New Melones Koanee with "Sinker Dropper"

Jake (my son) and I decided to stay closer to home and went to Melones for Kokanee. Launched by the bridge and was OTW about 7:45. Landed the 3 fish we caught within the first half hour, all near the bridge, and got off the water about 12:30.

We've never trolled for kokanee before, and being w/o downriggers we tried the "sinker dropper" that someone had mentioned here a while back. You can see/order at www.sinker-dropper.com.

What a hoot. The concept is that your weight (6-8oz today) is released when the fish strikes. Being cheap, and a little squeamish about dumping lots of lead into the lake, I had glued some 6# mono loops onto river rock the day before. 10 minutes, and a little bit of goop, we were all set.

I had stopped under the bridge to lower my rig some more. Jake pulls up next to me, and as we're talking this fish jumps next to him. "Good sign" he says. Then it jumps again and again. Turns out it was on my line. The "sinker" had dropped and this fish came up on the far side of Jake's yak. Same thing happened to Jake later. He sees a fish jump with a lure in it's mouth and figured it might be his  Only one fish "tugged" in a way you might expect.

We were also using home made snubbers. For whatever reason, we lost no fish, but I'm guessing it was the snubbers that made the difference since is it sure wasn't because we new what we were doing   

We used three different lures and caught one fish on each -- cripple lure, wedding ring and an old "little fish with a flasher" thing left in my box from 20 years ago. 20 - 50 feet deep in about 100 feet of water.

Ben

I like Ghetto...great idea using rocks...hell yeah...WTG Ben!!! nice looking fish and great report thanks for sharing...

So goop on rocks worked...I work at a landscaping yard and am eye ballinng some nice looking rocks...

i love the rocks idea as well, so much better than dropping tons of lead into a lake! 

Nice!  Great idea with the rocks.  Excellent report and sportsmanship.   

Good report and heads up on the "sinker dropper" , got some on order ! Sounds like a better idea than fooling around with a DR on a kayak and I don't care for leadcore .

How deep were you getting with 6-8 oz. of weight ? Might want to try some RGT's next time out for kokes , tip with shoepeg corn .

That was me that posted the Sinker dropper cool little device glad it helped you out. Now I just gotta get me some and try them up at Sonoma. The Rock Idea Rocks 

Dan V

How deep were you getting with 6-8 oz. of weight ?

I tried ~20 and ~50 ft -- caught fish at both depths

Might want to try some RGT's next time out for kokes , tip with shoepeg corn .

I'm game

mickfish: That was me that posted the Sinker dropper cool little device

Thanks for the tip. It allowed for a trip I don't think we would have attempted otherwise. It was BassManBen's details from the other day and that little device that allowed for some fish to be included in a nice day of paddling.

Super cool report.  Yet another one that likes the rock idea.

Might want to try some RGT's next time out for kokes

Dumb question of the day, what is an RGT.  I've seen it several times now and haven't figured it out.  Thanks.

Michael

what is an RGT

"Radial Glow Technology"   hope that helps you out 

Congrats on the fish, i love that lake. whenever we go up the lures of choice are the squids

Years ago I picked up little canvas bags at a San Francisco tackle shop.  I used them when pier or surf fishing.  The have a yellow drawstring and I would fill them with sand or gravel.  It was a cheap alternative to lead.  They would probably work great with the sinker dropper (which I am now going to try).  The glued rocks are great!

Nice report, I've always been a believer in snubbers for the kokes, their cheeks and mouths are too soft and if you horse them in you'll rip the hook out. My brother in laws father is old skool Portuguese from the Azores. He tells me crazy stories about hand fishing, just fishing string, hooks, and rocks as weights. They would cut a groove around golf ball sized rocks then tie a wire around the groove. He also talked about little rucksacks filled for weight. They catch big groupers (I'm pretty sure) he has Portuguese names for the fish

Michael,

this is a rgt (radical glow tube)

they sell em at fisherman's warehouse



since I consider you a friend...hint...pink  

it is really just a glow in the dark crappie tube jig.  in low light conditions i hit them with my flash, otherwise i keep them in the sun.  when you drop them 50ft down they supposedly glow.  I wouldn't know for sure since i dont have scuba gear!  All I know is they work.

this is their website with all of the products they sell.  www.radicalglow.com

i normally buy at fisherman's warehouse because i buy in low quantities, otherwise i'd get all of my kokanee stuff from kokaneemart.com

Ben ,

What kind of glue are you using ? I'm trying some superglue and having no luck at all gluing the mono to the rock , although gluing finger to rock works real well !

Confer that pink is the hot RGT with a 4/0 dodger ahead of it , make your leader approx. 2X as long as your dodger and heavier leader 10 lb works better than 4-6 lb. , stiffer and imparts more action .

Thanks , Dan

Great report! My son and I fished there on saturday and didn't catch nut'n. There was a bass tournament and must have been abizzillon boats, all going 60+mph. We fished all around the 49 bridge and only saw one koke caught. We did use downriggers, but that did't seem to help. Talked to a guy that fished Tuttle Town area and he said it was slow there also(he had 2).
Here is a few pics of my set-up.