What have you got in your Kokanee tackle box? [Archive]

FallRiverGuy

07-01-2005, 09:45 AM

One of the things about Kokanee fishing that I really enjoy is that the fish are plentiful and there is always lots of room on any given lake to find solitude. With that preface, I don’t feel like there is any need for secrets. When it comes to Kokanee it is all good and the more people catch the better. It is truly a great fishery that can be enjoyed by many.

Below are downrigger set-ups that work well for me on many of the high lakes. I have others, but these are the ones that I keep coming back to or start the day with.

The Apex Kokanee Killer is a constant producer. It can be effectively fished by itself or behind a sling blade dodger or lake trolls. The orange color is probably the most reliable lure I fish.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/kok1.jpg

At times nothing will out fish a hoochie. I have caught more big Kokanee on hoochies than any other lure I fish. Hoochies fish well behind a bigger dodger. Pink is a great color, but I will try different colors until I find the right one for the day.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/kok2.jpg

Here are a couple of rigs that I have just started fishing this season. The spin-n-glow with beads has been a very good lure this season. I have many different colors tied-up and they have all worked under different conditions. The other lure is a Kok-a-Nut. An effective way to fish this is behind a pair of sling blade dodgers in tandem. The tandem dodgers give a wonderful erratic action to the Kok-a-Nut.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/kok5.jpg

These last two are combinations that have worked at Odell. Green beads behind a dodger has worked better than anything else I have tried my last two trips. The chartreuse Scorpion spinners has produced mid-day on several occasions.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/kok3.jpg

So, what is in your Kokanee tackle box?

txaggie

07-01-2005, 09:55 AM

Nice post, would be a good keeper for the tech tips board. :applause:

jzell

07-01-2005, 10:17 AM

Good talkin to ya this morning Brian. Okay I'll add to this soon. Gotta run home to get my box. Got some things not pictured.

Stay tuned.

John

ogrejager

07-01-2005, 02:05 PM

Thanks for the info! I'm just learning to fish for Kokanee (hey, I just moved to the area!), and appreciate this info. I've been using small wedding rings behind lake trolls with some success. I don't have downriggers and have been using 1.5 ounces of lead weight. I do find that this dramatically reduces the fun of catching them, though, and am looking into cheap downriggers.

Quick Fish

07-01-2005, 05:35 PM

My favorite Apex color is the red with sparkles. :smash: The Apex also taught me the value of using a double hook setup for kokanee, the most consistant way I have found for keeping them hooked. I like to fish them behind 000 or 0000 silver dodgers. I also have used a small silver prism fish flash with OK results.

I tie up small spinners using a tiny silver blade and 3mm beads in various colors for the days that they don't seem to want much flash.

It always seems like I have alot of gear that I don't use much -- just in case. :grin:

greenbuttskunk

07-01-2005, 05:35 PM

Brian,
I've got an old can of corn, soaked in shrimp oil, from last year. Do you think I should take it out?? :shrug: I'm kinda scared to go look. :grin:

baltz526

07-01-2005, 05:43 PM

has anyone ever figured out why kokanee like white corn, is it something they eat that looks like it or :shrug:

greenbuttskunk

07-01-2005, 06:22 PM

I thought it was because it gets stuck in their teeth, so no hook needed? :grin:

POS Clerk

07-01-2005, 06:38 PM

My son and I fished Billy Chinook all last week. After several days of having him catch more fish than me, I decided to rig him up with the following salmon/steelhead tackle I had in the boat:
http://www.fishflash.com/images/products.jpg http://www.franksgreatoutdoors.com/productImages/6336.jpg

30 seconds after it hit the water he had a fish on :hoboy:. He continued to catch more and bigger kokanee even with this “wrong gear”.

baltz526

07-02-2005, 09:07 AM

StickFish

07-02-2005, 07:00 PM

I'm also learning the Koke Trade :wink: Legal mind you

Being boat poor this has been a challenge - if any of you Koke Pro's would show pitty on my lost sole I'd love to learn and contribute - the corn and shrimp oil with a wedding Ring I couldn't keep the trout off of it to get it deep enough to fish Kokes at Detroit - lack of a downrigger comes to play there as well.

