# Thank you digi-troller!!! Flaming Gorge 5-17 to 5-19.



## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

I went to Flaming Gorge with my boy, and a couple of buddies. Man it was awsome I got alot of advice form forum members, and especially digi-troller. He told me where they were, and what they were hitting.  We fished about 10 miles south of Buckboard, by something crossing, I can't remember what it was called. The kokes were caught anywhere from right off the top, to 40 feet down. I used digi-trollers fail safe apex, behind a 50-50 pink and green dodger. Almost every fish I caught was off these. When the wind would blow we would anchor in the coves, and jig. Thats when we would slay the rainbows. I caught 20 fish in total. 14 kokes, (my previous life time total was around 5  ) 4 rainbows, and 2 small lakers.

My boy caught the biggest of the bunch, he nailed a 6 lbs laker off the top with the apex set up.  Now both he and my wife, have caught bigger trout than me. :x We had a double at the time he caught the big one, and I was fighting a 4lbs rainbow. He brought the thing in by him self, like he was an old pro. He made the old man proud.

Here is the boys big dog. It was caught in a bay about 6:10 am.










My biggest laker. 










My boys first koke.










One of my kokes.










don't have any photos of food because we drank our food here is a pic, of me enjoying breakfast. :mrgreen:










The boy also learned to gut fish for the first time and gutted all my fish and his, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time.


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## idiot with a bow (Sep 10, 2007)

Congrats on the angling and procreating!


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## clean pass through (Nov 26, 2007)

Looks like you and your boy had a good time. Taking your kids out and having them experience time spent with you is what makes life fun. I went out today alone and not with my boy and felt guilty the whole time fishing. He was at pre-school. 

Good on ya!


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Nice job!! Looks like you had a great time, great food and all.

Nice fish too!

sawsman


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## Poo Pie (Nov 23, 2007)

Glad you had a successful trip and props to your boy.  

On a side note that's a sweet blue t-shirt, should help the whiskey tango tan come in nicely. :twisted:


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

Way to go Blade! I am extremely jealous. I wish I knew how to fish for Kokes like that.


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## BrookTroutKid (Oct 10, 2007)

Nice report fixed.... Keep taking your boy out and you will have a future BROOKTROUTKID /**|**\


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## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

Nibble Nuts. Just use the set up I did and you'll catch some.

The w.t. tan is coming in sweet. :mrgreen:


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

How far from the dodger was the apex? Also, if you don't mind, at what speed were you trolling for them?


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Nice report, fixed! Pretty cool to see the spike outdo the buck. :wink: 

Tons of kokes, eh? Need to scratch that one off the list. Good job.


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## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

The apex comes with a leatter(sp) :lol: I hooked it directly to the dodger. Speed was anywhere from .9 to 2 mph. Speed didn't seem to matter that much. Don't drink too much. You need to be up at sunup. The fishing is insane untill about 9:30. Then it slows down. after 9:30 we would still pick up a few, make sure to drop down to about 40 ft.


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

Cool, thanks for the info. I may get the chance to test this out this weekend if the old man is still up for it.


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## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

Nibble Nuts said:


> Cool, thanks for the info. I may get the chance to test this out this weekend *if the old man is still up for it*.


That's cool it's nice to see you and .45 get out. :lol:

By the way if you don't have a shuttle hawk, get one. Those are the coolest thing ever Invented. They are used with a down rigger so you don't have to real up your ball if you catch a fish.

By the way *I was using the pink apex I forgot to mention that.*


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Sweet report fixed! Looks like fun times, kokes is still on my list to catch sometime.


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## Hellsangler69 (Sep 26, 2007)

Pink Blade , I can't think of a better color for you to fish . Congrats on the trip . I need to try the soft water some year there . :lol:


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## FROGGER (Oct 1, 2007)

Nice, i wish i was your kid... looks like you guys had a great time. Thanks for the pics and post


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## Sportfishin Steve (Apr 29, 2008)

8) If i bring my fish to your house, will your son clean my fish too?? :? 
Good job !!


