What is a Kokanee

[Capin' Dan]

What is a kokanee, is it a canadain beer?
A landlocked Coho salmon or is it a land locked Sockeye Salmon?

[smilesforu]

It is a beer and a land locked sockeye salmon

[Hoosier Daddy]

Sockeye and tasty beer. We just started getting it here.
As Red Green says "If you duct tape two six packs of Kokanee together, you get a sockeye".

[AngleThis]

A kokanke is an infertile cross between a sockey, and I think, a pink salmon. They spawn but they do not reproduce. They must be reared in a hatchery. They are small but exceptionally good eating, survive well in most cool lakes, and can live on a wide variety of staple diets. In Lake Granby, CO, they get well over 3lbs, and when they spawn, you can snag 50 a day since they will not reproduce.

The best place for kokanie locally is Merwin Lake, below Mt. St. Helens...I took several 12-14 inchers a few weeks ago. They are great butterflied and smoked.

[OR Coast Range]

Are you sure about that *********? I always thought that they are land locked sockeye and that they do reproduce naturally. In fact I always thought that Odell Lake had a natural population. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong?

[Salmonator]

Yes they do reproduce naturally. They did have an experiment with some at East lake that were sterile, not sure why but I would imagine that they would grow to great size if they were to skip the spawning part...

[FallRiverGuy]

A Kokanee is simply the finest eating little fresh water finned fare that swims. A Kokanee that swims is a land locked Sockeye salmon that can reproduce naturally give the right conditions. There are, as I under stand, both river spawners and lake spawners.

The fish in Paulina don't reproduce naturally, at least in any numbers. It is the lake where all the eggs are collected for stocking other Oregon lakes. Paulina is also stocked every year.

The sterile fish planted in East are triploid fish. This is an experiment to see if the sterile strain will grow larger. They choose East because there is no escapement stream. If GMO fish were to escape some eyebrows would be raised.

[Phish_on]

They certainly do reproduce naturally. Check out Browns Creek (Wickiup tributary) in early October.

They are land-locked sockeye, and evolved when sockeye runs were isolated by "events" like lava flows ... they have since been widely introduced.

Also the name of a beer AND a cafe on the Metolius River.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Kokanee are landlocked sockeye. Kokanee and sockeye are the same species, just like steelhead and rainbow trout are the same species. They can and do reproduce naturally, examples would be places like Odell, Wallowa, and Lake Billy Chinook. There were some experiments done with specially modified sterile kokanee (triploids) in some areas. The point for this was that theoretically, if the fish doesn't spawn, it lives longer, can dedicate more resources to growth, and they get bigger than a normal fish. Triploid fish must be produced in a hatchery and are usually produced by shocking the fertilized eggs with warm water or pressurized air. Most lakes that have/had sockeye also have/had kokanee. It's just another life history strategy. The lake doesn't have to be blocked from the ocean to have kokanee, and just because the lake or system has one doesn't mean it can't have the other (except that kokanee always live in lakes).

[ 07-17-2001: Message edited by: chnookie ]

[Beek]

Just to add a bit...
The Kokanee takes on the same spawning colors as a Sock, and does not survive the spawning process like all pacific salmon. The kokanee relies on a diet of Mysiss(sp?) shrimp to survive and is a popular food staple of the fish eating strains of Rainbow trout such as the Gerard Rainbows found in Kootenay lake.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Beek,
Up where you are kokanee rely on Mysis shrimp. They also eat them in a few other lakes. Mysids were introduced, they are not native to out here. In lakes without mysis and before mysids showed up, kokanee eat/ate zooplankton. Daphnia (water fleas), stuff like that. Down here they are prime bull trout fixin's, which are pretty much our version of your Gerard's, just not as purdy!
Is Chilliwack near Kootenay? I've been to Nelson, but not Chilliwack. Gotta love that Red Green.

[Beek]

Chnookie,
Kootenay lake is nowhere near Chilliwack...the 'whack is located 45 min east of Vancouver, and is home to the Vedder River, a well known local Steelie stream.
Have you ever fished Kootenay Lake?I've always wanted to give it a shot...the thought of bucktailing for 20+ pound Rainbows is pretty wild.

Beek

I find it intresting that Triangle lake west of Eugene has kokanee in it and it has a direct route to the ocean by way of Lake Creek and the Siuslaw.I am suprised that some don't have the urge to go to the ocean and return to spawn. :

[Hoosier Daddy]

Beek,
No, I was in Nelson for a meeting and didn't get to fish. But I did get to hear lots of stories and see pictures of the Gerards. Boy they are proud of those fish. Good reason I guess.

Ford, maybe they DO.....(sinister sneaky voice). Hmmmmmmm.....
No really, there are some indications that kokanee may be able to return to being anadromous, but I don't think anyone has actually been able to prove it yet. Maybe some can and some can't, dunno.

[4Salt]

Beek,

Cool moniker. When I've fished the Vedder, I hear that term alot. Would you be able to explain what it means here on the board? I get the feeling it's used to describe the combat fishing idiots up there, but I wouldn't mind knowing for sure. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Beek]

4Salt,
A Beek is a common sighting on the Vedder River.A Beek will usually be located close to his car...they are afraid to walk and find their own water for fear that they may find solitude, and a decent fishing experience. The Beek has one goal...to fill the freezer.The Beek loves to set the hook at the end of every drift.He also likes to fish for Springers with a 6 pound leader and fight his fish out for an hour tying up the pool while his fish sits nose to the dirt because he cant turn him.The Beek has also been known to bring his whole family to the river and encourage his kids to play in the water that you are fishing...the Beeks dog enjoys biting at your line while you land a fish. This year on the Vedder, there were many Beek sightings at the Crossing Bridge, as well as the Old One Way Bridge. Thankfully for the rest of us, Beeks travel in groups, freeing up space for the rest of us. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
From what I hear, you guys have your own strain of Beek, commonly known as the OnBlueCreekius Snagsteelheadarus.

[4Salt]

ROTFLMAO [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] I had a feeling! Thank you, and hopefully one day we will be able to eradicate the dreaded onbluecreekius, and whitetrashicus snagfishicus's up there, and down here [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]