I marked this as a fav so lets see some more gear.

Snapset

07-02-2005, 11:07 PM

Great thread, Brian. I went steelhead fishing with my digital camera a while back, so it is no longer with us. If I ever find my son's digicam, I will post some pix of what has been working ok for me up at Green Peter. I will second your recomendations for Odell. I have found Olive and Chartreuse terminal gear to outfish red 75% of the time.

5-Salt Fever

07-02-2005, 11:16 PM

we have been trying to learn to catch kokanee at wickiup and have been trying the basic standards small dodgers wedding rings or kokanee bugs, kokanee killers. my main motor trolls about 1 1/2 miles to 2mph a little fast for the flashers i think. we have been marking a lot of fish in the 10' to 25' range but get very little action from them. any ideas

Trying going to Mack's Troll Light on Gold/Silver, Silver, or Gold. Lg Doc Sheltons are an excellent flasher choice as well (trolling blade a must to prevent line twist) Go to Larger Gold or Copper blade on your Wedding rings tipped with Shoe Peg corn marinated in Krill Scent.

Some Other Options:

Hooks are tied too far apart but you get the idea (good on bright days)
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/5221Koke_Spin-n-Glow.jpg

Macks Troll Light with Pink Troll Blade
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/5221Troll_Light.jpg

jzell

07-03-2005, 10:25 AM

Okay Kokanee Killers...here's some more to think about.

This year I became addicted to Kokanee fishing. I have read everything I could get my hands on. STS Magazine has a great book on the subject and have run good articles over the years. www.kokaneepower.org (http://www.kokaneepower.org) is a good resource.

Kokanee is BIG in California where throughout the summer there are lots of derbys....even with Professional classifications and cash prises. One day I plan to go to see one of these events and try to learn more from those in the know.

What's really fun is that besides some basics there is a lot of different lures that these fish will take. I have loved the mad scientist aspect of this fishery.

Here's some of my tackle box:

Tomic Lures (Canada) makes the "Wee Tad".
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC_0208.JPG
It's a J-Plug like lure but your line goes thru the body. Tie a double hook leader, thread a few beads on, and run that thru the body. This lure is run at least 30" behind a "Sling Blade" type dodger. It's like a Apex in that it is an erratic running lure. An Apex and a Wee Tad can't be tuned like a Kwik Fish type plug to run straight....but that's okay cause you don't want it to. Please note that these little lures are not cheap. As you can see I went a little overboard but I am committed to make them help me catch my biggest Kok.

Next is an Apex, Kok-a-nut, and Vance's Bugs...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC_0209.JPG
The Kok-a-nut and the Bug are run behind a conventional dodger and the Apex works best behind a Sling Blade type dodger.

Some of my dodgers...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC_0210.JPG
So far I like to match (and mix) my dodger color with the lure color for depth and daylight conditions. Note that almost anything small like a dodger that wobbles can be used. Alvins, Clancies, and other salmon lures made of metal can and do work. Forgot to put my Shasta Tackle Slide Blade dodgers in this picture.

And my current favorite thing to use is the Hoochie...
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC_0211.JPG
These are on a very short 6" leader....or 1.5 to 2 times the length of the dodger. Note the double hook then a small corkie and 5 or 6mm bead that goes inside the hoochie body. You can even run a small blade or wing above it.

And my final tip is the resealable lid that comes with your vacuum packer.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC_0212.JPG
This is on top of only my second can of corn this summer. I use small yogurt containers to marinate corn in 2 to 3 different scents per trip. Each yogurt container has a couple of teaspoons of corn in them with scents for that day. So by resealing the can and using only what you think you'll need for that day it lasts a long time.

There are lots of ways to fish for Koks but the serious guys use downriggers, minimal on the line, and an ultralight rod to really enjoy the fight of these little salmons.