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## hunterfisher (Sep 14, 2007)

Glad you caught some.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

fixed blade said:


> [quote="Nibble Nuts":t3su3ywp]Cool, thanks for the info. I may get the chance to test this out this weekend *if the old man is still up for it*.


That's cool it's nice to see you and .45 get out. :lol:

By the way if you don't have a shuttle hawk, get one. Those are the coolest thing ever Invented. They are used with a down rigger so you don't have to real up your ball if you catch a fish.

By the way *I was using the pink apex I forgot to mention that.*[/quote:t3su3ywp]

Yes !! The *old man* and Nibble Nuts could outfish you 'anytime' !! :mrgreen: .......Not sure about outfishing your son though.. 

GOOD POST FIXEDBLADE !! And congrats to your son !!


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

Looks like a great time fixed. Awesome report.


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## Digi-Troller (Jan 12, 2008)

Fixed Blade,

As I said though PM... great job! Thanks for sharing your report and pics. Its always good to see someone that can learn a few new tricks and then put them into practice. Remember though that this is the tip of the iceberg... keep at it and you'll have many more great days of koke fishing ahead of you. Congrats to your son on the 6lb mac! He'll rememer that one for awhile! 

You mentioned that things slowed down around 9:30. One thing I will say is that when the koke bite slows down that is time to start changing things up. I can't tell you how many times the bite has slowed down and we've found a way to turn it back on. Changing location, lures, scent, speed, or depth can make this happen. My best koke fishing days this year have been that way. Great bite early, then a big lull. Then we figure things out and its back to great again. We've had several days of solid action well into the afternoons. Survive the lulls, and press on. Apexes slow down, switch to Viper Serpent Spoons. Those slow down, swith to RGT's... and so on.

Anyways, enough kokanee lecturing! LOL Great job, great report, great pics. Thank you very much for sharing it with us! As always, let me know if I can ever be of any further help. Oh yeah, its called Holmes Crossing (used to be Squaw Hollow). Great area.

Talk to you later, Brett


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## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

Digi, maybe next time you can teach me how to go after the big macs???  The entire trip didn't go as smooth as it should have.

Someone, I won't mention any names, sat on a hook. Talk about hooking the big one.


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Digi thanks for being so open with your advice we really had some nice kokes and they were fun to catch. I was told by our guide that when you catch a koke trolling you should keep them because they will die anyway. I am not a fish eater but those samon were really good eating so I would not be apposed to keaping them anyway but is that true?


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## Digi-Troller (Jan 12, 2008)

That can be true... especially in the summer. Kokanee are somewhat delicate, and are also sensitive to temperature. This time of year they are being trolled up from 15-30 feet of water that is pretty consistent in temperature. They aren't getting the same temperature shock that they will be in a month or two. A kokanee that is only hooked in the mouth, and is handled right, has a great chance of survival. Keep them in the water (don't net them), and don't let them flop and hit the boat. Just get ahold of the hook with some pliers and remove it. The fish should be fine. When the water warms, this may not be the case and all fish should be considered for the cooler. The DWR is encouraging anglers to keep their limit, then switch tactics to fish for other species. As the water warms it will be my intention to follow their advice (as I have in the past). Usually we have enough anglers in the boat to keep us busy on kokes for a while. But, we've also had plenty of times that we've had to switch gear and fish for pup macs (but, theyre fun too).

Who was your guide?


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

We went out with conquest expeditions..


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## Digi-Troller (Jan 12, 2008)

Were you on the yellow boat with Kyle Edwards? Those guys really know their stuff, so I hope you took some notes. Some days the bite just isnt stellar. I'd definately remember what you learned and be ready to apply it another day. I've been fishing kokes for a while and there arent a lot of guys that impress me anymore... Kyle is one of those guys that still impress. I'm sure you learned a ton and are ready to take it another step by applying those things. If you ever have any questions, feel free to send me a PM.

Great reports guys! I need to get back up there!


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Yep that was the one! He was a really nice guy and worked his tail off to get us into some fish. He was really open about sharing information and I did learn some stuff from him that helped us the following days. Thanks for all the advice!


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