Kokanee, kids and fishing fun

Summer is here and there is no better place to spend some time then on one of our many lakes. Fishing has been really good.

Last weekend I fished the Thompson Lakes and had good luck catching kokanee. Warm summer days have warmed the surface water, so cold water species like kokanee and trout head for deeper water, especially during mid-day.

Kokanee tend to feed near the thermocline, usually about 15-45 feet deep. My fish finder showed fish at the 24-30 foot depth. I use leaded core line, so that meant reeling out 3 1/2 to 4 colors to drop the lure to the 20-24 foot level. Manufacturers suggest the leaded lines go down 6 to 7 feet per 30 foot color, but my experience indicates the line doesn't drop quite that much.

Since I'm fishing with a very long leader, about 30 feet, the leaded line may actually drop deeper, then the long light weight monofilament leader may belly up somewhat. Anyway, we used 3 1/2 to 4 colors and got into the fish.

We trolled small green or chartreuse Triple Teasers with a red nose. That seems to produce kokanee and rainbow as well as any other lure. Sometimes a small green and white Luhr Jensen spoon or Rooster Tail lure works well.

I fish those lures bare, with no bait. I have fished with a trout expert in Missoula and he claims even a tiny maggot will be detrimental to the lure action.

If fishing is slow, I will use a spray-on attractant to give the lure an odor trail. Sometimes that really seems to turn on the fish; then again, sometimes the fish still won't bite.

Although kokanee are typically day feeders, last weekend, the fish seemed to bite better in the early evening, though we caught some during mid-morning too.

My wife would not be pleased with this fishing report unless I mentioned she caught more fish than me. Of course, she had a great guide!

Those Thompson Lakes kokanee are really pink meated and when grilled on the barbecue, they equal any wild Pacific salmon.

A friend of mine reports great fishing for kokanee in Lake Mary Ronan. With the illegal introduction of perch into that lake about 10 years ago, good kokanee fishing has been spotty. But last week, he and his fishing buddy had their limits of nice size kokanee in less than two hours. They fished in the morning. He's been fishing Lake Mary Ronan for over 30 years and said this was as good as it has ever been.

If you don't have a boat, try some bank fishing on any of the numerous small lakes in the Thompson Lakes area. Some of these ponds or small lakes are only a few acres in size, but are very deep. They are all stocked with trout.

Three years ago several of those small lakes were chemically reclaimed to get rid of stunted perch and sunfish that had been illegally planted. Then they were restocked with rainbow and cutthroat. Fishing is now great.

All you need to fish these small lakes is a spinning rod, bobber, hook and can of worms. This is a good way to fish with kids. If fishing is slow, kids can play in the water, catch a frog, skip some rocks or find a log to climb.

Last month I was bass fishing with a friend of mine in Minnesota. He has his 6-year-old grandson along. I was the acknowledged fishing expert with expensive equipment and a large tackle box full of proven bass lures. But I couldn't entice any large bass to hit my presentations.

But the grandson, who couldn't cast very far and fished with a tattered dead minnow, hooked into the biggest bass of the day, a nice four-pounder. This only proves that fish are not very smart!

Have fun fishing and take a kid along to show you the fine points of fish catching.