Like FallRiverGuy said this is a fun fishery with lots of room on any lake and there does need to be any secrets. There are plenty of fish and they are there to be caught. It's fun for all.

baltz526

07-03-2005, 03:16 PM

i have the vances bugs, just call them bug heads,my step dad has been using them since the maker started making them, he used some of the first experiments, prosser resevoir, stampede reservoir,donner lake is where they used them and they catch rainbows also.30" leader hmmm i think my leaders may be to long, i have been tying them about 48" and using dodgers. how fast are you trolling.

flywrapper

07-03-2005, 08:09 PM

Like all of the above. Sometimes they just won't bite anything - time to try worms. Troll sloooowly!

Aufish101

07-04-2005, 12:30 PM

What, no jigs!

Here is jig box 1

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/pictures/Jigbox1.jpg

Here is jig box 2

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/pictures/Jigbox2.jpg

Here is jig box 3

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/pictures/Jigbox3.jpg

Did I mention jig box 4?

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/pictures/Jigbox4.jpg

Do you think I have enough jigs? This doesn't include wedding rings, needle fish, down riggers, etc, etc, etc.

Aufish101 http://members.aol.com/garyk10/images/poisson_39.gif

No Wishin Just Fishin

07-04-2005, 12:48 PM

The usual about 65 jigs of all colors, Kokanee Killers, wedding rings of all colors and sizes( I retie my own with bigger and better hooks), triple teasers. kokanne kings, and last but not least a LURE DEPTH FINDER to tell exactly how deep I am fishing as do not have down riggers. I troll as slow as I can and about every 100 yds I gun the trolling motor for 2 or 3 seconds. I f wind is blowing 15 miles plus I usually just wind drift.

FallRiverGuy

07-06-2005, 09:38 AM

we have been trying to learn to catch kokanee at wickiup and have been trying the basic standards small dodgers wedding rings or kokanee bugs, kokanee killers. my main motor trolls about 1 1/2 miles to 2mph a little fast for the flashers i think. we have been marking a lot of fish in the 10' to 25' range but get very little action from them. any ideas

I have had better luck at Wickiup fishing 5 feet off the bottom on top of a shelf than right thru the channels. This will change as the water level drops. This is tricky at Wickiup because of all the stumps and channels. I also speed up and slow down a lot more at Wickiup than other lakes.

I should add that a good ball park speed is 1.1 mph. I have read that a good range to explore is 0.9 to 1.8 mph. Just like every other aspect of kokanee fishing, speed will depend on the the lake, the day, and the time of day.

STRUTTIN-1

07-06-2005, 09:58 AM

Thanx for the info.

yankemnbankem

07-18-2005, 03:26 PM

just a red spinglow for me

TarponSlayer

10-02-2005, 11:33 AM

Awesome year of Kokanee fishing here in Boise.
Cool to see all your tips.
The old standby here is the green Kokanee killer from Macks, white corn, and slow troll. :dance:
Caught some 17-18" monsters this spring. I like the Hoochie idea.
I run my flashers right off my downrigger weight then run my lure about a foot above and 5 feet behind. Nothing better than fighting just the fish and not all the drag of flashers. :smash:

NoEyes

03-09-2006, 08:32 PM

I'm with aufish101...Jigs jigs and more jigs. Pink or chartruese -&- white are favorites.

Dr Strangelove

03-16-2006, 12:05 AM

My new Kokanee box...with the probable lack of salmon this year I'm going to be hounding the Kokes every weekend I can. My daughter helped me put together this box. Thanks Kira!

Top lid has snubbers and downrigger items
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/subber.JPG
Main compartment has backup reel, line/leader, tools, scent, and the flasher wallet
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/top.JPG
My lure tray has small spoons, jigs, plugs, apexes, blades, and dodgers
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/lures3.JPG
My terminal tackle tray has snaps, swivels, size 4,6 hooks, beads galore, sliders, bobbers, etc
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/terminal.JPG
My pretied tray has the wedding ring vaiants, flies, large weights, and flashlites
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/pretied.JPG

No Wishin Just Fishin

03-16-2006, 10:22 AM

Did anyone catch the Fishing channel the other day with the 4 lb 25 inch Kokanee?? didn't catch where they were fishing

6wapiti6

03-16-2006, 03:24 PM

I saw that..it was Flaming Gorge reservoir in Utah (is that at the base of brokeback mountain?) LOL.. I think the show was "We Live Oudoors".

