Kokanee issues

Yesterday I was at Timothy lake near mt hood for the first time.started around 730.the water was 56° so I started out flat lining but could only find rainbows.the only kokanee I seemed to mark were 35-45ft in little clusters no big balls of fish.

I trolled around for a few hrs changing rigs and hooking lots of rainbows and exploring.it was clear the kokanee were deeper.with out a downrigger I had to use a 2oz cannonball on a slider.It took a bit to find a combo of Slingblade and spinner they liked but I found it after a hr or so.every pod of fish I ran across I would get hit,bit,or hookup.any time I hooked up I couldn't get the basterds to stay on.

Now my question is,is 2oz to much weight on the line.here is a gear list.
1.Soft kokanee rods
2.slingblades,Spinners with #2,4 gami and owner hooks,with gulp maggots and procure
3.6,10lb mono mainline,10lb floro leader.(no snubber was used).
Everytime I hooked up I also kept paddling slowly while reeling.

What am I doing wrong.any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Yesterday I was at Timothy lake near mt hood for the first time.started around 730.the water was 56° so I started out flat lining but could only find rainbows.the only kokanee I seemed to mark were 35-45ft in little clusters no big balls of fish.

I trolled around for a few hrs changing rigs and hooking lots of rainbows and exploring.it was clear the kokanee were deeper.with out a downrigger I had to use a 2oz cannonball on a slider.It took a bit to find a combo of Slingblade and spinner they liked but I found it after a hr or so.every pod of fish I ran across I would get hit,bit,or hookup.any time I hooked up I couldn't get the basterds to stay on.

Now my question is,is 2oz to much weight on the line.here is a gear list.
1.Soft kokanee rods
2.slingblades,Spinners with #2,4 gami and owner hooks,with gulp maggots and procure
3.6,10lb mono mainline,10lb floro leader.(no snubber was used).
Everytime I hooked up I also kept paddling slowly while reeling.

What am I doing wrong.any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Use whatever weight you need to get the depth- that's not an issue.
Try a snubber. That will certainly help.
Can you use treble hooks? I switch out all my hooks and has made the biggest difference for me.

just a hunch but you might have been hooking rather small kokanee and with their soft mouths extra hard to keep them on the hook, this years class of mature fish are probably already up at the spawning grounds...

I think trebles are legal.the lake has no special regulations that I know of. If i head back up there i will tie some with trebles.I tied all of my leaders with double singles spaced with the rear hook eye even with the front hook bend.and also take my snubbers along.brand new never used.guess that's my punishment. Thank you for the help.

I always use these sort of double tied single hooks for kokes...

my hooks are spaced about like rogers. Im also thinking that with the heavy weight to get down then the "soft" pole is overcome by the weight which then gives you too stiff a rod to keep them hooked. A L or ML rod is generally used. I think you are loosing the softness these fish need so the snubber may help.

I think that you find that the snubbers will be a big help.

just a hunch but you might have been hooking rather small kokanee and with their soft mouths extra hard to keep them on the hook, this years class of mature fish are probably already up at the spawning grounds...

Very well could be the juniors I was getting into. my leaders are tied like yours also.

I agree with the people who have recommended that you add a snubber to your kokanee rig.  I suspect that the kokes are jerking hard against your sinker, so you aren't getting all of the advantage of using a soft rod. A snubber will absorb some of that jerking.  If you put a snubber above a string of flashers which have a lot of drag, the flashers will stretch out the snubber, which will reduce the shock absorption from the snubber.  So mount a snubber below a chain of flashers.  When I fish with a hootchie or other lure which is a foot or less below a small dodger or slingblade, I put the snubber above the dodger, because there isn't much room below the dodger for a snubber, and because a dodger doesn't have much drag.

Also, turn your drag way down as soon as you get a koke on your line, so the koke can strip line off your reel with little effort.  I have found that to increase the percentage of kokanee which I get into my net.

I think that downrigger trolling is the best way to fish for kokanee, because you can quickly adjust the depth of your downrigger weight to accurately run your lure right through or above schools of kokanee.  If you get a downrigger, you'll need to decide how hard to set its release.  The advantages of setting the release fairly hard are (a) you can keep the fishing line between your rod and the release pretty tight, so there isn't much slack in the fishing line, and bites show up clearly, (b) fish will tend to set the hook instantly by pulling against the release, whether or not the line pops out of the release, and (c) you won't get as many false releases.  The advantage of setting the release fairly light when fishing for kokanee is that there is less chance that the fish can pull the hook out by pulling against the release before you have time to pop your line out of the release and start playing the kokanee.

For retaining kokanee, I have found that two single hooks is quite a bit better than one single hook, and a treble hook is somewhat better than two single hooks. I've been converting my inventory of single hook wedding rings, hootchies, and other lures to two single hooks or treble hooks.

Thanks pmmpete. Sounds like operator error. Guess I won't leave the snubbers at home anymore.and get a new rigger.