Wickiup Reservoir 05/03/13 – 05/05/13

Posted on May 08 by kokaneekid

When I think about kokanee fishing in Oregon one lake in particular not only has great childhood memories for me, but also has consistently produces the biggest, meanest, most acrobatic, downright nastiest, funniest kokanee to catch in all of Oregon and that is Wickiup Reservoir.  With reports coming my way of 14 to 16 inch kokanee being had along with a occasional over sized 18incher I was chomping at the bit to get over to the other side of the mountains and give it a try.  The weather man had predicted some nice weather and with pictures coming in from opening day that was all I needed to take some time away from work and give Wickiup a try.  The wife and I invited Barbara Baxter to tag along with us in hopes of her hooking into one of her biggest kokanee.  We arrived Friday afternoon setup camp got the boat ready to go and were anticipating a great day of fishing on Saturday.  Things started out great, with a report from a customer that my gold wedding ring was killing them on Friday I couldn’t help but start the day with it and it started out fast.

My wife picked up a BIG 18incher in the David arm and things were moving along great when all of a sudden the wind picked up like a Lion.  It was so bad I had to call it a day at 9:00am with only 7 kokanee in the boat.

In all the days of kokanee fishing I’ve this is the earliest I’ve called it a DAY, I ended so early I hadn’t really even gotten a feel of how the fishing was yet.  I did know that all the fish I caught were in the top 10 feet of the water column and most of the fish were on the Davis side of the lake from the arm all the way down to Goose Island.  Sunday morning I got up and could already hear wind chop on the lake so with an even earlier start I was hoping it wasn’t going to be as bad.  We started the day with a fast & furious bite and I was expecting a productive day of fishing, but again the wind huffed and puffed and blew me off the lake even earlier we ended the day at 8:30am with 13 kokanee.

Garlic was the hot scent on both these days and orange hoochies with Arrow flash dodgers and Clown hoochies teamed up with silver Double “D” dodgers taking most of the hits.

On my last day I only had so long to fish because I had to head home and with a good weather report with low wind I needed to make of for some lost time.  We already had a good feel for the lake so we headed toward the Davis arm and found out in a hurry that the kokanee wanted solid pink 2 ¼ inch R & K hoochies along with a new corn mix I’m going to call “Ocean Mess”.  It had Pro-Cure Kokanee Killer Korn Magic, Pro-Cure Water soluble Bloody Tuna, Sand Shrimp, Squid, Krill, along with some Deadly Dunkin.

Monday ended up being a great day for us, we quit fishing at 11:00am with 32 very nice kokanee & a 17 ¼ inch kokanee that Barbara reeled in which is the biggest kokanee she has ever boated.  The other big fish in the picture was one my wife picked up that was almost 17 inches.

You know I don’t remember reeling in very many fish on this trip, did I tell you I picked up a really nice rainbow but we couldn’t take a picture of it because my wife had a kokanee on and wanted me to net it..

If you ever have any questions feel free to Call me (503)302-5093 or you can contact me at kokaneekid@kokaneekidfishing.com

Fish On Jeremy Jahn

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Kokanee Seminar’s for May 2013

Posted on May 07 by kokaneekid

Here are some upcoming dates where I’ll be conducting kokanee seminars.

May 9th – The Tualatin Valley Chapter of the NW Steelheaders. It will be held at The American Legion Hall 20325 SW Alexander Street Aloha, Or 97006 at 7:00pm with Beverage Service at 6pm

May 14th – The Mid Willamette Valley Anglers.  It will be held at the City of Salem Senior Center 2615 Portland Road NE Salem, OR 97301 at 7:00pm

May 16th – South West Washington Anglers.  It will be held at 12300 4th Plain Rd. Vancouver, WA 98682 at 7:00pm

May 21st – The Salem Chapter of the NW Steelheaders. It will be held at Keizer City Hall 930 Chemawa Rd NE Keizer Oregon at 7:00pm.

I will have my tackle available to sell.

If you know of some interested in having me conduct a seminar on kokanee fishing, please contact me at (503)302-5093.