yankemnbankem

03-17-2006, 07:28 PM

Im shooting for maybe a trip there this summer to flaming gorge. With our trip to Neah Bay being out of the question I am thinking I want to tie into one of those bigger kokes. I know there are big ones in Merwin but locating them is another thing.

lentz

03-19-2006, 12:11 AM

Me and some fishing buddies are going on a fishng weekend some time this spring. One place we are going is Wallowa Lake. Need some tips on catching Kokanee. I know that different areas have different technics, but any advice will help. Thanks

FallRiverGuy

04-20-2006, 11:18 PM

It is almost Kokanee time again for 2006. Here are a few ideas I have for this years season. The first is to try a few new colors of hoochies. I still would like some other red varieties.

Left to right: pink with sparkles, Glow with pink spots, glow, A little bit of every color, and green/glow. These are 2.5 inches long.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/hoochie.jpg

Bugs are very popular in California. The two below are from Vance’s tackles. At times I have had very good luck fishing these right behind a dodger. I have some on order that I like even better and will post a picture of them when they arrive.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/bugs.jpg

I'll have to see if this new toy is worth the price. It will read water temperature in 5-foot increments. I am going to attached it to my downrigger ball and measure the temperature of the water column that holds fish. I hope to correlate water temperature with biting fish.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/FF.jpg

I had good success at times with these last season. Now I have a wider selection of colors to choose from.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/spin-n-glo.jpg

lentz

04-20-2006, 11:57 PM

The new toy might bring more fish aboard, always worth the try.

Hanapa'a Time

04-21-2006, 12:09 PM

Well since tomorrow is the opener, I will show what has worked for us for the past, and hopefully again tomorrow :smash:
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Kokejigs1.jpg

Here are may main producers and a few added to the line-up courtesy of Aufish101 :food:
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Kokejigs2.jpg

FallRiverGuy

04-21-2006, 03:50 PM

Hey all you jig masters, have you ever tried jigging with lures other than the standard type of jig? The reason I ask is from past experiences at Green Peter. There were days when a buzz bomb or cripple herring would not work. One day we tried experimenting with various lures in our tackle box. Some days we had better success with either a Little Cleo or a Kastmaster.

Hanapa'a Time

04-21-2006, 06:06 PM

Yes, those + Super Duper's, Swedish Pimple's and even a Thomas Lure have produced when all others have failed :smash:

Also in the jig box are Zingers and some homemade diamond jigs :food:

FallRiverGuy

04-24-2006, 03:16 PM

The best day of jigging I have ever had was Odell with the home made jig below.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/jig3.jpg

SeanD

04-30-2006, 08:40 PM

My camera broke, or I would post a pic. I have done really really well on a simple spinner I made up of a small silver blade on a plastic clevis, two or three small chartruse beads and then a glow in the dark bead above the hook. Corn too of course. One tip I will add is I now use only red gami #4 octopus hooks on all the rigs. You lose way less fish with the #4's versus smaller singles or trebles on the trolling spinners in my experience. And plus they are already all tied up, leftovers from winter steelhead :cheers:

shaggy357

05-27-2006, 11:08 AM

Jigs with patzke's balls o fire egg and colnel of white corn on the hook.

Size 4 Blue Fox chrome/silver vibrax spinner, use the siwash hook, pink or orange hootchie held up on the hook with a soft glow owner bead. You can trail a night crawler if you wish. Sometimes a trailer hook will help if they are taking the worm off by hitting short. If a koke doesn't hit it, you have a good chance of catching a large lake trout, mackinaw, dolly varden, etc.

Sometimes just a plain chrome kastmaster or similar heavy spoon with a couple balls or fire or some of the flaming red power bait will do it.

Have fun.

Steve

FishnMike

06-01-2006, 12:48 PM

I'm late on chiming in on this but here I go. Here in Calif we do a lot of koke fishing. Its just starting to get going now, mid to end of May, and lasts until mid Sept. Our lakes here are warm and very deep so its not uncommon to fish in the 100 to 110 foot range by mid summer.

