I’m thinking about heading out to porcupine tomorrow. Does anyone know of the ice conditions out there? Thanks
Drove out there this morning. Hardly any ice. It will be a while before it freezes enough to walk on
Thanks for checkin on, and reporting the conditions. Kokanee under ice… hmmmm - that’s on my ‘list’.
I appreciate your report as well. Thank you J
No problem guys. I kinda turned into a koke nut out there even though they are dinks. I grew up thirty minutes from the Flaming Gorge and didn’t start fishing for kokes till I got to Cache valley.
Thanks for your report, Porcupine is one of my favorite places to fish. They are getting smaller up there again so I didn’t fish it much this past year. Merry Christmas and have a great Holiday season.
I’ve heard rumors that their size fluctuates from year to year. Are there different strains of kokanee that might cause that or would it be specific conditions that lead to high growth rates? Also has anyone caught some of the big browns lately (within this year)?
Kokes have a 4 year life cycle. If they are small one year, they are bigger the next and so on till they die off and the cycle starts anew. The nubers are greater when they are smaller. Regardless, they are great eating.
I feel Porcupine is a lake that gets over populated with kokanee and their size gets smaller. I’ve been fishing the lake since 76 and have seen it go thru numerous cycles. The average size we caught thru the ice last winter was about 7 in. I noted some of the pics the guys were posting last summer and they didn’t look much larger. The Kokes do spawn in the 3rd or 4th year and then die. I don’t mind fishing them when they get in the 10 to 11 in. range but I haven’t seen that for awhile, maybe this year.
Now I’d assume the Gorge, and Berry Kokes are on a similar 4 year spawning cycle. But being much larger lakes, they must have a better ‘nutrient/fish#s’ ratio to support bigger fish growth. I think Porcupine is not such a nutrient rich lake, as there isn’t a lot of weeds to feeds. Though Kokanee are primarily plankton eaters - so what ARE they doing chasing all them shiny spoons and pimples! Silly fish!
Having never fished the ice there, where/how do you get on the lake? The dam wall is quite steep. So do folks go down the first boat-launch canyon? Where do you park?
Look forward to trying it. Maybe once it ices up I can hook up with some of you experienced Pig-Icers!
I know they plant rainbows there. Do the browns spawn naturally? Ah - mercury be damned! I’ve heard there are some pigs at the pig (something spotted up on my sonar - big lump on the VERY bottom - at 100ft depth!)
Over the summer I caught quite a few, but they were small. I think the biggest was 9 inches or so. I also noticed a lot of smaller, around 2-3 inch range, fish jumping all around the boat when I trolled near the upper end. They also schooled up and when I looked into the water I would see some schooled up swimming around. I think they were kokanee but without looking at them closely it’s hard to tell.
Easy to become a koke fan I hope I can find a few through the ice this winter they are my favorite for sure. Especially smoked they are better than candy. Good luck with them. J
ill let u know when it looks safe pete im up that lake once a week,3 years ago the fish were 10 to 11 inches i just think the forage in the lake for any species isent prevlent enough to grow to any size ive never seen them over 11 inches.if they had the same growth rate as the gorge they would be 4 to five ponds after 4 years.wouldnt that be fun.
Yeah - I’ve heard Kokes are quite addictive. Try 'em once, and you’re hooked!!!
Wiperhunter had a nice post from late summer, before the lockdown. All silvery on the outside but so juicy pink on the inside. . . makes me think of Gollums fishy song (hope he won’t mind my repost). He can catch em as long as I’m not in his boat (I think I’m worse than bananas!)
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Thanks for checkin on, and reporting the conditions. Kokanee under ice… hmmmm - that’s on my ‘list’.
MEEEE TOOOOOOOO!!! 
Never fished Porcupine but I keep trying at Causey. Not that it’s done us much good, so far [crazy]
This is getting me excited to hit the hard deck for kokes. Come on ice!!!
As much as you like your smoked cats the Kokes will add a little more flavor they are finger licken good. Hey Yote I might make it over to Mantua tomorrow for another try. Probably have all the relatives with so may not get much fish’en on my own in but hope to get the kids onto the fish. Round rocks closed early on me Saturday so I still don’t have any gizzy bugs and noone else seems to have them in town but I think I’ll try your baiting tip from last week and use less worm and see if I can hook them a little easier. See ya on the ice soon. J