Useful insight for kokanee fishing

ARIEL, Wash. - Guide Cameron Black says he still has plenty to learn about kokanee fishing at Merwin Reservoir, but he does often put a couple of dozen a day of the tasty landlocked sockeye in his boat during the finicky winter and early-spring months.

"I wouldn't call it the Bible of kokanee fishing, but it's what works for me," said Black, a Woodland resident and operator of Gone Catchin' Guide Service.

He often fishes with five rods at a time, depending on the number of clients. By using a different lure on each rod, it allows for experimentation and on-the-water testing.

Black offered his advice to Merwin kokanee anglers in a January seminar at Bob's Sporting Goods in Longview. Here's a condensed version of what he told a standing-room turnout:

* Rods - A Lamiglas CG70DR has been his preferred rod, but he's tried a Lamiglas XCC 762 UL GH and is switching.

* Reels - A line-counter reel is a must, although many line-counter reels are a bit beefy for kokanee gear. Several low-profile line-counter reels are coming on to the market, he added.

* Line - Black prefers monofilament, because kokanee are known for having a soft mouth. Maxima Ultragreen in the 10- or 12-pound strength are his staples.

* Dodgers - Sling Blades, Arrow Flash and Simon Kokanee dodgers are his top choices.

Sling Blades can be difficult to adjust, he said.

"If you get one that's working really well, it's going to be a killer for you," Black said.

Arrow Flash dodgers are made by Poulsen Cascade Tackle.

"Generally there's no tuning involved with those. They come right out of the package," he said. "They have a nice wide range of speeds that they perform well at."

* Lures - He's mostly a spinners and hoochies angler. If limited to one lure, it would be an orange hoochie, Black said.

In his hoochies, Black wants the trailing hook behind the skirt material.

"This little guy hanging back completely exposed from the lure is what I believe you want. When you troll by them, those dodgers call them into look, and then they see that hoochie or spinner or whatever you are using, then there's that little dangling piece of white corn. I think that's just the final part for them to hit. ... These are aggressive little buggers and I want to give them a target back there to grab."

* Hooks - Dropshot hooks (also called splitshot hooks) are much superior to the traditional Octopus style hook, Black said.

He prefers sizes No. 2 or No. 4, and whether they are red or black does not matter.

"When it comes to using a regular Octopus hook or a dropshot hook, I don't think I'll ever use an Octopus hook again. I think it has something to do with the steepness of the bend or the way the line is presented on the eye."

* Bait - Green Giant white corn is his choice of baits. He also likes to take a can of Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna and drain some of the juice and a bit of the tuna mush into a ziplock bag, then soak the corn.

Black said he's experimented with the different dyed corns on the market but thinks the white corn works best.

If he's not getting strikes, he changes his trolling speed, depth or lure color before worrying about scent.

"Usually scent is not the first thing I'm going to switch. It's important, but not everything."

Black also likes a single corn kernel per hook. Additional kernels can dampen the action of the hoochie.

* Rigging - His main line comes to a pair of duo snaps. Then he has 3 to 4 feet of 10-pound monofilament to the dodger followed by 8 to 12 inches of 10-pound monofilament to the hoochie.

If he's using a lead sinker, it is attached between the duo snaps.

Ten-pound monofilament is not off-putting to kokanee and doesn't break as easily as 4- to 6-pound mono.

"I've never seen any reason to fish anything less than 10-pound monofilament."

Snubbers are not necessary, but if you use them, place them right behind the sinker. Snubbers will dampen the action of a dodger if tied too close, he said.

* Technique - Black is not a believer in making "S" turns, which cause the lines on one side of the curve to drop and the lines on the outside to rise.

"I throttle up or down to get that action, and it applies to all the lures, not just those on one side of the boat."

He also trolls with the wind, or against it, but not sideways, which is more likely to result in tangled lines.

Fishing the right depth is the key to catching kokanee in Merwin.

"You can have the best lure, best dodger, best presentation, but if you can't get it in front of the fish, you're not going to catch them. You might as well be fishing in a swimming pool."

The right depth is a combination of water temperature and light intensity, he said.

And although it varies from day to day, if the light is intense, try fishing about 10 feet deep on March 1, 15 feet on April 1 and 20 feet on May 1.

This year, water temperatures are above average and the kokanee might start going deep earlier, he added.

He said his trolling speed is normally 1 to 1.4 mph, with 1.2 to 1.3 mph being best most often.

Early in the year, it might be necessary to have a lot of line out - perhaps 120 to 180 feet behind the boat, he said.

"When you are targeting fish early in the year, you will probably not be seeing fish on your depth finder due to the fact those fish are 5 to 10 feet down, and when that boat goes over them, they're going to be pushing off to the sides."

Black uses downriggers once the water gets into the 56- to 60-degree range. He often fishes his downriggers at 40 to 60 feet.

He doesn't fish for kokanee much during the heat of summer as he switches to guiding for salmon and steelhead in summer and fall.

Merwin Reservoir can be challenging because the kokanee schools move a lot.

"This year, fish have been scattered all over, hard to find and not in same place two days in a row. We'll spend two hours of looking for 30 minutes of catching."

But the fish also have been a nice size considering it's winter.

"If the growth season is starting right now, they're going to be huge by summer," he said.