I use a lot of Vance's and Shasta Tackle dodgers but carry a full assortement. My stadard color is silver with silver tape and seems to work day in and day out.

For lures I really like spinners. I make most of my own and rely heavily on pinks and oranges. One of my favorite blades is a florescent pink #2 blade off a Mepps spinner. I also use a lot of the Macks smilie blades in silver. Late season I add in Apex as the fish get more agressive. Pinks and reds for those too. I havn't spent much time with bugs.

FishnMike

FallRiverGuy

11-07-2006, 09:11 AM

Here are a few of the things I learned during the 2006 Kokanee season.

1) I have a thing for hoochies. I continue to find new colors to explore. Sometimes a subtle change in color or shade can out fish a similar but different color or shade. I was given the limegreen hoochie by a friend and have yet to find a place to order them. If anyone knows when I can get this color please let me know. At times, that color was killer. The two at the far right are Radical Glow tubes.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/k11.jpg

2) After reading the STS article by Bill Herzog, I kind of rediscovered wedding rings. They actually produced very well for me. The longer 30” leader seemed to make a huge difference as I traditionally fished them short. The orange color can fish well at times. The one with the orange spin-n-glow works great during the middle of the day at Green Peter. One hint I picked-up on Ifish was to use a crystal bead instead of the faceted ring in the middle. The single drop shot hook seemed to work well one day resulting in no lost fish, and other days many fish were lost. I am not sure yet if I will stick with them.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/k21.jpg

3) Craft stores are a good thing.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/k31.jpg

4) Again this year, garlic was my most consistent scent. I also learned that vanilla is a good thing to add to your corn.

5) It is ok to shorten the leader of an Apex and fish it behind a flasher or dodger. I don’t think the new E-chip Apex lures have the same action as the older ones. My old ones seem to swim well without help, but the new ones need a little help from a dodger. That could be why my success with an Apex declined this year.

6) I love my new 7’ yellow Lamiglass Kokanee rod. :bowdown:

7) I need to try purples and blues next season when fishing below 50’.

8) I may need a bigger tackle box!:bigshock:

9) I need to try jigging more next year.

So what did you learn this Kokanee season?

cptdarel

11-07-2006, 11:17 AM

question?, when using dodgers, what size is prefered, 3.5" 5.5" or?
thanks!
and what about water temp zone?

fish-on-bend

11-07-2006, 06:36 PM

This spring I "re"discovered wind drift trolling. Did it at Odell a few years back and at Wickiup this spring, only because I didn't have an anchor yet for my new boat so I couldn't jig in the wind. What a pleasure to whack those guys on small willow blades, an oz of lead and a wedding ring. I have always liked the jigs they sell at the store in Crescent Jct, the one that burned down and got rebuilt. Can only find those jigs a few places. I also discovered kokanee killers this year. Lovethis thread, some of you guys make me feel better about some of my tackle category inventory with your 4 boxes of jigs.

Snapset

11-07-2006, 07:06 PM

I didn't do as well as I would have liked this year, and now that the weather is here I have about 7 months to think of all the fishing I will do next year. A couple of things I learned:
1.) If the wind is coming out of the East, fish the Eastern end of the lake.

2.) The small pink rubber worms work great as a replacement for the body of a wedding ring.

3.) The foam pipe insulation I have been using for steelhead leaders works great for Kokanee rigs. I have at least 100 terminal rigs tied up, and they all fit nicely untangled in the top of my tacklebox.

Thanks to all who provided these ideas. BTW, I use a 4/0 dodger almost all the time for Kokanee.

FallRiverGuy

11-08-2006, 08:04 AM

question?, when using dodgers, what size is prefered, 3.5" 5.5" or?
thanks!
and what about water temp zone?

It all depends on the terminal lure and what the fish want that day, or hour, or minute. If I could fish the 0000 all the time, I would, because they are small and have less drag. But the slower wider swing of a 00 or a 000 can out fish the 0000. With hoochies I mostly fish them behind a 000. Wedding rings and other spinner type lures I like a 0000. Following the message boards of Californian Kokanee fishermen, they will use larger dodgers when fishing deep. It is all about experimenting to find what works.

