Kalifornya Kokanee

[BodegaDave]

Spent 4/30 thru 5/2 at Indian Valley Reservoir in North Central CA. Met up with and had a great time with some members of another site I belong to called AnglerNet.Net.

The Kokanee & Trout fishing rates as some of the best I have ever had in this overcrowded state - kokes were taken to 18" and Eagle Lake strain trout to around 20" with the fish being fat, feisty, and fun to catch!

Trolling rigs used were small 4-5" Vance's or Sep's dodgers in Watermelon, Prismatic, etc. or Sep's Sidekicks. Lures ranged from as simple as 1/2 a nightcrawler on a 12" leader to small 1.5" Apex's in pinks or greens. A Uncle Larry's spinner in the Glow Pink Tiger color was best for me followed by a U.L. in Glow Blue Tiger with short 12-16' leaders of 8lb Maxima Ultragreen. Best trolling speeds were slow ranging from .8 to 1.6 mph. Fish are still shallow right now and were caught from the surface on toplines to 10-15' on downriggers in the morning to slightly deeper as the day went on. They will be heading deeper as the season progresses and the surface temps warm - water temps are currently from 56 to 60 degrees.

Also had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with Rich Tipton of Lucky Strike Charters - Rich is a funny guy who really knows how to fish that lake and his jokes & storys alone are worth the trip - if anybody wants to fish IVR but doesn't want to tow their boat in on that 9.5 miles of dusty, bumpy road then give Rich a call. He runs a very comfortable 24' pontoon boat rigged with 4 Scotty electric downriggers, a bimini top for shade and he ices down your fish as you catch them for top quality eating. He usually will feed you with killer breakfast burritos that his wife makes up.

Indian Valley is also regarded as a great fishery for smallmouth & largemouth bass, catfish, & crappie. I was only there for the kokes but did see some nice catfish brought in.

Say, if anyone has a good recipe for making "Salmon Candy" out of Kokanee, I sure could use it. I've had them before where they were done with a sweet, tacky glaze and were just awesome but I never got the recipe to duplicate the do.

Here's a pic of a nice two day limit of kokes & one Eagle bow!

[Mr.Kitch'nPass]

WOW!! Those are nice! Is there any place to camp in that area?

[FisherJack]

Sweeeeeeeeeeet! Congrats and thanks for the info.

[BodegaDave]

There is camping right near the lake and there is a concrete launch ramp. The Yolo County Water District runs the place & has been pretty tight about spending money on maintenance and improvements the last 4-5 years. Some camps have electricity & water, others are just a table & firepit - I'd guess there are 40-50 individual sites at least. Lake is at 1475' elevation so it can get plenty hot in the summer but that's when the kokes are pushing 20-24" and easily exceeding 2.5lbs or more so you just need plenty of ice & adult beverages

[Snapset]

Thanks for a great report, BodegaDave. I keep hearing about that lake and that picture convinces me that one of these years I am actually going to hook up the boat and drive south to fish it.

[flapbreaker]

Here's a dry brine that works well for salmon.
I believe this is 5-cents recipe but someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Combine all these ingredients in a large bowl.

2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup salt
1 tbsp onion salt
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 tbsp celery salt
1 tbsp black pepper (optional for a spicy jerky flavor)
1 tbsp white pepper (optional for a spicy jerky flavor)
1 tbsp dried mustard
1 tbsp dried lemon peel (not very necessary)
1 tbsp dill weed

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. You will need a large container to stack the fish. I use a plastic drawer from an old fridge. First you want to make a layer of brine on the bottom of your container, next place a layer of fish, then a layer of brine... continue stacking. I like to pack the brine as I go. Place in the fridge for at least 24 hours. If you leave the fish in the brine longer they will turn into fish candy! I have left in brine up to 36 hours, it is best to try different lengths of time to see what you like best. In 12 hours or so the brine will turn to a liquid so make sure you baste and/or rotate your pieces of fish so they all get the same soaking time.

When you are done soaking remove the fish from the brine and rinse.... Let stand for an hour or so until the fish becomes tacky. If desired sprinkle brown sugar over salmon then place on your smoking racks…

Smoke for about 5 hours if outside temps are high. Longer in the winter.

[FallRiverGuy]

California sure grows large kokanee. Very nice. Those fish might be from eggs out of Paulina. I have heard that the fish will mature and spawn in two years in the California lakes when it takes 4 years to grow a smaller fish in Paulina.

[BodegaDave]

California sure grows large kokanee. Very nice. Those fish might be from eggs out of Paulina. I have heard that the fish will mature and spawn in two years in the California lakes when it takes 4 years to grow a smaller fish in Paulina.

Most likely, the eggs came from either Taylor Creek on Lake Tahoe or the Little Truckee River on Stampede Reservoir. Eggs are taken at both locations by Cal DFG assisted by private organizations such as the California Inland Fisheries Foundation Inc. (CIFFI).

We have a modest number of lakes that grow good sized kokes but nothing like the size that lakes like Flaming Gorge in Utah produce. The current record here is something like 4.5 lbs and was from Lake Tahoe.

[FallRiverGuy]

Thanks for the claification. I had read or heard from someone in Kokanee Power that eggs from Paulina were harvested and planted in some lakes in California. Do the fish mature in less than 4 years in those lakes?

[Dullhook]

I tried this recipe on some fresh filleted kokanee and followed the instructions exactly as written. The results were the best smoked fish I've ever eaten (and I've eaten a bunch!). The only thing I did different was instead of rinsing off the rub before smoking, I wiped it off with paper towels leaving a light coating on the fish, then air drying. My compliments to 5- cents on a perfectly spiced dry rub for fish, I've made copies for friends.

[BodegaDave]

FallRiverGuy

You may be right after all - I just received the CIFFI Spring Newsletter and it stated the following;

"The kokanee planting for 2005 should be pretty much completed by the time you receive this Newsletter. Egg gathering was somewhat limited in California, but DFG put out requests for out-of-state eggs and after all the eggs were delivered & hatched, there were more than enough fingerlings to plant into our regular lakes, plus a few more."

No mention was made of where the eggs came from but Paulina would be a good bet for some if they had excess eggs. As to how fast kokes mature in our lakes down here, it has alot to do with how food rich the individual lake is and other water conditions. Indian Valley was first planted in 1996 and two years later kokes to 18" were being caught. This would indicate the fish have plenty of plankton to feed on and are otherwise content with the water conditions in the lake.

flapbreaker

Thanks for posting that recipe, it sounds like a winner!

[FallRiverGuy]

Good bet the eggs were from Paulina. I just read that Wizards Falls fish hatchery is still selling eggs to Califonia and those are collected from Paulina.

Do you know if they stock triploid kokanee in Indian Valley?

[BodegaDave]

I'm pretty sure that the kokes in IVR are just normal fingerlings, not Triploid stock.

[Fisean]

Hey Bodegadave your drags way tooo tight!
It is a great lake...Being a first timer had a great time, first day we hooked est. 30 fish between 2 people, plenty of double hook ups. Magic depth was 23' using Uncle Larrys Fire tiger in orange and pink. Seps sidekick watermelon. That's it for this "secret" lake!