They’re the best! Unfortunately I find it the hardest fish to hook through the ice. Some lakes they seem to hit hard and really commit and others they just lightly taste a jig.
How are your local lakes stocked? Do the kokanee go into the lakes when they're about 10g? Our kokanee go into these deep cold lakes at that size and their life expectancy in the lake is between 2 and 3 years. They have the ability to become reproductive mature but the lakes do not have the capacity for spawning so we expect all of the stocked fish to be harvested otherwise they'd just die naturally. From a couple inches long, they reach about 14 or 15 inches by the end of the second year. By the end of third year they can be up to 18 inches. All the feed is on whatever food items are available in the lakes, so they develop that bright red colour. Great eating fish for sure! :)
@@FishingwithRod here in Fresno California our Kokanee are stocked at fingering sized and they pretty much just die with no reproduction. I watch them turn red every year from late October to early January. Golden trout has also been planted at Shaver lake at 5000ft elevation, it is a beautiful lake with Kokanee, rainbow, brown trout and golden trout. I don’t think any of the fish in the lake can reproduce. Our Kokanee has more of a orange/pink color not as red as yours in the video. I don’t think I have even seen salmon looking so good in such deep red flesh.
Hi Lucas, like Mike mentioned in the video, you can try Deka, Hathaway, Sulphurous, Horse and Bridge Lakes. I would hop into Lone Butte Sporting Goods and talk to Mark about setups.
My friend and i are going ice fishing for the first time in kamloops next weekend and im still trying for my first ever steelhead. Kind of hoping i bump into you at the vedder one day so i can get some pointers hahah always love the content!
They're both pretty challenging winter fisheries! Just gotta keep at it and you'll get one. :) Ice fishing around Kamloops will be great! Lots of good options around there.
@@FishingwithRod yeah we're super excited and I'll always come back to the river until I get that first fish! Every failed trip makes the successful one feel that much better
Yes! One of these days we'll arrange something up your way. It's just so far lol... I like that video of you and your son casting spoons at Dragon in the fall. That looks like a lot of fun....
@@FishingwithRod let me know when you're coming and we'll go fishing. 😁 Casting crocs for Dragon Lake rainbows in the fall is one of my favourite fisheries. Those rainbows have been feeding heavily on goldfish. They were even puking up goldfish when we caught them. You might also like our Horse Lake video. I targeted lake trout for the first time last summer. We had a blast. We learned quickly that our kokanee net was too small. 🤣
Yeah the lake trout in Horse Lake have me interested after losing a lake trout in this video. Plus we've done some big lake trout fishing in the Yukon last year, and that was a lot of fun! Too many options, too little time!
Yeah you can pretty much catch kokanee year round in BC, but winter and summer are definitely the two distinct seasons. In the summer, it is a popular troll fishery, but you'd need a boat etc of course. In the winter, ice fishing is more accessible since you can just walk out there with minimal amount of gear.
Thanks Zack! I actually use the rest of the fish as well, they don't get thrown away. They either are used to make broth for soup, or broiled up and we pick the meat off it.
Yep! For salmon especially we use up the entire fish for all kinds of recipes. I did a segment on cutting up coho salmon and explaining what I do with different parts in this episode: th-cam.com/video/UHbXqtya-2g/w-d-xo.html For salmon head etc, miso soup: th-cam.com/video/udA9xHUJyIA/w-d-xo.html
Ice fishing starts next month !!! Can’t wait , my experience with Kokanees is hit and miss , usually it’s a miss. I’ve seen native fisherman pulling large kokanee on dead sticks just North if Merritt 30 yds away from me a Rainbows and Brookies are so much easier to target
Thanks for sharing that Jack. A few days ago I was just talking to others that ice fishing season is starting soon and I am looking forward to it, even though I am still not great at it. I'm looking forward to giving these kokanee another try this winter. 🙂
A double drop shot as in two separate hooks above a fixed weight? That wouldn't be legal as you can only use one hook on the line, but it would be quite effective though.... ;)
@@FishingwithRod I haven't caught anything this year yet and I'm itching to get some weaver is my favorite lake now but access is closed so iv been doing buntzen and hicks lake but hicks hasn't produced for a while. Great video keep them coming 👍👍
It would be nice to get into Hicks Lake as this time of the year can be quite productive. :) Hopefully the weather warms up a bit in March and lakes will start heating up. :D
Funny thing is just hours before this video premiered I broke twin rods ice fishing for rainbows and had to handling the fish in. I just figured it was because they were cheap $6 rods
Another great video Rod !! I went ice fishing for the first time last weekend no luck 😔.. what was Mike using for his set up? I see you’re using your lucky croc.
