Author Topic: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?  (Read 2380 times)

Offline Walleyewacker007

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Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« on: Jan 23, 2018, 03:37 PM »
Fish and game website says that Cascade has Crappie, Sunfish, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed and Kokanee (stocking records claim they have put miliions of Kokanee over the past few years alone) amongst other species I have yet to ever see personally or hear about from people I know. I ice fish Cascade about 40+ days per year and hit the open water maybe 15 or 20 days tops. I'm sure there has to be someone here that has pulled these species through the ice on Cascade and was hoping to gain a little more insight into areas to target these fish. PMs are fine if you dont want to post. I  have personally caught/seen perch, rainbow trout, sucker, pikeminnow and catfish only. Are the numbers of these fish just not high enough to find consistently or am I just not in the right areas at the right time? I have fished mostly from a few miles south of the island going north. I have also fished by the dam. I'm most intrested in crappie and kokanee. What depths are you targeting? Mouths of creeks? Submerged vegetation/ weed lines? I feel like I've cracked the code on the jumbo perch and trout, and am amazed at how I haven't hooked into any of these other fish. I appreciate your help with this.

Offline hooknhunter

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #1 on: Jan 23, 2018, 04:08 PM »
Crappie, Sunfish, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed and Kokanee


I'm not sure if I know what a "sunfish" is, but I have caught all of these species you mentioned (with the exception of sunfish) plus LMB, SMB, bullheads, and Whitefish in Cascade lake over the years.


I have never caught a bluegill, pumpkin seed, or crappie through the ice, but I have caught them on open water.


I have never caught a Kokanee on open water. Only catch them once in a great while through the ice, and when I do, it is typically just under the ice in the top 3 feet or so and always on the south end well south of sugar loaf island.


I'm not willing to share where I catch the crappie at. Sorry. Some things are just too sacred. But, I have caught some pretty nice ones, well in excess of 13 inches at times.


I think there are people catching Kokanee on the open water, but they don't share much about where they do it, or what they use. I have no proof of this, but I think it is true.

Offline hugeinchina

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #2 on: Jan 23, 2018, 04:31 PM »
Sunfish are synonymous with pumpkin seed. It's the same thing.

Offline hooknhunter

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #3 on: Jan 23, 2018, 04:44 PM »
Did WW say that both were listed? If both are listed, then one might be inclined to deduce they are different?

Offline hugeinchina

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #4 on: Jan 23, 2018, 04:53 PM »
I guess there might be some slight differentiation that a fish expert might spot, but I doubt it's worth noting beyond academia. If someone tells me there are Bluegill in a lake, I assume that I will also catch sunfish (pumpkin seed). They are just that similar and always tend to be found together in most cases.

Offline hugeinchina

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #5 on: Jan 23, 2018, 04:55 PM »
Here you go:
"The pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) is a North American freshwater fish of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. It is also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkys, sunfish, sunny, and kivver."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkinseed

Offline hooknhunter

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #6 on: Jan 23, 2018, 05:03 PM »
Ok. Well I have definitely caught what I would refer to as a "pumpkin seed" in cascade, but never through the ice.

Offline FG Steve

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #7 on: Jan 23, 2018, 05:11 PM »
I'm not sure if I know what a "sunfish" is

No joke!  Count me in on that one.

I don't see sunfish listed on the IDFG Fishing Planner for Cascade:

https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/fishingplanner/water/?id=13043

WW7, where did you see it?

[Update: I found it under recommended game fish. I was looking at the observed list before.]

To me it is a very broad category, but apparently there is something called a "true sunfish":





Boy, the True Sunfish and Pumpkinseed look like the same illustration!
 Happiness is a wife who can outfish you.

Offline hugeinchina

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #8 on: Jan 23, 2018, 05:49 PM »
They sure do!  ;D I can tell you they absolutely taste the same.  ;)

Offline panfishman13

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #9 on: Jan 23, 2018, 05:57 PM »
i thought there were only trout and (monster) perch in cascade! now i'm even more motivated to make a trip up there!

Offline Walleyewacker007

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #10 on: Jan 23, 2018, 09:04 PM »
They list all 3 on the fish and game lakefinder site, I looked it up from mobile if that matters. I guess I haven't been really trying too hard to locate these fish, just thought I might have run into some on the structure I have already fished. It's hard to leave my bucket filling honey hole chasing fish I have yet to see, but I think this week one day might have to go to chasing some kokes & crappie, sunnys, gills & seeds. I'll just do it after I fill the first bucket- love me some jumbo perch! I will post back after I experiment with some new spots. I have also iced kokanee suspended in the water column,  and just below the ice. They have always been in less than 13' of water. I understand about not wanting to post spots for the world, I was more looking for a general idea like north end or deep water or weedlines etc. I appreciate everyone's help.

Offline FishDoktor

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Re: Cascade Crappie and Kokanee?
« Reply #11 on: Jan 24, 2018, 09:14 AM »
The Lepomis genus hybridizes readily. If you have a body of water that has a few species from that genus, you are going to have hybrids. The green sunfish being the most common to create hybrids with others. Very likely there are some naturally occurring hybrids out there in Cascade. But unlikely you would ever know what you caught is a hybrid. Especially when there is also a high amount of back crossing involved in sunfish breeding (bluegill x pumpkinseed offspring then crosses with a bluegill to create a backcross and then so forth). Lepomis hybrids tend to take on the look of one parent or the other and most already have very similar markings. In this case, I doubt that the term sunfish is meant to encompass the potential hybrids and is more likely just listing pumpkinseed again since many know the pumpkinseed by that common name.

 



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