10_2025_REELLIFE_digital - Flipbook - Page 18
This may or may not have taken place on one of my favorite kokanee lakes…
but the advice is good whether it really happened or was just in my head…
DUDE: You know I have read
so many times on various
fishing forums about how
some guy had a great time
fishing for kokanee. He is
bragging about how many
he caught and retained,
and how many he caught
and released "in good
shape to live for another
day." Thoughts?
KOKANEE: Maybe I'm
mellowing a bit in my old
age. I am always grateful for
good intentions. But I also
believe that there are times
when good intentions
produce not so good
results.
DUDE: Let me guess -- it is
more complicated than I
would have thought, and
probably more complicated
the well-intentioned
kokanee fisherman realized.
KOKANEE: Indeed. Let's start
first with the fact of just
how old are the kokanee
that bite. Most kokanee will
respond to a well-balanced
color and scented lure
starting in their third year.
Spawning will take place
later in either their third
or fourth year depending
on location. Biting has
everything to do with
spawning. For the kokes
that will be spawning later
in the season, their scales
are on course to transition
from soft and flaky to
absorbed and hardened.
DUDE: Come to think of it,
the scales are very soft and
flake off easily in the early
spring bite. They get on
everything. But late in the
season, the scales do not
flake off at all.
KOKANEE: It is a natural
process of maturing. By
pre-spawn, the kokes are
well along in resorbing
their own scales. They
need hardened scales to
withstand the rigors of the
spawn. Do you know why
fish have scales?
DUDE: Scales are the
protective outer layer of the
fish's skin. I can understand
why hardened scales are
protective, but what about
soft scales?
KOKANEE: The outer part
of these soft scales has
a consistency similar to
mucous, making the fish
extra slippery in the battle
not to become prey. The
slime can come off without
a problem. But the scales
themselves have a very
important function -- they
act as a barrier to ward off
infection. If some of the
scales are removed from
the fish, infection easily
moves in. Remember, theirs
is a water environment.
Infection is easy to come
by. Fish will not be able to
get a prescription for an
antibiotic, and the fish has
no biological mechanisms
