Part-Time
11/18/2017 7:27:47 PMThanks for the report. Same as you, the Rainbow are more that willing but the Kokanee just seemed to have left. Alien abduction?
samntrllr
11/19/2017 7:41:53 AMOut-migration over dam(s). I read a kokanee study many years ago with tagged fish, caught in lower river and had surgically placed chips. Data was relayed several weeks. Out of the 80 or so caught and released, some died soon, others roamed around, some went over the dam and were pinged with devices below the dam. They anticipated this, and there is out-migration over the top. Last year was epic flows, maybe there was a big loss.
uplandsandpiper
11/19/2017 11:28:43 AMYes I agree. There was some great Kokanee fishing in Rufus Woods last spring. I wonder why?
Fish Dawg
11/19/2017 1:07:09 PMThanks for the report. Maybe Roosevelt will get a Kokanee deposit from PO in exchange for the fish that went down river to Rufus.
outtheresomewhere
11/19/2017 1:07:10 PMThe past two years the Kokanee catching has been almost non-existent on Roosevelt and it's not for trying - I keep looking for reports from the pens
but the last one that I can find re- the Kokes is '07, so it's difficult to know what is happening from that source. The last report I've found re- the Kokes
was '09 and that addressed only the plants/releases in Banks - wife and I fish banks several times a year and have yet to catch a Kokanee and we spend
a week to 10 days each time we go. The years before '15 we've had moderate to great success at Roosevelt and have caught them at least 8-9 months of
the year - every time I filet one I always look for signs of reproduction, as well as stomach contents, and not once in all these years have I ever seen
any sign of getting ready to spawn, so I suspect that they must be GMF's (genetically modified fish) AKA triploids, but finding out for sure has been
a dead end - It looks like we're asking more questions and no wise men have an answer - I intend to keep asking though, maybe one of these days
a DFW and/or a Tribal biologist will respond - persistence is omnipotent.
but the last one that I can find re- the Kokes is '07, so it's difficult to know what is happening from that source. The last report I've found re- the Kokes
was '09 and that addressed only the plants/releases in Banks - wife and I fish banks several times a year and have yet to catch a Kokanee and we spend
a week to 10 days each time we go. The years before '15 we've had moderate to great success at Roosevelt and have caught them at least 8-9 months of
the year - every time I filet one I always look for signs of reproduction, as well as stomach contents, and not once in all these years have I ever seen
any sign of getting ready to spawn, so I suspect that they must be GMF's (genetically modified fish) AKA triploids, but finding out for sure has been
a dead end - It looks like we're asking more questions and no wise men have an answer - I intend to keep asking though, maybe one of these days
a DFW and/or a Tribal biologist will respond - persistence is omnipotent.
Part-Time
11/19/2017 5:05:47 PMInteresting what you said about no sign of reproducing, I have wondered about that. I personally have never boated a Kokanee on Roosevelt that looked like it was going to spawn anywhere but then I still a newbie with this being my 3rd winter on Roosevelt. If they were some sort of Triploid wouldn't they likely be clipped? I talked with one fishery person who said they believe they have been releasing the Kokanee plants to small and have a very low survival rated. All I know for sure is I miss them.
outtheresomewhere
11/21/2017 8:19:02 AMAccording to the "mission statements" from Lake Roosevelt net pens and hatcheries, the Kokanee are raised by the Spokane Tribe and
released as fry and fingerlings at various locations - since the first law of fish dynamics is "big'uns eat little ones" the Kokanee being
released are at the bottom of the food chain and an easy meal for the big guys - the net pen guys release the 'bows in the spring when
they're about 8-9" and in the fall we have something to fish for - and by then they're pretty good at getting something to eat without
getting caught. Also, part of the work the tribal hatchery performs is to clip the adipose fin, so it looks like you've hit on a a couple of
reasons why things are the way they are - lets hope somebody realizes what is happening and possibly why.
released as fry and fingerlings at various locations - since the first law of fish dynamics is "big'uns eat little ones" the Kokanee being
released are at the bottom of the food chain and an easy meal for the big guys - the net pen guys release the 'bows in the spring when
they're about 8-9" and in the fall we have something to fish for - and by then they're pretty good at getting something to eat without
getting caught. Also, part of the work the tribal hatchery performs is to clip the adipose fin, so it looks like you've hit on a a couple of
reasons why things are the way they are - lets hope somebody realizes what is happening and possibly why.
Billm
11/20/2017 10:00:02 PMI too hope the kokanee fishing picks up on Roosevelt. Hopefully the few fish I hear about in the various reports is promising for future fishing. It is still a bit early in the 2018 kokanee season for that lake.