08-26-2022, 02:31 PM
There is certainly a fine line between some folks who don't know how to adapt and present what the kokes want at various points in the season, and blaming low fish numbers, and fish numbers actually being down.
I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm probably on the water 70 days a year and I've kept a koke journal since 2019. Depth, water temps, time of day, preferred speeds, colors, dodgers, corn or maggot, location on the lake, etc. Those trends and catches seem to follow patterns from year to year - this year has been the greatest deviation I've seen.
I can say with some confidence that numbers are certainly not what they used to be. I would say it's a battle on two fronts between stocking numbers being down, and "COVID fishermen" - there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people chasing (and catching) Kokanee.
I think a significant factor for this is some of the Facebook groups that, for whatever reason, really enjoy hot-spotting and sharing exact catching information, which has increased angler success and harvest. Whereas before, Kokanee were somewhat of a "mystery" to new fisherman, now they're actually bringing them home on the first and second trip.
Price of progress, or something like that.
I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm probably on the water 70 days a year and I've kept a koke journal since 2019. Depth, water temps, time of day, preferred speeds, colors, dodgers, corn or maggot, location on the lake, etc. Those trends and catches seem to follow patterns from year to year - this year has been the greatest deviation I've seen.
I can say with some confidence that numbers are certainly not what they used to be. I would say it's a battle on two fronts between stocking numbers being down, and "COVID fishermen" - there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people chasing (and catching) Kokanee.
I think a significant factor for this is some of the Facebook groups that, for whatever reason, really enjoy hot-spotting and sharing exact catching information, which has increased angler success and harvest. Whereas before, Kokanee were somewhat of a "mystery" to new fisherman, now they're actually bringing them home on the first and second trip.
Price of progress, or something like that.