sunshine coast kokanee means cutthroat

[patches]

its time for the kokanee to start the staging and transformation time . they have been staging at the mouth of any small steam that enters one of powell rivers many lakes . there are 2 kinds of kok's hear, a small in stream spawner and a shore spawner . the in stream fish is the target of large cutts as they stage and fallow them into the creek .the shoal spawning kokanee is larger and is a large meal for a big cutt but they also get targeted wile staging and spawning at the mouth of the creek in the deposit of small gravel from the winter time flows.staging starts in aug, but some fish dont spawn till mid to late oct .some cutts fallow the kok's into the stream and feed till they them selves start to spawn as early as oct. this ''MAGIC TIME '' is one of the best times to target aggressive cutts. some of the strongest and most aggressive large fish are taken at this time of the season . kokanee and stickleback patterns work wonders at this time, but a large leach will always bring em out .please remember that im sharing this info with much respect ....so in tern respect these fish and we will be able to catch them for generations to come . these lakes have many friends who take care of them so pack out what you pack in, and take only pictures ,while leaving only your foot prints . thanks patches...

[WF-6-S]

while I would love to make it to the Powel River area, (especially after that article in last month's Canadian flyfisher) I don't know when that will be. In your experience is this isolated to Powel River lakes or is this a general spawning timing for kokanee?

If I do make it over there, I hear that beach fishing for cutts is pretty good. What's the access like for the beaches over there?

Thanks

Chris

[WF-6-S]

Patches... That must have been you in that article. That looks like some dream fishing. Biggest cutts i've ever seen!

[patches]

yes this is cutthroat country,and yes this is the general time for kokes to spawn though i have found a variation in the time that spawning may occur, i think that temperature and weather play a large roll . and ya doing that article with paul ,april and nick was super fun . you got to see the video of that day! beach fishing can be hot but spoty the cutts enter with the salmon and keep going up till march so in aug or july you have them all out front and its hot .soon it will be river time and its not that uncommon to catch 10 or more in a section of the river . there are some amazing beaches to fish but you need to have the chopper to get there .

[patches]

i was talking to Ian lund yesterday ,he is one of our provincial bio, for the lower mainland Region. he was saying that kokanees are late all over .hear iv seen schools at the mouths of all the feeder creeks go into the lakes .the fish are still silver though some have begone to get a pinky hue to them. i would like to have some patterns for kokanee in all stages of pre spawn and some new patterns for the full red bodied , green headed , beat down half dead, post spawn, kokanee pattern . i have been in the boat just of a creek moth and watched as half dead kokanee float out of the creek on the surface and attempt to swim down to a depth of safety and get down 5 feet to have a huge cutty swallow him whole.any body got the itch to tie up a new fly that would represent a kokanee in this stage ? the koks are in the 2-5 inch range ......let me know........snatchalotofish..

[jared]

Hey Patches,

Send me a picture of the bait and I'll whip some prototypes up for you...

-jared


PS check your private messages....my brother-in-law has already left -- guess he did well on the salmon though!

[patches]

i am waiting for pics from my underwater photographer of some kokanee and ill send them as soon as they arrive, the waters up and its heating up !

[patches]

yesterday we went up to a lake in the back country and the water was very high . at an in flow from a lake higher in the system ,we started with the staples. stickle back was picking up some small fish and i was tossing a new favorite , the Powell forest with lots of hits when scott changed to a woolly bugger and nailed a 20 inch fish.we moved to another shelf with a creek entering and hooked several small fish in the 12-17 inch range. moving to the out flow where there were spawning kokanee i went back to the stickle back in the same size as the kok's.right away i caught a nice fish that put on the chase and was so aggressive i wish i had a head cam cause i cant even begin to explain the excitement of these fish and there takes ..........leaving the lake and entering the river we hovered down slow and mist a nice 6-8 lb fish that again came at my fly with a unexpected violence, and mist several slashes before siting under the boat and returning back to his lie under the brush just below the school of spawning kokanees . we fished our way out and returned to the larger in flow at the head. as we arrived we snuck into position and i hit a nice 22 inch male with the amazing colors of a fall spawner .the next fish that scott took was awesome. the fish was not that big but a larger 6-8 lb fish was chasing and attacking his trout , i love to see that aggressive behaviour . witch is what makes fishing powell rivers cutthroat so special. i took one more nice fish up in the very flooded forest above, wading into the water channel and pulling out a nice female that was feeding on kokanee in the 20-22inch range . all these fish are released immediately after a quick photo so others can come and injoy their company . its on and the more rain the better........

[patches]

around the full moon things seem to slow down. missed some big fish last week so were headen up to day. trolling large leaches and sticklebacks in the cold . not my favoret way to catch big trout,but some of the largest cuts come out of this lake every season by slowly working 16-25 feet of water.well im off have a great day ...........snatcholotofish