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Let the 2013 Kokanee season begin!! Green Peter 04/19/13 & 04/21/13

Posted on Apr 21 by kokaneekid

As a kokanee addict the long wait of winter is almost unbearable and the anticipation of the first trip of the year is somewhat like a small child waiting for Christmas morning.  With a long weekend ahead of me I couldn’t take it any longer and I quickly started planning for my first kokanee trip of the 2013 season.  I wanted to take my wife’s parents fishing with me but the only day they could go was Friday.  No big deal until I looked at the weather forecast.  With an 80% chance of rain plus wind, which if your fishing Green Peter means 180% of a downpour and even more wind than you can predicted, I knew it was going to be a rough day of fishing.  I decided to grind it out to do some scouting for my Sunday trip, and since Jerry and Connie do so much for my family I didn’t mind making a go at it with the bad weather and all.

I started Friday just east of the Island and put a wide range of colors and actions out.  I wasn’t marking any fish on the fish finder so I knew they would all be on the top of the water column.  We ended up with 15 kokanee in the boat and most of them came in by way of my “NP” Spin N Glo.  This is a nickel with an orange tip Spin N Glo with custom hooks which I sell on my website.  I worked my gear 50 to 100 feet back behind the boat and in the top 15 feet of the water column.

I normally pick up Rainbows on all of my fishing adventures but this one is one of the biggest I’ve ever caught at Green Peter and it was a great fight on my light kokanee gear.  No worries it was released unharmed!!!

With a half day of kokanee fishing under my belt, three feet of water in the boat, and 15 kokanee in the cooler it sounded like a full day of fishing to the whole crew.

Sunday I had arranged to take Greg Loe out with me and after scouting the lake on Friday a wanted to hang out down by Tally Creek and do some more investigating east of that area.  Sunday came and I knew it was going to be a zoo at Green Peter, because a lack of Springer action on the Willamette river, so we launched the boat around 6:30 at Thistle Creek.  As I’ve said on all my posts, “Oh how things can change” not only was the weather better but so was the fishing, but the color had changed and the gear.

I caught a ton of fish on Pink & Purple Micro Hoochies from R & K Spinners, Pink Tiger Spin N Glo’s, Pink wedding rings with a Silver Tiger smile blade,

as well as a new lure that I’m testing out this year that was also PINK we are going to call Dakokanee Killer look for it 2014…  The top corn mix was Pro-Cure Water Soluble Fish Oil Garlic Plus, Kokanee Killer Korn Magic, Slam-Ola Garlic Powder, and 6 drops of Bad Azz UV Liquid Bait Dye in Magenta/Hot Pink.  I think the pink Garlic corn really made a difference.

We fished our rods 50 and 60 feet back and in the top 12 feet of the water column and the further east I went the warmer the water temperature got and the better the fishing got.  We ended the day with 40 kokanee in the boat, a ton of fun, and a great meal to end the evening.

You can always call me if you want more information about my adventures (503)302-5093 I’m more than happy to point you in the right direction.  Also if you are looking for a guided trip to Green Peter one of my good friends, Damon Struble, from Nomad’s Fishing Adventures is now booking kokanee trips.  You can reach him at (541)619-5671 www.nomadsfishingadventures.com Make sure you tell him that the kokaneekid sent you his way.  There isn’t a faster way to learn how to fish for kokanee than to get on the boat with someone who knows what they are doing.

I hope everyone has a safe and successful 2013 kokanee season and with opening day for most lakes just around the corner I hope everyone get’s a chance to join in on some fun chasing this wonderful fish we all call Kokanee.

Fish On Jeremy Jahn

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Spring Kokanee Fishing

Posted on Mar 16 by kokaneekid

So the Long “Wait” of winter is almost over and spring kokanee fishing will be in full swing very shortly.  I’m going to give you a few tips that will help you fish more rods on your boat effectively and give you some tips & tricks on attacking spring kokanee.

Most of the early spring kokanee fishing will be in the top 15 feet of the water column, and they will be congregating in tributaries of the lakes or in area’s that will warm up first, like the shallows.  These areas of the lake will have more kokanee because they hold a more abundant food source early in the season.  By checking out the lake you are planning on fishing and looking for flats or tributaries, you’ll set yourself up with a productive “GAME PLAN” instead of trying to attacking the whole lake blind.  In Lakes with Dams, the area toward the Dam are the last to warm up and I would avoid fishing that area of the lake all together until later in the season.  A good way to take a look at different lakes and areas to fish is with a “Smart Phone” or I-Pad.  The “Navionics App” can not only be used while on the water, but even at the house or AT WORK.  You can check out different lakes you’re wanting to fish and make a game plan before heading out on the water.  Another thing to keep in mind is the elevation of the lake you are planning on fishing; I prefer to start fishing lakes with a lower elevation early in the season and save the higher elevation lakes for later in the season.  By fishing the higher elevations lakes later in the season you’ll have the ability to catch chrome bright kokanee late in the season while the lower elevation kokanee are gearing up for the spawn and or already in full swing of the spawn.

