Ice-fishing for Kokanee

[SeaDog1]

Need help here!
Looking for any and all information specifically on how to catch Kokanee Salmon thru the ice.

SeaDog1

[ah gee bobba]

I usually use a swedish pimple with a couple of maggots top with a kernal of corn and then jig like hell works pretty well.

[SeaDog1]

Thanks for the jig info.
But at what depth are they and where?

[ah gee bobba]

Usually find them at a depth of 10 to 25 feet.  I use a vex and adjust to where there are fish, but on average I find them between 10 and 25.  The bite here is usually better in February and early March.

[Neversink Jimmy]

Sweet info...  Thanks guys...

I still haven't caught a Koke, but at least one lake near me here in Upstate New York still has some swimming around in it.  A buddy got one last year- decent size too.

Thats the big goal this season- Kokes...  I know they aren't monsters, but it is awesome to have a 'new' species to target once the other dozen have been caught

Thanks again- if anyone finds a Kokanee- post some pics and I will do the same!

[SeaDog1]

Hi! ah gee bobba,

Thanks for the info.
Any idea what type of bottom they like to hang over?
Can you see if they're schooling?
Are they just as aggresive in the winter under the ice as they are in the spring?
This would be great to know!

SeaDog1

[ah gee bobba]

Sea dog1,
I have found that with kokes the bottom really doesn't matter much, what matters is where there is feed.  They feed mostly on plankton and where ever the plankton is where you will find them.  Where I fish, which is a holding reservoir, the plankton is more prevalent where there is less current.  I have found that the bite is better in February, but still catch them in the winter.  They usually are schooling where there are plankton.  Hopes this helps, and here's to tight lines all season.

[baldy]

I have better luck later in the year too.  I've never targetted them but catch them on most trips. 
This is just my experience so take it for what it's worth.  We see them in large schools and the flasher lights up like a x-mas tree.  Most of the time they're between 3-10' from the bottom of the ice over 20-30'.  Bottom hasn't mattered much.  They seem to bight a verticle jig more aggressive than horizontal.  If you can keep one or more jigs like a pimple in the water the school doesn't move on as fast.
I do know folks in CO that target them and they use a central atractor like a set of cow bells on a jigging machine.  They use it just to pull them in and keep them there while they jig in separate holes to catch them.

[Mainehazmt]

for others like me.......





Kokanee Salmon is simply the name for a Pacific Sockeye Salmon when it is landlocked. Kokanees have been a part of Utah's fishery management program for many years now. Kokanee can be one of the most difficult and elusive fish species to catch


Kokanee Salmon are bright silvery fish with no definitive spotting pattern. Kokanee have a dark blue back with silvery sides. As the spawning season approaches, kokanee turn from silver to orange to deep red and the male develops a characteristic hook-jaw common to the Pacific salmon. A deeply forked tail also distinguishes them from rainbow, cutthroat and brown trout.



Right??