How to Fish for Kokanee Salmon: A Complete Guide for Beginners

9 tips for catching kokanee

Kokanee tend to be an open water fish, and most anglers target them from a boat or flotation device such as a kayak or float tube. Very few are caught from the bank. Kokanee can be found anywhere from close to the surface to hundreds of feet down, in deeper lakes. Having a depth/fish finder, down riggers and a long-handled net are all very helpful.

There are two primary ways to catch kokanee, jigging and trolling. When jigging, find schools on your fish finder and jig at the same depth as the fish. You also can cast a jig at any fish you see jumping at the water surface.

Downriggers use heavy line to lower 6 to 10 pounds of weight – and with it your lure – to the depth you want to fish.

There are three primary trolling methods: long lining, dropper rod and using down riggers.

• Long lining uses a heavier attractor, usually a dodger, and letting out 100-150 feet of line with no weight. This will get you down as deep as 10-12 feet.
• Dropper rod fishing uses a weight in front of your attractor, although some anglers still use lead core line instead. Most use 1-3 oz. of weight. Anything over 6 oz. and you’ll be better off using a down rigger. This line will get your lure and bait as deep as 40 feet, depending on the amount of lead, the length of the line and the trolling speed.
• When you need to go deeper than 30-40 feet, down riggers are an invaluable tool.

A downrigger is essentially a winch on the side of the boat that helps you get your lure deeper. The winch uses a light cable or heavy line to help lift or lower 6 to 10 pounds of weight – and with it your lure – to the depth you want to fish.

Kokanee will respond to a variety of colors. Dont be afraid to experiment. Photo by Tom Schnell.

Preferred colors for kokanee are pink, orange and chartreuse. Red, blue, purple, white, black or any combination of these colors can produce strikes, so don’t be afraid to experiment with various colors.

When trolling for kokanee go slower than you would for their salmon cousins. Most people will troll between 0.8-1.6 mph. Adding some “S” turns as you troll can often incite a bite.

One must in kokanee fishing is tipping your lure’s hooks with white shoepeg corn, shrimp or maggots. You can add various scents and colors to the corn such as tuna oil, garlic, anise and variety of other scents. Adding pink and orange dye also can help change it up some, too.

Rods and reels should be on the ultra-light side. There are many kokanee specific rods on the market — most are in the 7- to 8-foot range.

• Fishing with a down rigger calls for a rod that’s very flexible and “loads up” under pressure.
• A good dropper rod will have more back bone for trolling with extra weight.

A limber rod will let you feel the fight of the fish and improve your hook-to-land ratio. A good line-counter reel will make it easier to know exactly how much line you have out.

A selection of kokanee dodgers. Photo by Tom Schnell.

Popular lures include inline trolls and dodgers, which are becoming increasingly popular due to their low water resistance. Spinners, spoons, hoochies and other types of salmon lures work for kokanee, just in much smaller sizes since most kokanee don’t exceed 15 inches. There also are a lot of kokanee specific lures and dodgers on the market.

Kokanee are not leader shy, so 10-15 lb test monofilament leader is standard. A good rule of thumb for leaders between the dodger and lure is 2 ½ times the dodger length – usually 9 to 24 inches long. Use shorter leaders for lures that don’t have their own action, like hoochies, and longer leaders for spinners and spoons.

Kokanee are acrobatic fighters with very soft mouths, so a slow steady retrieve with light gear will help you land more fish. Be patient, lost fish are part of the kokanee game.

Anglers can find kokanee in waterbodies around the state.

Kokanee can be fished year-round, although most anglers target them from April through August. Check the ODF&W fishing regulations for seasons, limits and any additional restrictions on the lake you plan to fish.

What is a kokanee?

A kokanee is a landlocked, freshwater sockeye salmon. Unlike its relative the sockeye, which travels to and from the ocean, kokanee live their entire lives in fresh water. While most kokanee average between 10 and 15 inches, they can get larger – the state record 9 lb 10 oz kokanee was caught in Wallowa Lake in 2010.

Kokanee salmon bright red just before spawning.

Kokanee filter feed on tiny plankton and zooplankton in the lakes and reservoirs. In the fall, mature fish will spawn in adjacent streams or on gravel shorelines. Like all Pacific salmon, kokanee die after spawning.

Kokanee have delicate flesh and are known as excellent table fair. Prepare them the same way you would salmon or trout. You can help preserve their deliciousness by bleeding them and getting them on ice as quickly as possible in the boat.

Tom Schnell and Greg Grenbemer, ODFW hatchery manager, are avid kokanee anglers, and have collaborated to share their insights into kokanee fishing in Oregon.

In DEPTH How To Fish For Kokanee & Trout DEEP Without Downriggers.

FAQ

What is the best bait to catch Kokanee salmon?

Popular Kokanee baits are Pink Maggots (real or synthetic), dyed-cured shrimp and dyed-cured White Shoepeg Corn. Be sure not to put too much bait on the hook as it will take away from the lure’s action. Once piece of corn or 2 small maggots on each hook is adequate.

What is the best way to fish kokanee?

As mentioned, Kokanee salmon prefer cooler, deep waters, typically schooling around the thermocline where water temperatures are stable and around 50 degrees. To reach these fish, anglers either have to use heavier baits, sinkers, and rigs, or employ downriggers to consistently put their baits in front of the fish.

What is the best setup for kokanee fishing?

The most common kokanee setup- and in my experience, the most effective- is an inline flasher followed by a small lure tipped with bait. The flashers are not required, but they will definitely improve your likelihood of catching kokanee. Traditional flashers are heavy but very effective.

What is the best time of day to catch kokanee?

This is the time most anglers experience the greatest success. Fish all depths from the surface down. The peak fishing periods are dawn and dusk, but kokanee will forage throughout the day.

How do you catch kokanee salmon?

Kokanee salmon are best caught by trolling, and spring thru fall is a great period for this technique. These fish scatter at a depth between 10 and 30 feet in the spring. In the summer, the Kokanee will suspend deeper in the water column, towards 40, even 100 feet, so using a downrigger makes it easier to target these Kokanee at the right depth.

What is a kokanee fish?

Commercially valuable salmon of the North Pacific of which kokanee is a species; Oncorhynchus nerka (7) Social worker screening calls by Australian in part of the North Pacific (6,3) Any flat-bodied fourteen-legged crustacean of the order that includes the sea slater and woodlouse (6)

What is the difference between kokanee fishing and other fishing?

A difference between Kokanee fishing and other fishing is the lures and baits used aren’t usually meant to attract the fish. They’re meant to irritate until the fish bite. Kokanee are very aggressive fish and, as long as it is not scaring them, the Kokanee are more likely to strike out at an annoying fish or debris floating in the water.