Kokes in Swift?????

Fly Junkie · 02-24-2010, 06:06 PM

This is little bit overdue but I was just thinking about it. This last summer when I was flyfishing for trout in the river above swift resivoir I caught 4 or 5 chrome Kokanee that were all about 10-14 inches. I was just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences in the river or the resivior? I had allways read in the regs that they were in there but never experienced catching them until last summer, I just never thought that there were any in there.

trout chaser · 02-24-2010, 06:48 PM

I've fished up there for over a decade and have never caught a kokanee in the river above Swift. I've been catching a lot more coho since they started the anadromous salmonid re-introduction program (bull trout feeding program) above the Dams.

dunfishing · 02-24-2010, 07:55 PM

Yes there is! I've fished up there quite a bit. Yale, Merwin & Swift all have Kokes in them & I've found that ususally the last week in august to the second week in september is the best time to fish for them in the tributaries. By the third week they start turning green and orange so get there early and visit each weekend for best results.

Steelie Mike · 02-24-2010, 10:09 PM

I used to catch them at the Dam when streamer fishing. Lots of little guys with some rainbows mixed in. That was at least five years ago if not more though.

Oregonism · 02-25-2010, 06:50 AM

My cousin trolls for them in Merwin, but I've never heard of anyone catching them on a fly. That's cool... those little things can put up a hell of a fight for their size. Not to mention they taste delicious as well.

Fly Junkie · 02-25-2010, 10:31 PM

Here's one of the bigger ones that I caught.

walt1er · 03-02-2010, 04:17 PM

Some info that may shed light on the subject:

1. Juvenile landlocked coho slamon and kokanee can be difficult to differentiate. I think the fish held up in the pictures are juvenile coho, not kokanee.

2. Swift has seen a smorgasbord of plantings. From a variety of sources: Kokanee from British Columbia were stocked in Merwin, Yale and Swift reservoirs in the late 1950s, according to Frank Shirer of Pacific Power, operator of Merwin, Yale and Swift dams.

3. WDFW records available online show no kokanee plants in Swift for the last ten years.