# Kokanee



## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Over the last few years the DWR has been dumping 200K-300K very small Kokanee into Strawberry every spring. My question is, is there any verifiable info, fish counts, etc that tell us how many or percent of these fish survive to catchable size or any other information about growth rate, general information like "current numbers of", etc, etc?? 

Also, why aren't some Kokanee allowed to grow to a more survivable size in the hatcheries before planting?


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

Generally speaking, stocking loads of very small fish is much more economically efficient than raising fish to larger sizes and stocking fewer. My guess is that the survival rates are sufficient to meet needs or they are monitoring the returns to find better ways of supplementing the population.


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## TPrawitt91 (Sep 1, 2015)

w2u hit it right on the head. Same deal with tiger muskies. They release tons of little ones to grow rather than pay to grow them in tanks. Win Win since existing fish populations get a bit more bioavailable food, and survival numbers of the stocked fish aren't any worse than when they grow them bigger before release.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

I could be mistaken, but it seemed that due to kokes specialized feeding needs (zooplankton), the hatcheries have to stock them at that size because the young (but older) fish don't do so well in a hatchery setting eating the usual fish chow.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Catherder said:


> I could be mistaken, but it seemed that due to kokes specialized feeding needs (zooplankton), the hatcheries have to stock them at that size because the young (but older) fish don't do so well in a hatchery setting eating the usual fish chow.


+1

-DallanC


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

A Kokanee's life span is typically 4-7 years old. They will return to the stream where hatched within that time (3-4 years) to spawn and die. I don't think it would be money well spent on raising a fish for 2 years, just to have it live in a lake for another 1-2 years to eventually die.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

I'm willing to share cohort and age data IF people share with me reliable ways to find & catch them. 

I'll be generous that way.


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## TOgden (Sep 10, 2007)

TPrawitt91 said:


> w2u hit it right on the head. Same deal with tiger muskies.


The difference with the tiger muskies is they can only keep them in the hatchery for so long before they start eating each other.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

TOgden said:


> The difference with the tiger muskies is they can only keep them in the hatchery for so long before they start eating each other.


Kinda like what happened when COVID ran wild a couple years ago.


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## Daisy (Jan 4, 2010)

taxidermist said:


> A Kokanee's life span is typically 4-7 years old. They will return to the stream where hatched within that time (3-4 years) to spawn and die. I don't think it would be money well spent on raising a fish for 2 years, just to have it live in a lake for another 1-2 years to eventually die.


Somewhere in this statement, you have a flaw in your logic.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I have a coupla Utah friends that catch nice kokes through the ice at Strawberry.

I'm not making this up, I have friends.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Do they do "fish counts" in Strawberry and if so what data is collected? Are the numbers in "fish per acre foot" or something like that?
I have read where the numbers of returning hatchery(Ocean) salmon is as low as .05-1.0 percent when released as smolt, I wonder if those numbers are about the same for Strawberry Kokanee?


Catherder said:


> I could be mistaken, but it seemed that due to kokes specialized feeding needs (zooplankton), the hatcheries have to stock them at that size because the young (but older) fish don't do so well in a hatchery setting eating the usual fish chow.


Now that makes a lot of sense. Thanks


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## jlofthouse16 (Oct 18, 2021)

The DWR planted some Kokanee out here in the Porcupine Reservoir. Well, the small mouthed buggars won't take a hook, so the only way to catch them is wait till they go upstream to spawn and catch them with a dipnet! (Illegal) What a waste of resources. Give me some Rainbows.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

jlofthouse16 said:


> The DWR planted some Kokanee out here in the Porcupine Reservoir. Well, the small mouthed buggars won't take a hook, so the only way to catch them is wait till they go upstream to spawn and catch them with a dipnet! (Illegal) What a waste of resources. Give me some Rainbows.


There've been fishing reports of kokanee from Porcupine posted here. They dont seem to get very big, but certainly still fun to catch.

Kokanee are filter feeders, they eat zooplankton in the water, they don't eat bugs or other things normal trout eat. Its an entirely different kind of fishing. They are territorial so you are trying to piss them off into striking a lure. You also need to concentrate on the water column and where they want to be. I've found the most success fishing specific water temperatures, at whatever depth that will be at. Zooplankton also dislikes sunlight so feeding kokes will follow them deeper into the water as the sun gets higher.