Not all dodgers are the same either. Dodgers from Vance's Tackle and Seps have a more pronounced spoon at each end and generate a bigger swing and thump than a Luhr Jensen dodger. I like the former.

I did not use my water temperature gauge as much as I should have. The few times I took the time to test temp at depth, it seems the fish were biting at around 50 degrees. Much more data needs to be collected before correlations can be made.

shalom

11-09-2006, 12:27 PM

As for water tem, I was prefishing for a crappie tournament ( i know this is a kokanee thread , But thought that you might find this interesting ? ) The surface temp and the bottom ( which was 45 feet down ) were all most the same . There was a one degree difference from the surface to the bottom . I have two depth finders on my boat , one on the bow and one on the stearn of my boat . I have an Aqua View camera that has a temp that i can lower to the bottom and get an accurate reading there . I had two people prefishing with me and had them look at all 3 temperature to make sure that i hadn't messed up .

FallRiverGuy

11-13-2006, 08:00 AM

3.) The foam pipe insulation I have been using for steelhead leaders works great for Kokanee rigs. I have at least 100 terminal rigs tied up, and they all fit nicely untangled in the top of my tacklebox.

:agree:

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/tackle1.jpg

jzell

11-13-2006, 06:14 PM

Okay here ya go. These are my new items for 2006.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Koke_stuff2.jpg

Top left to right: Crystal Basin Tackle "Wild thing" dodgers (5)
1.Blue/Pink 2.Pink 3.White back of Blue/Pink and Pink 4.Watermelon 5. Nickle back of Watermelon
These dodgers are small and produce a nice action. The pink and blue/pink with a pink hoochie were deadly.

Next are 3 Vance Tackle dodgers that I modified with a custom rainbow foil dry transfer that I made. This is a process/product that I produce in my business as a graphic designer.

Far right is my idea for scented corn containers. They are 2 oz Sweetheart plastic cups with a lid. They work great. I can make up 3 or 4 different scented corns for the day. They are shallow so you can easily get at the kernels.

As for scents...this spring and summer I used all the old favorites and added squid and krill into the choices. The one scent that seemed to work the best for me this year was Mikes Shrimp or Mikes Glo Shrimp.

Along the bottom is my old favorite and top producer the "Pink Hoochie". Then my new favorite for mid and late summer deep water: The Blue Wedding ring spinner and the blue/silver hoochie. I read a thread on the Kokanee Power web site that said that kokanee can see the color blue easily in deep water. So I tried it and it worked. "Go deep - go blue" is my new motto. I also like to use the Mack's Tackle Smile blades above my hoochies.

And finally I bought and tried the new "UV Apex", but didn't have much success. I'll give it a go again next year.

My most noteworthy kokanee day was one that I went by myself and was the first to launch at 5:15. I had my limit and was out by 9:30. My challenge to myself was to catch 5 fish using 5 different lures. So I changed up after each fish. It was a fun morning.

As for next year I think I'm going to go for trout in the spring (learn Swift Res after the April opener) and wait a little longer before hittin the Kokes....of course that's easier said than done.

John

Aufish101

11-23-2006, 02:00 PM

Earlier I post my jig boxes and I thought I would give you more of a close up of some of the jigs that I use most often.

I use these jigs when the fish are 40' or less. They are 1/2 oz.

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/images/Jigs50.jpg

The ones on the end will fish a little deeper because of there shape

Here are some 3/4 oz jigs. I use these when the fish are deeper. With the 3/4 oz. jigs, they get to the fish faster in the deeper water. The deepest that I have caught Kokanee was 135' at Odell Lake.

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/images/Jigs75.jpg

The two in the middle are half the color shown and the other side white.

Here are some that I have bought,

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/images/Bought.jpg

From left to right, Nordic, Buzz Bomb, Gibbs Minnow, Hex Jig, and what I call "Worlds Famous" I got it from Cabela's and it is no longer made. Ask Dullhook about this one!!

There are many more out there and everyone has there favorite.

Hope that helps some.

