Kokanee are fun to catch, delicious to eat, and found in lakes and reservoirs throughout the state.
Kokanee salmon are a popular game fish found in lakes and reservoirs across North America. Often referred to as “landlocked sockeye salmon”, they provide exciting fishing opportunities for anglers of all skill levels.
This full guide will teach you everything you need to know as a beginner to catch kokanee fish, including where they live and what they like to eat, how to choose the right gear, how to catch them, and how to cook your catch. Let’s get started!.
Kokanee salmon are the freshwater version of sockeye salmon Unlike their anadromous relatives that migrate from freshwater to the ocean and back again to spawn, kokanee spend their entire lifecycle in lakes and reservoirs
They typically grow to 10-30 inches and 1-8 pounds. Kokanee feature vibrant red bodies and green heads during spawning season. Outside of spawning, they take on silver and blue hues.
Kokanee provide a popular summer and fall fishery across western North America. A lot of them show up to school and put up a good fight on light tackle. People of all ages love to fish for kokanee salmon, even though they don’t get as big as other salmon species.
Understanding Kokanee Habits and Habitat
To catch kokanee consistently, you need to understand their habits and habitat preferences:
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Depth – Kokanee are open water fish, spending summer and fall anywhere from 30-100 ft depths. They move shallow early summer and deep late fall.
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Structure – Points ledges humps, and weedlines near deep water are prime spots. They congregate near creek channels.
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Water Temperature – Kokanee prefer waters 48-55 degrees. Find them deeper when surface temps exceed 65 degrees.
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Time of Day – Low light and overcast days are best. Kokanee feed most actively early morning and evening.
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Season – Peak fishing occurs late spring through fall. Winter fishing through the ice can also be productive.
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Food sources – Kokanee feed on zooplankton, aquatic insects, and small fish.
Understanding these general habits will help you pinpoint the highest percentage areas to target kokanee.
Kokanee Fishing Tackle and Gear
Having the proper tackle and gear dialed in for kokanee will make the difference between a successful outing and getting skunked. Here are the essentials:
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Light rods – Kokanee have soft mouths. Use an ultra light or light power fast action rod in the 6-7 foot range.
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Small reels – Depending on lure choice, a size 500-1000 spinning reel or small low profile baitcaster work well. Load with 4-8 lb test mono or fluorocarbon line.
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Downriggers – Downriggers allow getting lures and bait down to kokanee in deeper water. Manual crank or electric powered downriggers are excellent tools.
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Leadcore line – Leadcore lines let you target specific depths without downriggers. Use 10-30 lb test with a fluorocarbon leader.
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Dodgers & flashers – Equip 3-5 feet ahead of lures and bait. The flashing action attracts kokanee to your offerings.
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Lures – Spinners, spoons, and plugs in the 1-3 inch range are top lure choices. Go with glow, fluorescent, or metallic colors.
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Bait – Salmon eggs, shrimp, and corn soaked in kokanee scent attractors are prime baits when allowed.
Investing in the proper kokanee gear will increase your chances at success on the water. Always check your state’s fishing regulations for any restrictions too.
Techniques for Catching Kokanee
The most effective and popular technique for catching kokanee is trolling. Drift fishing, jigging, and casting can also be productive at times. Here are the best methods to try:
Trolling
Trolling involves slowly dragging lines and lures behind a moving boat to cover water and keep baits and lures in the strike zone. It allows anglers to target kokanee in their summer and fall deep water habitat. Trolling accounts for the majority of kokanee caught.
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Use downriggers or leadcore lines to reach desired depths. Target 30-100 feet.
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Keep trolling speeds around 1-2 mph. Go slower in cold water.
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Run dodgers 3-5 feet ahead of lures and bait.
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Mix up trolling directions. Kokanee often bite best on turns.
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Try plainer, fluorescent, or UV enhanced lures and baits.
Drift Fishing
Drift fishing involves slowly moving with the wind or current while vertically fishing beneath the boat. It excels for kokanee when they move shallow in early summer or when they aggregate in tributary streams fall spawning runs.
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Use just enough weight to maintain contact with lures or bait.
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Drift speed should be slow, .5-1 mph.
