Fishing

We only catch Cutts by accident. We test run Kokanee lures for west coast mfg's. Since Ririe has very little pressure and large groups of Kokes all summer long we run pre-market lures against their competitors for quality reporting. Smallies, chubs and cutts are bycatch if you will.

Cool job!

I was catching cutts on the Blacktail side this past fall w/ my 4 yr old while rowing out to our perch spot. He did rather well using various crankbaits. Some were decent size, but none like the reported 3 pounders.


Duct tape is like the force. It has a dark side and light side and it holds the universe together.

I was fishing on Ririe this morning, just a couple hours cause I had to get to work, but the ice, where I measured was 3.75" thick. And hearing from the other fisherman it was anywhere from 3.5 to 4" all over. I didn't catch anything, missed a couple bites on a tube jig right off the bottom. Going back after work this afternoon.

Awesome, I'll be up there in the morning. I need to go get some more fire corn.


"Hawk. Goin' for the Musselshell. Take me a week's ridin', and he'll be there in... hell, he's there already." -Jeremiah Johnson

Most of the people that go to Ririe seem to know what they're doing, today was the first time I've ever fished there. I had a couple bites off the bottom, I don't have a clue what they might have been, i'm guessing a trout, but could've been perch. Does any one have specific pointers as far as what has worked in the past for Kokanee, trout, and perch? I don't have a fish-finder, wish i did, can't afford it though. Any help please?

The easiest way to learn is to do what most of the people out there have done. Drill your holes 30' from someone that looks like they catch fish and make some friends. I'll be out there in the morning somewhere around the island. There will be a snowshovel leaning up against my sled and 2 Frabil buckets with camo seat cushions on them. I'll be wearing a Loomis hat and all Colombia Camo. Come on by and we'll get you some holes and some fishing experience.

If you are within 2" of the bottom you are probably getting perch bites. Sometimes the Kokes will cruise the bottom, but they will usually be suspended. I like to set my five rods up at different depths to try to find where they are suspended. I would go with a small pink jig underneath a kastmaster or a pink swedish pimple.

The trout generally cruise the shore line in the morning. If you want to catch trout find out what depth they are cruising and set your poles on that contour line.

Windriver

For Kokes I'll set about 3 rods at about 10, 15-20 and 25 feet. One of those usually gets hit eventually and I'll adjust the others to match. Fort perch (i'm not having much luck though) I'll drop to the bottom and crank it up half to 1 turn of the handle. Trout seem to just be an occasional catch from the other two methods. Those targeting them usually seem to get them within 30 ft of the shore though.


Duct tape is like the force. It has a dark side and light side and it holds the universe together.

Thanks guys for your posts, I don't know if I'll make it out tomorrow, but I will definitely look for you if i do. You guys are great. Hope to meet some of you guys out on the ice.

Fish finders make a huge difference ice fishing. I started out with a Humminbird Fishing buddy 110. I still use it and it works great for ice fishing and trolling. If the temps get below 0 the screen has a hard time keeping up, I just put a clear plastic bag over it with a couple hand warmers and its good to go. You can also turn the sensitivity up enough to pick up your jigs so it basically works just like a flasher when ice fishing, but way cheaper. I think they are around $100 right now.


"Hawk. Goin' for the Musselshell. Take me a week's ridin', and he'll be there in... hell, he's there already." -Jeremiah Johnson

Thanks for the tip!!! I'm going to Cabela's tomorrow to blow some christmas money and I was thinking of getting a flasher, but they're so dang expensive. do you have to drill two holes side by side and mount it on a bucket or something? one of the reviews on Cabela's said that worked for them. Is it pretty easy to use?


www.bryanlikestofish.com

I do it much the same way. I set 2 rods at 12-15' and 3 rods at 24-26'. The reason for multiple rods at the same depth is your attractor jig acts as a small school of kokanee. For perch you really need to locate some structure. The rocks that make up the island came from blasting out the boat ramp so any where in the proximity of the Island or in between the island and the bank towards the outer edges works for perch. They have a lot of Christmas trees that were cinder blocked to the bottom out there but if you don't know where to look it would be like hunting for a needle in a hay stack.

i haven't fished ririe but once throught the ice a couple years back but my #1 thing that helps you be successfull when fishing kokes through the ice is having a setup that doesn't take a long time to decend to the kokes if they are 20+ feet down, you spend more time getting back to them after icing one than it takes to hook another. sometimes they stay under you and sometimes you need to whack em as fast as you can cause they may never come back.
I prefer swedish pimps, or ice fly with a flasher 12 - 18 inches above it. then match what they want.
also i have learned focusing on one rod ices more fish than running around after 5.
my two cents

It comes with a mounting bracket that is very versatile. You can clamp it to a bucket if you have some stuff to weigh the bucket down some. Or just get a chunk of 2x4 and drill a hole in it, and straddle the hole with it. They have some newer models than mine that even have a side finder that might come in handy. I know some guys don't like humminbird but I've got my moneys worth several times over.