Aufish101 http://members.aol.com/garyk10/images/poisson_39.gif

LuckyStrike

12-01-2006, 07:28 PM

I did best at Paulina with purple and green echip apexs, pink hoochies, kokanee kandy's in purple/blue, chartreuse and pink all on a downrigger with dodgers (mostly silver/prism) and snubbers. All tipped with krill corn cure corn.

Wallowa lake was handtied wedding rings with green and pink working best with gold bands and dyed maggots and snubbers off downriggers.

Using 10 foot light action rods and was very pleased with the fights.

Ethical hunter

12-18-2006, 01:53 PM

I use crappie jigs with great success.

EH

FallRiverGuy

12-18-2006, 02:17 PM

Do you mean the crappie skirts? Have you found any colors that work best for you. I have tried the skirts a time or two and have caught fish with them.

Ethical hunter

12-18-2006, 02:24 PM

Some days bright colors work best other days dark colors - I have found to corelation to weather with respect to what color is the most effective. It appears to be random.

EH

Capt George

12-30-2006, 05:52 PM

It's comforting to know that you West Coasters are every bit as sick as East Coasters I've fished with...

ahhh, the better mouse trap!

now I have to add to the 40 year mass of tackle I already have, will I ever grow up? I hope not. cap'n g

FallRiverGuy

04-03-2007, 09:28 AM

My order from Kokaneemart arrived the other day with some new things I plan to try this coming season. The first is a small dodger from Crystal Basin (CB) that has more action to it than most dodgers. Jzell has used them but this will be my first time.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/CB_dodger.jpg

The orange CB spinner looks deadly. It has no glow properties but the fluorescent color should make it a good producer. I have mostly fished with metal finishes on my spinner blades, but his season more colored blades will be tried. The hoochie mama has both a pink glow body and spinner blade. This lure glows brightly and the glow lasts a long time. Could be good deep?
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/spinners11.jpg

The Uncle Larry’s copper bladed spinner has glow beads. Copper is a color that can work well mid-day. This past season I used copper dodgers mid-day with success. The Killer B just looks interesting. There is a lot of contrast between the black beads and the chartreuse blade. There are also two glow beads in the body. It could be good. I am getting the itch bad.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/spinners21.jpg

FallRiverGuy

05-14-2007, 03:17 PM

A separate thread on how to tie hoochie rigs is located here: http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=144286&highlight=hoochie

FallRiverGuy

06-19-2007, 08:08 AM

Test, test, test.

moknots

01-26-2008, 12:38 PM

Mine was a 1.5" mini "hoochie", which is really just a cheap (25 for $2.29) crappie skirt rigged over a couple of beads on a two hook rig. They come in lots of good colors. My top ones: pink, pink and white, orange and lime, lime, sparkle pink, sparkle blue and white.http://www.ifish.net/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=6944&stc=1&d=1201379861

Far left, note the missing tentacles and stripped finish; the work of dozens of thrashing kokanee. 10 pound test.

Fished them side by side with wedding rings, spoons, etc. spring and summer. Of over 300 fish logged on my boat, the vast majority were caught on the little tubes. I am sure a lot of that has to do with the other stuff not getting fair time in the water because once I start catching fish on hoochies, no one else wants to be the guinea pig!

I am sure my bias towards hoochies is causing me to miss some other great options. What's your "go to" top producer?

Don't hold out, FRG and many others have set a high standard for sharing good scoop, which is what makes iFish so great. We want to know your top secret killer rig. Come on, put Carmen (good karma) in your boat.

Got One!

01-26-2008, 01:18 PM

Interesting, I've never tried those however I have a small box of them sitting in the garage for 10 yrs (needless to say I'm all over it:D) So how are you fishing them? trolling with a down rigger?