Ok here is my tip for fishing more rods effectively and catching the Kokanee running in the top 15 feet of the water column.  I used this technique in November at Green Peter when all the fish I caught were picked up in the top 10 feet of the water column using my downriggers.


Green Peter 11/10/12 All fish caught in the top 10 feet of the water column

I stacked two rods on each downrigger which is very hard to do early or later in the season unless you’re using the right gear.  I ran my bottom rod back 100 feet behind my boat with an “Arrow Flash Dodger” (check out the large variety here on my website),  I then attached it to my downrigger and dropped it 4 feet down.  Then I rig my second rod up with a Mack’s Lure Double D Dodger (also sold on my website) and used hole #4 on the Right hand side of my boat and hole #1 on the Left hand side of my boat. “Facing The Back Of My Boat”  I would run my second rod 75 feet behind my boat attached it to the downrigger and run it down until my line touched the water.

By doing this your top rod will be running 3 feet under the water surface and your bottom rod will be running 7 feet under the water surface.  If you tried this without a Mack’s Lure dodger you would have the biggest mess behind our boat stacking two rods that far back and that close together.  This technique if very effective and very easy to do and trust me it works GREAT.

I’ll be posting a video of this technique in April showing exactly how to do this.  Remember to troll slow and look for areas of your lake that are getting full sun which will in turn have a warmer surface temperature.

We’ll see you out on the Lake!!!

Fish On Kokaneekid

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Odell Lake 07/28/12 – 07/30/12

Posted on Aug 02 by kokaneekid

So I headed to one of my favorite fishing locations in Oregon, “Shelter Cove Resort & Marina” on Odell Lake http://sheltercoveresort.com/ to fish for what else “KOKANEE”.  This lake naturally produces its own kokanee population and is just loaded with tons of high quality fish.  The sized of the fish is smaller than I expected only running 11 to 13 inches but they are putting on weight and in excellent condition.  You will also pick up some smaller fish which are next year’s fish running much smaller, but they are great if you fillet and skin them for Fried Beer Batter Kokanee.

The fish are scattered all over the lake I think because of the boat harassment they have been receiving since the opener in April, and the fishing was slower than I expected only catching 24 on Saturday, 15 on Sunday, and 30 on Monday.  Pink and Purple R & K hoochies and Pink Spin N Glo’s picked up the majority of the fish behind a White Glow Wing Arrow Flash dodger, and Moon Glow Wing Arrow Flash dodger.  I fished Saturday & Sunday with my in-laws and Monday with Dave, Art, and Jerry.  Dave had invited me to do a Kokanee Seminar in Portland and he wanted me to show him and a couple friends how things worked on my boat.  I normally don’t let people on my boat but so far this year I’ve meet a great group of people and by showing them how things work first hand I hope it produces some more die hard kokanee fisherman.

I started out all three days by the rock slide, but I picked up a ton of fish on Monday in the afternoon east of Breezy Point.  Most fish were caught at 70 feet with a 15 and 10 foot setback with a very slow troll, .9mph – 1.1mph.  I’m headed back to Odell on 08/05/12 & 08/06/12 and I’ll let you know how things go.  There are still tons of fish but they are scattered so if you work your gear and stay on the fish you will still have a successful day of fishing.  I would also expect them to start grouping back up in the next week or so.

Also make sure you sign up for the Odell Lake derby on August 18th it’s a great time for the whole family. Plus Jim Kielblock puts on a oyster feed the night before the derby for all participants.  Kokanee Power of Oregon will also be conducting a silent auction Friday night with some great stuff to be had.  For more information on the derby please visit http://kokaneepoweroregon.com/

Fish On kokaneekid

P.S.  Randy has been giving me a bad time about no updates on the website so this one is for you!!

I would also like to say I have met a great group of people while fishing and running this website and it’s nice to have people call and Email me letting me know how things are going.  If you have questions about kokanee fishing and want my perspective feel free to contact me I’ve been giving out my cell phone number and love talking kokanee fishing, just ask my wife.  (503) 302-5093

Randy thanks for the harassment to update the website can’t wait to meet up with you and the family on Friday at Wickiup.

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