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Try jigs tipped with bait or casting small spinners.
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Target channel ledges, drop-offs, and weed edges in 15-30 feet zones.
Jigging
Jigging entails working lures or bait in an up and down motion. It’s deadly for shallow staged kokanee and through the ice.
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Use 1/8-1/4 oz jig heads with plastic twister tails or tube bodies.
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Aggressively pop lures up a foot or two and flutter back.
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Once they bite, avoid setting the hook too hard. Gentle pressure to tighten line works best.
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Focus on flats, points, and creek channels in the main lake or tributaries.
Casting
Casting lures allows covering water to find scattered kokanee schools. It works well along weedlines, points, and tributary mouths.
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Use floating or suspending jerkbaits, cranks, spinners, and spoons.
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Vary retrieve cadence until you trigger strikes.
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Make long casts and retrieve lures to stay clear of boat noise.
While trolling attracts the most kokanee, don’t overlook other techniques. Adjust your approach based on seasonal location patterns.
5 Delicious Kokanee Salmon Recipes
A fresh kokanee salmon fillet is hard to beat for a shore lunch. They also take well to a variety of preparation methods. Here are 5 delicious recipes to try:
1. Grilled Kokanee with Lemon Pepper
The lemon pepper seasoning provides a tangy complement to kokanee’s rich flavor. Simple and delicious off the grill or pan seared.
2. Cajun Blackened Kokanee
Give your fillets a little southern flair. The blend of cajun spices forms a flavorful crust when pan seared.
3. Baked Kokanee with Herbs
For easy oven preparation, bake seasoned fillets in foil packets with lemon, herbs, and wine.
4. Kokanee Salmon Burgers
Spice up your burger routine by swapping beef for kokanee patties. Delicious and healthy.
5. Smoked Kokanee Salmon Spread
For an appetizer spread, smoke fillets over alder or fruit woods. Flake the meat and blend it with cream cheese, dill, and lemon.
Don’t let your catch go to waste. With endless preparation options, kokanee salmon offers a meal full of nutrition and savory flavor.
With this guide, you now have the key knowledge to head out and successfully fish for kokanee salmon this season.
Remember to locate fish in their preferred summer and fall depth ranges near structure. Troll with downriggers or leadcore to present your offerings in the strike zone. Vary your lure styles and colors until you find what’s working.
Practice different techniques like drifting, jigging, and casting to adapt as kokanee move shallow or congregate in tributaries. Taking care of your catch with delicious recipes will cap off an exciting day on the water.
The thrill of hooking into hard fighting kokanee awaits. Get out on the water and start reeling in these abundant game fish. With the strategies outlined above, you’ll avoid getting skunked and have your limit in no time!
9 tips for catching kokanee
Kokanee fish like to be in open water, and most people who fish for them do so from a boat or a float tube or kayak. Very few are caught from the bank. Kokanee can be found anywhere from close to the surface to hundreds of feet down, in deeper lakes. Having a depth/fish finder, down riggers and a long-handled net are all very helpful.
There are two primary ways to catch kokanee, jigging and trolling. When jigging, find schools on your fish finder and jig at the same depth as the fish. You also can cast a jig at any fish you see jumping at the water surface.
Downriggers use heavy line to lower 6 to 10 pounds of weight – and with it your lure – to the depth you want to fish.
There are three primary trolling methods: long lining, dropper rod and using down riggers.
- For long-lining, you use a heavier lure, usually a dodger, and let out 100 to 150 feet of line with nothing on it. This will get you down as deep as 10-12 feet.
- In dropper rod fishing, you put a weight in front of your lure, but some fisherman still use lead core line. Most use 1-3 oz. of weight. Anything over 6 oz. and you’ll be better off using a down rigger. How deep your lure and bait go will depend on how much lead is on the line, how long it is, and how fast you’re trolling.
- Down riggers are very useful when you need to go deeper than 30 to 40 feet.
A downrigger is a winch on the side of the boat that helps you throw your lure farther out to sea. With the help of a light cable or heavy line, the winch can move 6 to 10 pounds of weight and your lure to the right depth for you.
Kokanee will respond to a variety of colors. Dont be afraid to experiment. Photo by Tom Schnell.
