Howdy! So I have been dying to catch a koke, but I’m not sure I have or can afford the equipment to do it, being a college student and all. But I can’t help but hope. Is there anyway to catch kokes from say… a float tube? I’m guessing Strawberry and Flaming Gorge would be hard, but maybe Porcupine? Any tips would be great. I’m clueless so the more the merrier. Thanks!
From my experince they are a tuffy to catch I went to strawberry like 4-5 times before getting one. There is specialized gear for them using dodgers or pop gear with lures, wedding rings, squids, and flashers not to be used all at once but you have to get them to the depth there at. The idea is to tick the fish off to make them attack for terriotory reasons. they will not go after bait to eat it. They only really eat plankton. I finally got one on a downrigger at 30ish feet and only one for the day. using lead line should get you down but maintaining 2mph troll speed could be tough in a tube and you need to usually be quite aways from shore. But anything is possible and i wont say its not possible. just improbable. There are people here dedicated to kokes and have like 4 riggers on there boats. I have only one.
I would have to agree that the only time I have ever caught a Koke is trolling and they are usually around thirty feet but they do vary. My dad has gotten really hooked on catching kokes these last few years and has almost a whole other tackle box dedicated to it. They are a blast to catch and even better to eat!
you can catch them from a tube indeed! you need to find them first on the sonar, then jig for them. i have caught them from a tube with a Buzz Bomb, its a blast!
never in utah, this is in CO.
I know a guy who has caught lots of them vertically jigging for them at Flaming Gorge, and they are frequently caught vertically ice fishing at Causey. One does not need to be trolling to catch them. I would think that you should be able to get into them at Porcupine or Causey from a tube.
I agree with Zak and Kent, you can catch them from a tube but you will need a finder to have much luck. Usually they travel in big schools so if you mark a lot of fish in the same area and they are 30 to 60 deep they are likely kokes. Depending on your finder you might only mark one or two at those depths. Causey and Porcupine are your best bet locally the Gorge and the Berry would be a tough one from a tube. Good luck. WH2
We were up at the Gorge last week catching the Kokes. We were trolling most of the week, however on Saturday it was a zoo where the fish were and after having a guy cut in behind me a cut off my lure I had on a leadcore outfit with his downrigger line we went after them with buzz bombs. We found some in a small bay and had a blast jigging them up. We also caught some pup macs and rainbows on the same rigs.