Here is more or less what I use most of the time:
The inline spinners (I make those) I pull behind flashers most of the time deep
The middle spoon (triple teaser) I troll with the same way or alone. Deep

The rapala I'll use early (1st light) or late when they start coming up, and usually get some good sized fish with.
The other thing I use on dark days is glow beads (a hook with glow in the dark "stuff melted in a bead shape around it, down deep a piece of corn on them sometimes (although it doesnt seem to matter) brutal on dark days.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/lures_002.jpg

VanDaddy

01-26-2008, 03:39 PM

For me it was home made "wedding rings" and modified dodgers. I find that big female Kokes really fall in :throb: for big diamonds in the center of the lure :flowered:. I also make my lures with individual beads, not the joined graduated beads. You get better wiggle action with individual beads.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/CornRingsDogers.jpg

ElkTalker

01-26-2008, 09:43 PM

This is some of what I used last year. I caught fish with all these lures, but the spinning glow hutchie, and the chartreuse glow and black single blade were absolutely hot at times.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC06516A.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/71177/size/big/cat//ppuser/15535)

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC06517A.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/71178/size/big/cat//ppuser/15535)
Here is a pic of my spinning hutchie. I use a bobber stop and a red bead to hold the blade up a little.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC06525A.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/71183/ppuser/15535)
My best scent was pro cure, carp spit and kokanee special.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/DSC06524A.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/71182/ppuser/15535)
I had a lot of fun kokanee fishing in 07, but I'm sure this year will even be better.

Blessings for all Ifishers in 08. ET

Aufish101

01-27-2008, 02:38 PM

Those are some trolling rigs!

I mostly jig now and here are my top producers for 2007.

http://members.aol.com/aufish101/Jigs/Topjigs2007.jpg

Aufish101 http://members.aol.com/garyk10/images/poisson_39.gif

wanafish

01-28-2008, 10:38 PM

My favorites of 2007. The chewed up Nordic is still my go to jig. Sorry pic is dark. Top dodger is watermelon, bottom one is half silver/bronze.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Racks_and_Lures_014.jpg

FallRiverGuy

01-30-2008, 08:16 AM

This orange hoochie with the orange Crystal Basin dodger was my number one rig. When it was “on”, it was nonstop action. When the bite slowed switching to the watermelon dodger often worked to get hits again.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/KFL1.jpg

This was my steady action set-up. It never got hot like the hoochie, but seemed to catch fish all the time. It also worked with the blue/nickel Dakota blade.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/KFL2.jpg

This one was also a good producer.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/KFL3.jpg

Dullhook

01-30-2008, 05:30 PM

These are some rigs I've had pretty good success with. Please excuse the glare in the pic. Come on spring! :cheers:

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMGP00172.jpg

jzell

02-02-2008, 07:19 PM

As promised here's my 2007 Koke stuff...

I've been holding out on posting this stuff....but it's been out on the market now (in California) for some time......so time to share and show.

I made a significant investment in the "Fish with Gary" system of dodgers and beaded spinners. Also added to my Apex box with a bunch of colors I have wanted for a while. Google Fish with Gary to learn about his system from his web site.

Sling blade style dodgers are extremely versatile at a wide range of speeds. I love the power dodger for use with hoochies. They have a pronounced "cup" at the end that puts a great action on hoochies. The copper king series are cupped also. The bigger sizes are designed for later in the season as you go deeper.

The wire used on the beaded front end is a thin vinyl coated wire which is VERY flexible and super durable. The dodger actually imparts some "forward action" to the beaded section. The whole idea is to match the dodger with the lure used behind it. The glow spots on the dodger body are excellent when charged.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC_0137b.jpg

I have to have 2 of every type because you know who can't be left out.

Here's a shot of misc stuff I like and used in 2007.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/DSC_0138b.jpg

I like to use Mack's smiley blades or real small spinner blades ahead of hoochies. Pink, UV pink, Blue/Metallic Silver, and Glow Orange are my fav go to hoochie colors. I do like the action of Crystal Basin's Wild Thing dodgers with a hoochie. Putting 2 of them inline is a "double wild thing."

Apexes are also one of my favorite lures....definately behind a sling blade type dodger....30" minimum leader...and run um fast....1.5 mph minimum.

When I run an Apex and get into them I will switch out on my rod and run a similar color Wee Tad to see if that works.

As always there are so many things that work and I love to experiment. Get something catching good on Christy's rod and do R&D on mine.

Looking forward to 2008 but I want to try to wait til the local lake and temps come up a bit. Focus on steelies and springers for a while...

jz