

Crescent Lake

With near perfect weather we decided to try for some Crescent Lake Kokanee and Lake Trout.  I've never seen a wind so variable before.  At one time it blew us completely in a circle.  We marked very few fish and only saw one caught by another boat.  There were many water skiers.  I managed to catch our only fish, a 10"er so my wife ended up driving home.  I'll rate the fishing here as "poor" based on three hours of trolling and only marking 4 fish.  I recommend trying another lake for now.  Could be the full moon had some influence on our lack of success.

This report submitted by Robert Nolan

June 2, 1998

Crescent Lake

Having conquered Green Peter last week I thought a little change of pace might be nice.  The trip up the hill was without incident because the road construction hasn't begun yet.  Contrary to the ODFW reports, the campgrounds and boatramps were open.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Because of the long ride I started my search at 7:30 am.  The surface water temperature was 46 degrees.   At the South end of the lake there were about 5 boats, so I headed there to see what was up.  As soon as I motored down I spotted some fish at 75 feet.  So I dropped my spinner to that level and quickly lost two bites.  The breeze was blowing me down the lake.  Before I realized it a couple of hours  had gone by and I still didn't have a fish!  I had lost one close to the boat because I forgot to bring a net for these larger Kokanee.  All tolled it was fish 8 Robert 0.  So I decided to motor back up where I started, toward the Island on the South end of the lake.   I trolled at 75, then 80, and as deep as 95 feet.  The action was fast as long as I stayed on that end of the lake.  They were hard fighting, fat, and  a blast on my new Kokanee pole.  Soon I had four fine Crescent lake Kokanee and lost another four trying to get them.  At about 10:45 the bite stopped.  It was as though someone had turned off the spigot.   I was hardly marking any fish, and when I did, they did not bite.  I tried lots of different lures for the next 2 1/2 hours.  So, since it was slow, I decided to motor down across from the campground close to the boatramp.  I marked a few fish at 75 feet so I dropped a pink spinner down and promptly picked up the fifth and final Kokanee to make a Crescent Lake limit.  All five were between 13 and 14 inches.

This report submitted by Robert Nolan

May 6, 1998

Suttle Lake/Big Lake

I had every intention of fishing Big Lake today.  Even bought some worms in case the Kokanee weren't biting.  But I was blocked by the snow plow Gods.  Down Big Lake road where the snow park is, ODOT has plowed an eight foot wall of snow to block the road.  So I went to Suttle Lake again.   This time the wind was howling.  I drift trolled through school after school of Kokanee and managed to catch seven by noon.  I quit then because of the uncomfortable wind and a desire to get the pickup home for my wife to take it to work.   I saw and talked to several other boats.  Only one boat had two Kokanee!   Clearly the fish were off the bite.  But don't let this stop you from going.   There are lots of fish yet to catch.  By the numbers of fish I saw on the finder this is going to be a very good year for Suttle Lake.

This report submitted by Robert Nolan

April 22, 1998

Suttle Lake

Took off for Suttle this morning around 6:00 am.  The weather was perfect as I launched the boat.   For a change everything worked!  At first I had some doubts about the new fishfinder because I wasn't marking very many fish.   Others reported the same findings.  I noticed there were some fish rising though.  Around 9:00 I caught my first fish by trolling within 15 feet of the surface.  Around 10:00 am. the surface jumping seemed to subside.  I then started marking many more fish, mostly at 30 to 45 feet deep.   I grabbed a snack and of course caught three in a row.  The fish were slightly larger than last year.  I tried jigging when I saw others catching them on bright orange Buzz Bombs.  I had some bites but I seem to have lost my reflexes.  Most of the fish seemed to be on the North end of the lake.  The boat in this picture is the one that was catching most of the fish using Orange Buzz bombs.  The weather stayed calm and warm the whole day.  I ended up with thirteen nice Kokes and had a wonderful day.  Guess you know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

This report submitted by Robert Nolan

April 19, 1998

Detroit Lake

Went fishing for kokanee, using a downrigger, 4/0 dodger, and a silver wedding ring with white corn. Started at blowout and went west to the dam on the north shore, had two hits, got both fish, they where small rainbows about 6 inches.They where promptly released. Got to the dam and putted around there for a while and got nothing. Packed up and went to the island. Caught several more fish, only one Kokanee and they where also about 6 inches long. Fished several depths, from 15 feet to 30 feet, caught fish at all depths. Highlight of the trip was good weather and caught 3 crawdads that will be used for bait at Wickiup.

The way I prefer to fish for Kokanee is with a #6 weight fly rod with super sink line or lead core line with (when there a lot of fish or the bits on without) 4/0 dodger, wedding ring or needle fish. With this combination you get a lot of action.

This report submitted by Gary K.

April 19, 1998

Lookout Point Reservoir

I noticed you didn't have any reports on Lookout Point Res.  My father and I went to Lookout Point on Apr13 of this year.  We only fished half the day.  It was partly cloudy and about 50 degrees.  We caught two nice Kokanee about 2 hrs apart.  Trolling small flashers at about 20 feet.    Most of the schools we saw were between 15 and 30 feet.  There was a lot of debris so its was hard to mark fish.  Two months earlier on our way back from Hills Creek Res. fishing for rainbow,  we stopped off at Lookout Point to see how people were doing.  Everyone in a boat had a limit of Kokanee between 11 and 14 inches.  I know Lookout Point is not known for its Kokanee fishing but since it's close to my Dads house I was wondering if anyone else has had success there.  I have strictly been a trout fisherman until recently.  I think Kokanee has got to be the best tasting fish that exists.  I also hear the stories of Odell lake in the good years from my dad.

This report submitted by Damon Gass

The Kokanee Page is proudly hosted by the Coast Angler Group including:
Fishing B.C. :: Fishing in Canada :: Sturgeon Fishing :: Salmon Recipes