Preferred colors for kokanee are pink, orange and chartreuse. Any mix of red, blue, purple, white, black, or any of these colors can cause strikes, so don’t be afraid to try out different ones.
When trolling for kokanee go slower than you would for their salmon cousins. Most people will troll between 0. 8-1. 6 mph. Adding some “S” turns as you troll can often incite a bite.
One must in kokanee fishing is tipping your lure’s hooks with white shoepeg corn, shrimp or maggots. You can color and smell the corn in different ways, like with tuna oil, garlic, anise, and other scents. Adding pink and orange dye also can help change it up some, too.
Rods and reels should be on the ultra-light side. There are many kokanee specific rods on the market — most are in the 7- to 8-foot range.
- When you fish with a down rigger, you need a rod that is very bendy and “loads up” when you put pressure on it.
- A good dropper rod will have more backbone so you can fish with more weight on it.
A limber rod will let you feel the fight of the fish and improve your hook-to-land ratio. A good line-counter reel will make it easier to know exactly how much line you have out.
A selection of kokanee dodgers. Photo by Tom Schnell.
Popular lures include inline trolls and dodgers, which are becoming increasingly popular due to their low water resistance. Kokanee can be caught with spinners, spoons, hoochies, and other salmon lures. Just make sure the lures are much smaller than salmon lures because most kokanee are less than 15 inches long. There also are a lot of kokanee specific lures and dodgers on the market.
Kokanee are not leader shy, so 10-15 lb test monofilament leader is standard. In general, the leader between the dodger and lure should be 2 ½ times the length of the dodger, which is about 9 to 24 inches. For lures that don’t move on their own, like hoochies, use shorter leaders. For spinners and spoons, use longer leaders.
The mouths of kokanee are very soft, so a slow, steady retrieve with light gear will help you catch more fish. Be patient, lost fish are part of the kokanee game.
Anglers can find kokanee in waterbodies around the state.
Kokanee can be fished year-round, although most anglers target them from April through August. Look at the ODF
What is a kokanee?
A kokanee is a landlocked, freshwater sockeye salmon. Kokanee fish live their whole lives in fresh water, while their relative the sockeye fish goes to and from the ocean. Most kokanee are between 10 and 15 inches long, but they can get bigger. In 2010, Wallowa Lake caught the state record 9 lb 10 oz kokanee.
Kokanee salmon bright red just before spawning.
Kokanee filter feed on tiny plankton and zooplankton in the lakes and reservoirs. In the fall, mature fish will spawn in adjacent streams or on gravel shorelines. Like all Pacific salmon, kokanee die after spawning.
Kokanee have delicate flesh and are known as excellent table fair. Prepare them the same way you would salmon or trout. They will stay tasty longer if you bleed them and put them on ice as soon as you get them to the boat.
Tom Schnell and Greg Grenbemer, who runs an ODFW hatchery, are both big fans of kokanee fishing. They have worked together to share what they know about the sport in Oregon.
Kokanee Fishing Simplified
FAQ
What is the best bait for kokanee fishing?
What is the best way to catch kokanee salmon?
What is the best rig for kokanee?
What depth should I fish for kokanee?
How do you catch kokanee salmon?
Kokanee Salmon bite pink baits and lures, but will also bite at reds, oranges, and some light purples. Spoons are great lures, but spinner lures work as well. When trolling, use a dodger to attract more fish towards your hooks. Put a 1/16 oz spoon lure behind the dodger to imitate a school of fish. But test out new methods.
Is smoked salmon safe for kidneys?
Smoked salmon is safe for the kidneys, as long as it does not exceed the renal load, that is, the amount of recommended daily protein.
How do you fish kokanee?
Adjust your trolling depth according to the time of year and time of day, as Kokanee can be found at different depths. Using a downrigger or weighted line can help you reach the right depth. Start fishing early in the morning or late in the evening when Kokanee are most active and closer to the surface.
What are kokanee fishing techniques?
Kokanee fishing techniques share similarities with those used for salmon fishing, particularly because Kokanee are landlocked sockeye salmon. Techniques like trolling with dodgers and lures, as well as the use of specific baits, are common to both.