New state record kokanee

fish-on-bend · 07-21-2009, 10:03 AM

I have it on good authority from a trusted member of this trout forum that a new state record kokanee was caught on the 19th at Wallowa. 7 lbs and 27" I can't get the pic to transfer from my email. Maybe later tonight.

Klamanite · 07-21-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish-on-bend

I have it on good authority from a trusted member of this trout forum that a new state record kokanee was caught on the 19th at Wallowa. 7 lbs and 27" I can't get the pic to transfer from my email. Maybe later tonight.

Here it is

6wapiti6 · 07-21-2009, 10:22 AM

Congrats to the lucky angler....

skaha · 07-21-2009, 10:46 AM

--details?
--healthy looking fish hope there's a few more.

Grantspastor · 07-21-2009, 11:01 AM

Wow! It was just a matter of time considering the size of the fish being caught there this year. Gonna be hard to top that one

CoyoteBrownTrtHntr · 07-21-2009, 11:01 AM

That's RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to the lucky angler! Definitely the KOKE of a lifetime there. WOW!!

bwild · 07-21-2009, 11:08 AM

I'm trying to get more details on it, but here's what I know about the fish.

7.085 lbs and 27-1/4 inches. July 19th, 2009. Wallowa Lake (not difficult to tell by the background).

If I hear anything more, I'll let you guys know. Congrats to this guy (I actually met him very briefly when I was there 1-1/2 weeks ago, just can't recall his name).

bwild · 07-21-2009, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grantspastor

Wow! It was just a matter of time considering the size of the fish being caught there this years.

No joke. I think this is one of those years for the books, regarding koke fishing that is.

muggers · 07-21-2009, 12:03 PM

Wow!
Great lookin fish!!

joemomma · 07-21-2009, 12:19 PM

Wow! What a Monster!

Bigkntry · 07-21-2009, 12:26 PM

Incredible ! ! !.............fish of a lifetime................Congratulations

No Fences · 07-21-2009, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwild

No joke. I think this is one of those years for the books, regarding koke fishing that is.

I talked to him a couple of times last week too. He and one other guy were out every day(locals) and he had caught one that was 3/4's # shy of the record in June.

We managed one that was pushing 5 #'s on Friday, our last day.

radderbehuntin · 07-21-2009, 12:29 PM

That is one heck of a fish.

Doc_Rhen · 07-21-2009, 01:10 PM

Holy Smokes!!!!, wonder how many people are thinking "Road Trip" right now.

FallRiverGuy · 07-21-2009, 01:30 PM

That is a dandy fish alright. Congrats on catching a mighty big Kokanee.

It sure looks closer to spawning that our local fish. That fish looks like a September fish out of Wickiup.

Wild Chrome · 07-21-2009, 01:46 PM

That fish might be bigger than my last steelhead!

TroutBass · 07-21-2009, 02:03 PM

Holy smokes, what a fatty!

SilverBullets · 07-21-2009, 03:06 PM

Oh MY GOD!!

What the heck are they feeding those fish??

P-ride · 07-21-2009, 03:22 PM

That is incredible. I'm definitely gonna have to try to make it up there this summer. I can't imagine that monster on traditional kokanee gear...

hookumhi · 07-21-2009, 04:22 PM

Congrats

!!!!!!! What a MONSTER

Cap'n Ron · 07-21-2009, 05:08 PM

Very nice kokanee. What is making them so big? Might be an unfortunate thing for Wallowa though. Its not that big. Joseph days is this weekend. Be careful if ya go!

Super Fluke · 07-21-2009, 05:31 PM

Great fish!Well Done

Jimmy · 07-21-2009, 05:49 PM

What can you say but Wow

What a great year for Wallowa Lake

fish-on-bend · 07-21-2009, 07:09 PM

A little more info:
http://www.wallowalakemarina.com/ind...id=9&Itemid=13

Quick Fish · 07-21-2009, 07:42 PM

It seems as though I had the right idea but once again poor execution. I fished Saturday evening, all but 3 daylight hours on Sunday, and Monday from daylight until 11. The best kokanee I could manage was about 16 inches. Caught several that were 10-12 inches but ended up keeping only 4 that were 12 inches and over. I did manage a daily trifecta by landing a 18" mackinaw, 17" rainbow and several kokanee all in the same day. With all the good reports I was surprised how few boats were fishing this weekend.

I have now fished this lake 3 times. Amazingly, the very first time I fished it was in May of 2001. We talked to some folks that day that said they had a really nice fish. It turned out to be the last state record. We did manage to catch several nice fish up to 21" on that trip. I'll make sure I post ahead of time the next time I make the trip over their so someone can catch the next state record.

stlhdr1 · 07-21-2009, 07:44 PM

Very cool!!

Keith

lentz · 07-21-2009, 07:49 PM

I just bought a boat and i'm itching to get up that way for some r&r. Some great fishing right now it sounds like.

Splash · 07-22-2009, 04:26 AM

OINK!!!!!

Bill Rogue V. · 07-22-2009, 06:20 AM

Do they taste as good at that size as they do when smaller?

dbuechler · 07-22-2009, 06:59 AM

Good For YOU. Great looking FISH. What kind of gear did you use?
DB

FallRiverGuy · 07-22-2009, 07:55 AM

The big fish in Wallowa is due to the introduction of Mysis shrimp. Mysis shrimp has been the death of several prime kokanee waters. The shrimp feed on phytoplankton and are direct competitors of small kokanee.