Thanks Mark! What were you hoping to catch? Trout or kokanee? Mike was using a big spoon/dodger/flasher and has around 6" of leader tied below it then a small jighead. He was using corn which has been scented for bait.
@@FishingwithRod I was just curious on the setup. Hoping to catch kokanee but only seen a couple of fish all day and no takers. Same setup I was using. Thanks Rod
Yeah it can be hit and miss for sure. With kokanee, most of the bites for us were happening before 9am. After that, it just tapered off and the bites were quite random as schools of fish came in less frequently.
Hey Rod, those Kokanee look great. I really like how you have been showing how easy it is to cook up some healthy and tasty meals using the catch. Another TH-camr (TackleJunky81) is just getting into trout fishing, so I recommended your channel to him. He goes by TJ81, so watch for him.
Thanks Ralph! I think a lot of people get intimidated by cooking fish so I wanna show more of it. We have a good abundance of sustainable, fresh protein readily available, so people should enjoy it. :)
Rod, next time hold still!! Kokanee are super light biters. Often you will see barely perceptible movement in your line. Sideways! Set the hook! A small spoon with a single hook dangled 8 to 12 inches below; add a tiny bit of bait say, shrimp or even better maggots Use this and deadstick most of the time and you will slay.
Thanks Ernst. Actually I should have explained a bit in the video. I did do some deadsticking with bait but lost my patience, so decided to go with just a spoon on its own and jig repeatedly to trigger some reactionary bites.
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Thanks you excellant
You're welcome! Thanks for watching too!
Love mikes fish bonking technique
Mike's bit of a savage I guess... 😂
Awesome catches! I just recently moved up to the cariboo, lac la hache.
Thanks Kyle! So many options around Lac la Hache!
They’re the best! Unfortunately I find it the hardest fish to hook through the ice. Some lakes they seem to hit hard and really commit and others they just lightly taste a jig.
Yeah definitely! I find them to be very frustrating compared to trout and char under the ice.
@@FishingwithRod Glad I’m not the only one.
good job thank you
Thanks for watching!
It is hard to beat fresh kokanee.
Definitely!
Beautiful fillets, wow the difference in color to my local lake Kokanee. Talk about catching good and eating good. Fresh!
How are your local lakes stocked? Do the kokanee go into the lakes when they're about 10g? Our kokanee go into these deep cold lakes at that size and their life expectancy in the lake is between 2 and 3 years. They have the ability to become reproductive mature but the lakes do not have the capacity for spawning so we expect all of the stocked fish to be harvested otherwise they'd just die naturally. From a couple inches long, they reach about 14 or 15 inches by the end of the second year. By the end of third year they can be up to 18 inches. All the feed is on whatever food items are available in the lakes, so they develop that bright red colour. Great eating fish for sure! :)
@@FishingwithRod here in Fresno California our Kokanee are stocked at fingering sized and they pretty much just die with no reproduction. I watch them turn red every year from late October to early January. Golden trout has also been planted at Shaver lake at 5000ft elevation, it is a beautiful lake with Kokanee, rainbow, brown trout and golden trout. I don’t think any of the fish in the lake can reproduce. Our Kokanee has more of a orange/pink color not as red as yours in the video. I don’t think I have even seen salmon looking so good in such deep red flesh.
Just started the video! I’m an avid Kokanee fisherman in the north cariboo
Awesome!
Great kokanee👍👍
Thanks 👍
Looks like a fun way to spend the day. Nice cook on the fish! 🤙🏽
Thanks Steve!
I am the 100 comment, thank-you for posting such and like that you cooked it up. Hi From YUKON... :)
Hello 😊
What camera did you use for underwater videos??
