06_2025_REELLIFE_digital - Flipbook - Page 29
gary gordon kokanee
In the years since Kokanee University was written, many wonderful developments
have happened. The tackle designs, for example, are way different now as
technology has made available vast improvements in action and color. What has
not changed are the concepts outlined in previous articles. Let’s take a look at
fishing strategies to catch more kokanee!
COLOR FISH FINDER
No doubt, the very
best piece of electronic
equipment is the color
fish finder–sonar. Color
is better because of the
unique biology of the
kokanee, which have an
unusually large air sac, and
sonar cannot penetrate air.
Because of this, kokanee
can be seen on the fish
finder, usually as bright
orange (the default color
on many systems). No
other freshwater fish has
this distinct detectable
characteristic, so you can
easily tell the depth of
kokanee by this method.
The fish finder will let you
know the current depth.
Knowing the depth of
the bottom is essential,
especially if your lake
has varying contours. On
more than one o ccasion,
I have raised downrigger
balls "just in time" to
avoid getting hung up on
a bottom that suddenly
came up, seemingly out of
nowhere. Your fish finder
will track your downrigger
ball, and you can use this to
verify the accuracy of the
counter on the downrigger.
One factor to consider is
how large a viewing area
there is. The larger the
viewing area, the higher the
cost. Screen resolution is
another factor to consider
– will your viewer be
viewable in sunlight and
with polarized sunglasses?
Another critical factor is the
location of the fish finder
in relation to where you are
sitting while fishing. You
need to be able to see the
details on the screen.