Somehow Wallowa lake kokanee have survived. Many years ago there were some large fish, the year the state record was previously set, but it declined after that and it seemed Wallowa was going to follow the fate of other lakes with Mysis shrimp (small stunted fish). It seems Wallowa has found some kind of balance that keeps the shirmp population from dominating. I just talked with a biologist and the shrimp can cause the same symptoms as an over population of chubs (i.e. reductions in water quality and fish).

As for table fair of these fish, I bet earlier in the year they ate well, but I have to wonder about the meat quality at this time. It looks likes the above fish as already lost its scales which means the quality is already declining.

Pelhament · 07-22-2009, 11:56 AM

Thats bigger than some of the Sockeye I caught in Alaska... Nice fish!

simpleguy · 07-22-2009, 08:47 PM

This is SO SWEET!!! I will be there Monday night.

s20055 · 07-23-2009, 03:57 AM

Great fish! Beautiful lake to be catching kokanee like that. It's funny that I just read an article about a study indicating that fish are shrinking as a result of global warming.

Not here in the NW.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/scienceu...atewarmingfish

bwild · 07-23-2009, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallRiverGuy

As for table fair of these fish. I bet earlier in the year they ate well, but I have to wonder about the meat quality at this time. It looks likes the above fish as already lost its scales which means the quality is already declining.

You are correct sir. We ate one a couple nights ago. Wasn't bad, but on a scale of 1 to 10 for the salmon/kokanee that I've consumed in the past, I'd give it a 6.5. Just starting to get a little mushy. However, fortunately, we kept a couple chromers. THe one we ate was probably the most on the decline as it's skin was changing color considerably.

No Fences · 07-23-2009, 09:51 AM

They are great for smoking and canning. Normally we average about 1- 1/2- 2 fish per half pint jar, but with the catch we got out of this lake, we got about 1.75 jars per fish!

Good luck to all that go out, it's a beautiful place to fish.

BrushApe · 07-23-2009, 09:05 PM

The fish we got back the first of June (Wallowa Lake report) were awesome, flame reddish/orange meat. Their guts were bulging with what I assume was these Mysis shrimp. My question is, have heard several reports of big schools of small kokanee. Could next year be another good year??????????????????????

Mainman38 · 07-24-2009, 08:55 AM

holly cow what a hog congrats to him

Scrillznac · 07-25-2009, 05:38 AM

Holy schnikies that thing's a monster. Congrats to the lucky angler!!!!!!

Local851FF · 07-25-2009, 11:01 AM

That is such a "PIG" you might even get "bacon" out of him!!!

NICELY DONE!!!

baltz526 · 07-25-2009, 11:29 AM

that picture brings to mind a fish i caught below wickiup dam in the late 80's about 25" 5.5lbs.

Horsecreek · 08-03-2009, 04:33 AM

Just returned from there. Fished it everyday from July 22nd through August 1st. Just missed talking to Jerry on his prize fish on the 19th. Caught a big boy myself..lost it....got to see it.....jumped 3 times and came off at 5:30 AM..lost sleep over that one on why, what if...blah...blah...and more blah...had to be in the 5 lb plus range.....got 3 that were 17inchers but most in that good eating range of 10 to 13 inches..toward the last two days a lot of stock trout in the bag...I don't know about the talk of not be good eating now....they are still bright as a new silver dollar and the flesh is firm!..

flatfishhunter · 08-03-2009, 07:05 PM

Great looking fish. Makes the ones we caught at Merwin Lake yesterday look a bit small.
A question for those of you that have caught some of these big boys, do they hit the same type lures that the smaller ones do, or are you changing your terminal gear to target them?

simpleguy · 08-03-2009, 07:19 PM

Horsecreek,

I must have seen you on that lake. We were out no later than 5:15am every day from the 27th to the 1st. If you saw a couple of guys in a 14ft. aluminum boat with huge old downriggers. It was us.

Horsecreek · 08-03-2009, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flatfishhunter

A question for those of you that have caught some of these big boys, do they hit the same type lures that the smaller ones do, or are you changing your terminal gear to target them?

Oh...... that big boy I lost, hit the same stuff that the little fellas were hitting...a sling blade and a apex in about 40 plus feet....the same stuff Jerry got his record on!....Oh..... that persistent Jerry...he is addicted big time to this lake even though he lives in Arizona...fished it for a month straight...it paid off...he use to own the only market in Joseph for years....

Horsecreek · 08-03-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpleguy

Horsecreek,

I must have seen you on that lake. We were out no later than 5:15am every day from the 27th to the 1st. If you saw a couple of guys in a 14ft. aluminum boat with huge old downriggers. It was us.

Oh I know I saw you...Here is a picture of my rig!

simpleguy · 08-03-2009, 08:42 PM

I know I saw you too. I wished I would have known you were there, I would have at the very least offered you a snack or a frosty beverage after a hard days fishing!

Mexi-Ken · 08-04-2009, 09:57 AM

WOW!!!! Now thats a real Koke and a smile. Good On Ya!!!