GoPro 5
Come fish Colorado with me sometime! Love your shows!
What’s in Colorado? 🙂
Hey rod I've never fished for kokanee as I live I the cariboo what are some good lakes tackle setups baits and other tips thanks tight lines
Bridge and Deka both have Kokanee and can be caught using a variety of different methods.
@@blacktailbowhunter0135 ok thanks for the info
Hi Lucas, like Mike mentioned in the video, you can try Deka, Hathaway, Sulphurous, Horse and Bridge Lakes. I would hop into Lone Butte Sporting Goods and talk to Mark about setups.
@@FishingwithRod ok thanks for the tips loved the video tight lines
Nice video dude I just went ice fishing on my channel too. Had an absolute slay day!
Nice!!
Makes a man want to get up and move to the Cariboo! Great vid!
Thanks Rob!
My friend and i are going ice fishing for the first time in kamloops next weekend and im still trying for my first ever steelhead. Kind of hoping i bump into you at the vedder one day so i can get some pointers hahah always love the content!
They're both pretty challenging winter fisheries! Just gotta keep at it and you'll get one. :) Ice fishing around Kamloops will be great! Lots of good options around there.
@@FishingwithRod yeah we're super excited and I'll always come back to the river until I get that first fish! Every failed trip makes the successful one feel that much better
That new intro and channel profile picture looks amazing
Thanks! 😁
Great video Rod. Keep up the great work. I'm looking forward to more kokanee videos. 😎
I'll share this to our Facebook group Kokanee Fishing BC.
Thanks Fougere Fam! I need to come back up and polish up my kokanee game lol...
@@FishingwithRod you did well and it also looked like you had a good teacher. Hoping we run into you out there one day. I'd love to day hello. 👋
Yes! One of these days we'll arrange something up your way. It's just so far lol... I like that video of you and your son casting spoons at Dragon in the fall. That looks like a lot of fun....
@@FishingwithRod let me know when you're coming and we'll go fishing. 😁
Casting crocs for Dragon Lake rainbows in the fall is one of my favourite fisheries. Those rainbows have been feeding heavily on goldfish. They were even puking up goldfish when we caught them.
You might also like our Horse Lake video. I targeted lake trout for the first time last summer. We had a blast. We learned quickly that our kokanee net was too small. 🤣
Yeah the lake trout in Horse Lake have me interested after losing a lake trout in this video. Plus we've done some big lake trout fishing in the Yukon last year, and that was a lot of fun! Too many options, too little time!
follow up comment. cool deal Rod. I hope to catch some Kokanee this summer.
Kok season is in the spring for us in Washington
Yeah you can pretty much catch kokanee year round in BC, but winter and summer are definitely the two distinct seasons. In the summer, it is a popular troll fishery, but you'd need a boat etc of course. In the winter, ice fishing is more accessible since you can just walk out there with minimal amount of gear.
I live in TX. Hoping to visit AK this summer
Alaska will be fun! Hope the snow storm in Texas is not too bad right now.
Tasty Kokanee! Great video, very informative. Well done as always!
Thanks William! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Nice video Rod, looking forward to taste them myself this coming spring and summer!
They are indeed very good. I'd say between trout, char and these, kokanee are definitely the best.
Thanks Rod for the great vids I really appreciate your hard work and knowledge.
Thanks Ernie! :D
Love the video rod! You should really try keeping the collars on the fillets!
Thanks Zack! I actually use the rest of the fish as well, they don't get thrown away. They either are used to make broth for soup, or broiled up and we pick the meat off it.
That’s great! I personally love the collars on salmon. I have never tried using the heads for soup though I might have to try it!
Yep! For salmon especially we use up the entire fish for all kinds of recipes. I did a segment on cutting up coho salmon and explaining what I do with different parts in this episode: th-cam.com/video/UHbXqtya-2g/w-d-xo.html
For salmon head etc, miso soup: th-cam.com/video/udA9xHUJyIA/w-d-xo.html
I’ve been really wanting to get out on the Ice, always love your videos.
It's a lot of fun for sure! I am still learning lots. Thanks Wyatt!
