# Flaming Gorge Kokes



## Digi-Troller (Jan 12, 2008)

We fished Flaming Gorge last week. We've been fishing it so much this year that they are all kind of running together... but once again we had a great time! We fished mostly in the Buckboard area for kokes, but also tried Anvil our last morning. Early in the week we found very fast fishing for kokes up to around 3.5 pounds. It was as fast as I've ever seen it. After a couple of days of fast fishing we started looking for bigger kokes. We found fewer numbers, but got some larger ones. Our top koke was around 4.5 pounds, and we caught quite a few that were 4 (or very close). It was a great trip and I can't wait to get up there again (probably next week). We even caught a few macs up to 8 lbs.

Top baits were pretty consistent. For numbers fishing the RMT UV hyper dodger trailed by a small pink RGT was a rig that we couldn't hardly keep in the water. Pink UV hoochies and serpent spoons trailing the same dodgers produced the bigger fish.

Here are a couple pics...


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Thanks for the update! Good to see you are still slaying them. Has the UT side picked up or is it still better action on the WY side? I hope to get back up there before the summer ends, geez where does the time go?


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## Digi-Troller (Jan 12, 2008)

The Utah side has plenty of good action. A friend of mine has been slaying them down there all year. We've also done pretty good in Linwood bay in the evenings. But, for bigger kokes, the Wyoming side is almost always better. The summer is rolling along, so you better get up there. Some of the larger kokes already had a bit of red on their bellies! Koke season is in full swing.


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## BROWN BAGGER (Sep 13, 2007)

I'm so joulous digitroller, I'm shooting for the 4th. I sure do appreciate the up dates. do you have a oil well in your back yard


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## fish4me (Jun 19, 2008)

I've always wanted to fish the the Gorge. I've heard there are some huge fish in that lake. 
Thanks for the report.


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## BootWarmer (Apr 20, 2008)

Great pics, thanks for posting.


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## Modemer (May 12, 2008)

Kokes have got to be my favorite fish to go after. I did a lot of fishing for them at the end of last season. At first I had a lot of problems with the hooks ripping through their mouths. So I ended up getting some shock absorbers to put on the lines. I was fishing the north end of causey with about 200’ of line out and based on the angle of the dangle, my lure was about 100’ down.


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

Very nice as usually. Man digi that one is huge.


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## hunterfisher (Sep 14, 2007)

Nice fish. Man you are up there a lot.


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## Digi-Troller (Jan 12, 2008)

Yeah, we have spent a lot of time up there this year. Its been pretty awesome, but hunting season is fast approaching, so we'll probably only get up there 3 or 4 more trips this year. In response to a few PM's I figure I'll post some answers here for all to read...

If you're having trouble ripping through their lips, snubbers are a good solution. Another good thing to do is use double hooks. We double snell #4 Gami Octopus hooks for many of our koke rigs. This reduces fish loss. Another thing to have is a good rod and reel combo. Lamiglas makes a rod specifically built for kokanee fishing. Its called the "Kokanee Special." Its an ultralight rod that really absorbs a lot of shock. With the koke specials we also use Shimano Cardiff reels which have very smooth drags, and are pretty quick. By keeping the drag set somewhat loose the kokes are free to make their runs... but, because of the speedy retrieve you can keep the slack out when they turn and charge again. This combo has really helped reduce the number of kokes we lose. This has been so effective in reducing lost fish that we have stopped using snubbers.

One thing to mention if you're going to switch to ultra light gear, is the release. This conversation has come up quite a bit in the past. I've always liked the Offshore releases in medium... but, when we switched to the ultra light gear it was necessary to switch to the light releases. The little yellow ones work extremely well for kokanee fishing.


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## BROWN BAGGER (Sep 13, 2007)

thanks for the info digi. I two like the offshore release's. also shasta tackle makes a kokanee pole, that is a little less pricey. I have one and love it.


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## CURLYSLURES (May 21, 2008)

Here are a couple of pics of our trip to the gorge. Our best luck was with our pink and black dot Curly's Lure below a RMT Dodger


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