Buddy and I were on the water around 8am and fished until 3ish. Trolled around from 8-10ish and hooked 5 but only landed 1. Lost a couple at the boat and it was painful to watch these big feisty fish swim away. From 10ish to 12ish we anchored up in about 30’ of water and found good sized 8-10” perch and put 16 in the cooler, figured that was enough to clean and wanted to try for a couple more kokanee so went back to trolling from 12ish to 3ish. The afternoon bite has been good on Angle but it was pretty slow on Saturday. We hooked 4 more but couldn’t get them into the boat, got to watch 2 more laugh at the net and swim away…doh!! So we had 9 chances and only took 1 kokanee home but it was nice fat 15” fish. The kokanee in Angle are big this year, hard to get to bite and even harder to land but worth the effort. It’s nerve racking feeling them pull as hard as they do at their size knowing that hook will rip out any second with that much pressure. I’ve tried backing down the drag while fighting them but I think that lets some slack into the line as I stop reeling to do it and they’ve popped off in that process. Not sure what the answer is to keep these fish from pulling the hooks out but it is fun trying to figure it out.
I want to post this question(s) in the forum but it could be contentious and am weary of starting a thread that could get anglers being nasty to one another. The species involved aren’t prized so maybe nobody will care enough to get angry. The question is “Is it ethical to kill stunted rock bass and pumpkinseed you have no intention of harvesting for food?”. I ask because while we were anchored up we had to weed thru probably 20-30 stunted rock bass and pumpkinseed to get the decent perch. We threw them back alive but the thought occurred that it could be beneficial to the lake to kill these stunted fish off. It probably wouldn’t make a dent doing it alone but if all anglers did it could these species be brought under control? Is it even legal to do so? Just curious, will read thru the regs again to see what they have to say. It’s been a consistent problem on Angle this year.
Tight lines all!

salmonbarry

8/20/2013 8:43:00 PM

Hey JD, glad you could get out there.. have been thinking of coming down there in my little 6' boat some evening to chase the kokes so may see you out there.. been busy on the salt lately. Sounds like I need to get to Meridian!

CanoeingIt

8/20/2013 10:23:00 PM

Nice report... I've only targeted Koks once on this lake..they put up a good fight and we lost a couple as well.
Couple things come to mind. Are you using "wedding rings" with 2 hooks? Also there are kokanee specific rods.
I think Lamiglas makes them? They have a parabolic bend which is supposed to aid in not pulling the hooks.
Just what I've heard. I have not invested in them myself yet but they look nice.

salmonbarry

8/20/2013 10:27:00 PM

Also JD my success rate on Angle improved for 50% to about 80% when I switched out all my kokanee set ups with a stinger treble hook! I was amazed as to how many came to the boat with just the treble left in the mouth!

jd39

8/21/2013 7:35:00 AM

Thanks salmonbarry! Been thinking about trebles. Meridian is fishing well and putting out quality kokanee but the fish in Angle are much larger overall. Fishing is slower on Angle though, i know it and still go cuz the fish are just awesome when you do get one!

Hi CanoeingIt, yeah i use 2 #4 hooks on my kokanee gear now and have those lamiglass kokanee rods. Highly recommend those rods, they make great all around trout/kokanee trolling rods. Fish are just pulling too hard! Tight lines bud!

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