"Hawk. Goin' for the Musselshell. Take me a week's ridin', and he'll be there in... hell, he's there already." -Jeremiah Johnson

I bought a Marcum 5.6 showdown this year. I was using a very inexpensive Hummingbird fish finder last year and I really can't believe the difference. I f there is a fish by your bait you know it with the Marcum, where I think the Hummingbird picked up a lot of interference that couldn't be tuned out. Marcum also offers a Showdown fish troller that is around $200, more of a entry level model that will do almost as much as the one I bought. But that being said, a used fish finder can be made portable and at the very least should tell you the water depth and the depth of some of the fish that are suspended, but may not show you the depth of your bait.



Better to be thought of as a idiot, than open your mouth and remove all doubt!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had a fun day with my five year old at Ririe as you can see from the picture. The fish were in such a frenzy we caught them on bare jigs. I think about 9 of us limited out in the same spot. The fish would not leave. I have never seen them do that before. How did you end up doing maghunter?

We also had a great day up there. A big school moved in and hung around for a long time. Several groups of people wandered over and caught their limits. Jared Scott called me and wanted to try doing some filming at Ririe again (he has been up there several times and hasn't done very well). He had some projects going on early this morning so he got a late start, and of course by the time he arrived the kokanee had moved on. After a few hours of no fish we noticed a group of guys about a hundred yards away chasing after their poles and sliding on the ice, having a good time pulling fish out of the holes right and left. I told Jared looks like they about have their limit lets go see if they wouldn't mind letting your kids catch a few. They were more than willing and the kids had a blast catching fish for about 10 minutes or so until the school left. The wind started picking up and one of the kids put a leg down the hole so we packed it up. I don't know if he got enough footage to make a show or not, but it was a good start for the Ririe 2011 ice fishing season. The ice is only 3 to 4 inches but really strong, most of the schools I saw on the flasher and fish finder were between 10 and 30 feet. The fish are really small this year also. I'll post a video later.


"Hawk. Goin' for the Musselshell. Take me a week's ridin', and he'll be there in... hell, he's there already." -Jeremiah Johnson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoLdnbVI8ZI

Video of today


"Hawk. Goin' for the Musselshell. Take me a week's ridin', and he'll be there in... hell, he's there already." -Jeremiah Johnson

I saw you guys going crazy West of the Island. I also saw Maghunter and Jared Scott out there filming. Looked like fun. Steelfisher and I were on the other side of the island.

Steel fisher and I did pretty well. Steelfisher limited out early in the morning. I just kept helping them release themselves before they would come through the hole. I had plenty of chances, just didn't get it done before I had to go. I ended up landing 2 Cutts, and 3 Kokes.

My wife had the Calipers on her brake go out so I had to go home a little early.

It was a pleasure to fish next to MMDon as well. Hope to fish with you in the future.

Overall it looks like BFT-Idaho represented well today at Ririe. Can't wait to get back, although it is going to be about a week. I will carry some BFT stickers with me so if any of you want them you can get some from me when you see me on the ice.

Windriver

Another great day on our local Ririe Reservoir. It was so warm this morning I forgot to put on a coat! The fishing wasn't as hot as it was on the west side of the island but we did manage a limit for our time! Had the pleasure of sharing some ice with Bill Schiess, Windriver and Steelfisher. Windriver did have the fine art of C&R down to a science!

The company doesn't get any better but we were licking our chops a bit watching Maghunter and the Jared Scott crew pull in fish closer to the dam! Thanks for the great day guys!

MM/Don

It was good to meet you MMDon. Fun morning on the ice. I'm sure we will run into you again.

SteelFisher

Ended up catching 7 kokanee today. That was me and my son fishing in between you MMDon and Windriver. we couldn't get the schools to bite or come by us until you were leaving windriver then they finally left your holes for a bit and came our way.

It's a small world and getting smaller with a great local board! Very cool!

Next time I am up there I will have to wander around and try to meet all of you guys. I didn't realize I was fishing right next to you this morning. Next time I will try and be a little more social!