The Fishing Report: A berry good day

What does a mad Irishman, a wedding ring and a Bahamas Mama have in common? If you thought that it must be the subject matter for the newest E. L. James novel, you might be close. But no, it actually has more to do with vampire hunting. Have I got you thoroughly confused? Well, you’re not alone.
If however you’re an avid Kokanee Salmon fisherman you know exactly what I am talking about but if you’re not, let me explain. First off, Kokanee Salmon or land locked Sockeye Salmon, develop this frightening set of teeth and large hump on their backs when the males get close to spawning and have been referred to as vampires. The Mad Irish Man and Wedding Ring are both spinners and the Bahama Mama is a flasher used in front of the spinners to give it more attraction.
Lake Berryessa started receiving annual plants of Kokanee salmon in the mid-eighties but it really wasn’t until about 15 years ago that they really started to take off as a fishery. For some reason, the fish began to flourish. It could be that the plankton necessary for them to survive did not get fully established until that time. They are found in the water column at 54 degrees. In the spring months they can be found right on the surface and as the water warms later in the summer they go lower in depth and will begin to develop their scary pre-spawn characteristics as they are forced below their food sources. They feed primarily on plankton, both phytoplankton and zooplankton and are actually not interested at all in eating your lure, but because they are incredibly curious and aggressive, they strike the brightly colored erratically moving lures.
I fished Lake Berryessa last weekend for “Kokes” with a buddy for about six hours and did really well. Although we started at the “ranch house” we spent most of our time on the east side of the Big Island. We caught seven Kokanee from 14 to 17 inches. We also got five 12 to 14 inch trout that were covered with copepods and released them all. I am not sure that they don’t taste ok but they just look so sickly, I couldn’t keep them. We fished from depths of 52 feet first thing in the morning and then went as deep as 62 feet toward midday. These fish are incredibly temperature sensitive and finding that proper depth with 54 degrees is probably the most important key to catching them. We fished a variety of lures but our most successful were the Uncle Larry Spinners in Red, fire tiger, pink and the Mad Irishman. The flashers we used were Plaid or Bahama Mama which, in spite of the attractive name, is essentially silver. Length of leader is critical. Most novices place the lure to far back. A 6 to 12 inch leader length is perfect unless using an apex or other bait fish lure which can be fished further back. In addition we placed a single kernel of scented shoe peg corn on the hook. I have no idea why this is an essential ingredient to successful Kokanee fishing. We tried three scents from Pro Cure: Anchovy, Sardine and Kokanee; special but the most successful was the Kokanee special. Go figure!
This fishery will remain good to excellent through the middle of September, depending on how hot the summer gets. If you don’t have a boat, there are guides available to take you. T-Roys Guide service (707-372-7599) is one of the best that I can recommend.  He will take a single angler eager to learn his secret tricks or up to four anglers for a guided trip. This is a great kid fishery in that the equipment is very manageable and the fishery is fairly consistent. But the best part, the fish taste great and are almost as good as an ocean salmon.
If you have any questions or need some more information please call Hunt Conrad at Prospect Mortgage, 431-9715.