I run a go-pro on the downrigger ball and have spent hours watching presentations of lures and their behaviors. Its quite entertaining and very instructional. I've posted a few videos here over the years.

-DallanC


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## jlofthouse16 (Oct 18, 2021)

DallanC, have you fished Porcupine reservoir out in Avon, Cache County, Utah?


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Daisy said:


> Somewhere in this statement, you have a flaw in your logic.


Please....Expound on the flaw. I'm always open for correction in the hopes of bettering knowledge.


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## Daisy (Jan 4, 2010)

taxidermist said:


> A Kokanee's life span is typically 4-7 years old. They will return to the stream where hatched within that time (3-4 years) to spawn and die.


You are basically correct that Kokanee spawn and die when they 3-4 year old fish. Sometimes you will get a 2 year spawner, and rarely a 5 year old fish. Hard for those fish to get to 7 years old if they are dead.


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## jlofthouse16 (Oct 18, 2021)

Out here in my country there is a fish farm. They raise Rainbow Trout. I went to work for them and worked for many years for them. It is called "Whites Trout Farm" My point in bringing this up is that I know about Rainbow Trout. I know very little about Kokanee, except as I noted earlier. They are not a game fish, they are a nuisance.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

jlofthouse16 said:


> The DWR planted some Kokanee out here in the Porcupine Reservoir. Well, the small mouthed buggars won't take a hook, so the only way to catch them is wait till they go upstream to spawn and catch them with a dipnet! (Illegal) What a waste of resources. Give me some Rainbows.


So, because you're inept at catching them with a rod and reel, you feel like they are a waste? That's funny...


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## jlofthouse16 (Oct 18, 2021)

So, I am inept. Well, you are finished! Have a nice day!


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

jlofthouse16 said:


> Out here in my country there is a fish farm. They raise Rainbow Trout. I went to work for them and worked for many years for them. It is called "Whites Trout Farm" My point in bringing this up is that I know about Rainbow Trout. I know very little about Kokanee, except as I noted earlier. They are not a game fish, they are a nuisance.


Kokanee are great. They don't compete against other fish for the same food source. They can add to the bio-mass of a lake without negatively affecting other species like trout. They'll hang out in deep water filter feeding on zooplankton.

They require an entirely different mindset, due to the reasons I stated earlier. You catch them by triggering an aggressive response to your lures. Took me alot of time and $$$ to catch our first one, only a few days to catch the 2nd... but after a steep learning curve, we get them on a regular basis.

PS: No, ever been to Porcupine. Its too far from where I live and lots of better lakes in between.

-DallanC


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

Porcupine Reservoir, UT; Jul 27, 2011 - Two people fishing while trolling














Porcupine Reservoir, UT; Jul 5, 2012 - Two people fishing while trolling








Porcupine Reservoir, UT; Jun 21, 2014 - Three people fishing while trolling








Yep, just can't seem to catch them little buggers. 😁


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Colorado has a snagging season for them in the fall with a very liberal limit. 

20 or so years ago we were ice fishing in a small lake that had them. We were using miniature jigs, no more than 1/64oz and got into the kokes, that was one fun day. 

My smoker hasn't seen that many fish at one time since.

Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk


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## TOgden (Sep 10, 2007)

dubob said:


> Porcupine Reservoir, UT; Jul 27, 2011 - Two people fishing while trolling
> View attachment 151995
> View attachment 151996
> 
> ...


Must have had liberal limits back then.


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

TOgden said:


> Must have had liberal limits back then.


Limit at Porcupine back then was 12 per day - still is. 👍


2022 Guidebook said:


> *Porcupine Reservoir, Cache County*
> •Limit 12 trout and salmon, only 4 may be rainbow, cutthroat or brown trout (a combined total). To take 12 fish, you must possess at least 8 salmon


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## NativeCutt (Dec 31, 2020)

Interesting. I have been to Causey and once hiked up Skull Creek in the fall to watch them spawn. Pretty cool when they migrate up the stream and turn red. I would like to know if there is any of the natural spawned eggs hatching providing a return of kokanee to the reservoir? 

Also, I have had smoked kokanee which was tasty. Has anyone baked or fried it? How did it taste?


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