@@FishingwithRod Yeah just like any aspect of fishing, there’s always something else you can learn. Keep up the great content Rod!
Ice fishing starts next month !!!
Can’t wait , my experience with Kokanees is hit and miss , usually it’s a miss.
I’ve seen native fisherman pulling large kokanee on dead sticks just North if Merritt 30 yds away from me a
Rainbows and Brookies are so much easier to target
Thanks for sharing that Jack. A few days ago I was just talking to others that ice fishing season is starting soon and I am looking forward to it, even though I am still not great at it. I'm looking forward to giving these kokanee another try this winter. 🙂
Another great video Rod! Love it when you end it with a cooking video!
Thanks Camille! Always fun to have you in the chat! :) I'm gonna come up for whitefish!
@@FishingwithRod Always a pleasure to join! I’ll do my best to save you a couple mountain fish in the river here😜
Er, mountain whitefish is what I meant🤓
Haha... Mountain fish... ;)
Hey Rodney I have a question. I'm wondering if a double drop shot rig is legal in b.c. lakes?
A double drop shot as in two separate hooks above a fixed weight? That wouldn't be legal as you can only use one hook on the line, but it would be quite effective though.... ;)
@@FishingwithRod thanks that's what I thought
@@FishingwithRod I haven't caught anything this year yet and I'm itching to get some weaver is my favorite lake now but access is closed so iv been doing buntzen and hicks lake but hicks hasn't produced for a while. Great video keep them coming 👍👍
It would be nice to get into Hicks Lake as this time of the year can be quite productive. :) Hopefully the weather warms up a bit in March and lakes will start heating up. :D
@@FishingwithRod we went there a few weeks ago and I long line release and my buddy released a kokanee and that was it for 6hrs of fishing
You are awesome. Inspired me to create my own channel. Thanks for the amazing content! :)
Great!
I live on that lake! I'd love to get the opportunity to fish it with you
Thanks Austin. 🙂 It's a lovely area and community. I most likely will be back in the spring so maybe will see you out there.
Funny thing is just hours before this video premiered I broke twin rods ice fishing for rainbows and had to handling the fish in. I just figured it was because they were cheap $6 rods
I think the cold temperature probably has a lot to do with it.
Love the new logo! Not a big fan of the ice. Too hard to fly fish through, but I do enjoy the videos. Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Thanks Tim!
Another great video Rod !! I went ice fishing for the first time last weekend no luck 😔.. what was Mike using for his set up? I see you’re using your lucky croc.
Thanks Mark! What were you hoping to catch? Trout or kokanee? Mike was using a big spoon/dodger/flasher and has around 6" of leader tied below it then a small jighead. He was using corn which has been scented for bait.
@@FishingwithRod I was just curious on the setup. Hoping to catch kokanee but only seen a couple of fish all day and no takers. Same setup I was using. Thanks Rod
Yeah it can be hit and miss for sure. With kokanee, most of the bites for us were happening before 9am. After that, it just tapered off and the bites were quite random as schools of fish came in less frequently.
Hey Rod, those Kokanee look great. I really like how you have been showing how easy it is to cook up some healthy and tasty meals using the catch. Another TH-camr (TackleJunky81) is just getting into trout fishing, so I recommended your channel to him. He goes by TJ81, so watch for him.
Thanks Ralph! I think a lot of people get intimidated by cooking fish so I wanna show more of it. We have a good abundance of sustainable, fresh protein readily available, so people should enjoy it. :)
Rod, next time hold still!! Kokanee are super light biters. Often you will see barely perceptible movement in your line. Sideways! Set the hook! A small spoon with a single hook dangled 8 to 12 inches below; add a tiny bit of bait say, shrimp or even better maggots Use this and deadstick most of the time and you will slay.
Thanks Ernst. Actually I should have explained a bit in the video. I did do some deadsticking with bait but lost my patience, so decided to go with just a spoon on its own and jig repeatedly to trigger some reactionary bites.
Omg the meat is so red!!!
You should take the boat to Deka this summer when you go up, they are three times bigger than these ones we caught there...
Hahah that is the most aggressive and worst jigging I’ve ever seen
For that comment, I’m gonna double my jigging rhythm next time 😎