Slayin' the Kokes'

  I interrupt the recent publications on the adventure ride (that happened back in July, I might add - what can I say...it's been uber busy) to make this important announcement: I know what I'm doing.
  Let's take it back to this spring where the story started with a very non-savvy boat feller who will go nameless happened upon a deal of a lifetime on a boat loaded and ready for fishing...mostly.  After some wiring I started taking my two buddies Doug and Matt out fishing.  Now, I don't remember who's idea it was but we got into our heads that we REALLY wanted to fish for Kokanee in Hayden Lake.  The allure to it all probably stemmed from the fact that we thought it was the only salmon that we could fish this close to home.  Before you correct me in saying that Chinook are plentiful in CDA lake let me clarify that we THOUGHT it was the only salmon we could fish close to home.  Let me continue...I'm getting off subject here!
  We had some luck during quick trips after work...a fish here...a fish there.  Sometimes rainbow and sometimes kokes' that were too small to keep.  After getting fed up with all the summer traffic on Hayden I decided it was time to try someplace new.  So we fished CDA lake a while.  Now, when I say we tried for these damn slimy species I mean we started in June and continued to fish for them (unsuccessfully) through the summer.  We spent hours on the lake getting roasted by the sun and drinking countless gourmet beers (provided by Matt) watching our rods do nothing.  Small downriggers found on Craigslist were added to the boat to make sure we were right where we saw the fish on the fish finder.  Many hours were spent on the internet trying to figure out what we were doing wrong.  What type of attractors to use, how fast to drift, what angle to travel relative to the sun, what colors to use during what time of day, where and how to add snubbers to the tackle, how far behind the boat to drift the lures on the downriggers...and last but not least...the correct voltage across the lines needed to attract the specific species we were fishing for.  Yes, that's right...we three engineers even had a damn multimeter out there trying to figure out why these things weren't attracted to us.  Strangely, it was a familiar feeling...we are three engineers you know...
  So here's where I get to the part where I was fed up with this fishing ruse - I was ready to give up.  Then one weekend morning I talked to my neighbors who had also been fishing throughout the year and tried koke fishing a few times with no luck.  They were heading to CDA lake where they heard that the bite really picks up after the first frost.  Well, that was all it took to get me out on the lake again the next day.  Unfortunately Matt was in CA at a nice warm beach watching whales and stuff while Doug and I landed 16 kokanee in four hours.

Beautiful...friggin' cold...but gorgeous

...and how we slay them...

  I could hardly believe it...my goodness we were thrilled!  So thrilled that we decided to go again with Matt on Tuesday in a 40-degree rainstorm - and we landed another respectable 24.  About this time my wife borrowed a small electric smoker from a friend and I got to try my hand at smoking fish.  Turns out it ain't that hard...and they taste pretty damn good!  If I don't say so myself...
  Well a week passed and I thought for sure the kokes had spawned out but we decided to go again today.  Two hours in and we had over 20...and we joked about 'limiting out'. 

Three hours in and we were over 30...and it was game on!  Long story short...we landed our limit in four hours - 15 each for a total of 45!  Needless to say, it was a busy time cleaning, gutting, and smoking these.  I'm still working on it since the smoker only holds 15 at a time...on a good day. 

...This message was brought to you by three engineers who know what they are doing...just sayin'...