Lake Cavanaugh Kokanee Kwest 5/23

I have been craving kokanee for a while now and after a little bit of research I decided on Lake Cavanaugh. I’ve been looking for kokanee lake for a day trip and it seemed to fit the bill. It’s a pretty lake, although mostly developed, it does offer a gorgeous mountain view and the water is very clear and clean. Quality kokanee too, I discovered. I took a brief scouting trip that I had to cut short a week or so ago so I was eager to try again in earnest.

I rolled up to the water access site around 6:00 and the lot was nearly full already. Squeezed into a muddy shoulder spot and launched into the chilly May air with only a chorus of birds to be heard. Water temp was 57-58 Degrees so I was glad to be in a dry suit w/ fleece. It was not warm out there today. Breezier and breezier too as the morning went on.

I pedaled out a ways from the launch, nearly a mile towards the center of the lake. Pretty much as soon as I got my rods setup I got a bite at 30’ on a God’s Tooth spoon. The fish hammers one lure...then the other lure?!? (Wish I would have gotten a pic) and comes up in a snarled mess. Both lures, both dodgers, leaders and all are twisted around this stout 14” kokanee. That took a while to untangle and cut through! The actual bite was pretty good all day, but I kept having fish tangle and messing my gear up...definitely was frustrating but I had spare lures and kept re-rigging and untangling while trolling.The fish were all over the place on the sonar and jumping on the surface even. The kokanee sure loved snacking on my garlic tuna corn, lots and lots of bites, with fish averaging 13-14”. Numerous feisty kokanee jumped out of the impending net of doom, jumping and hook spitting too for good measure, they put up a fight and a half for their size! I limited out a little before 10am and paddled on in. A fun and memorable trip to an unfamiliar lake!

The damage was caused by God’s Tooth spoons 50/50 Gold, 50/50 Blue, “Kokanee Rigged” with 12-14” leader, tipped with Garlic Tuna Corn, behind a Flash Arrow Dodger at 15-30 feet on the downriggers at ~1.3 mph.

Nice fish!  Which Lake Cavanaugh?  Skagit or Snohomish County?

Nice fish!  Which Lake Cavanaugh?  Skagit or Snohomish County?

Thanks. It's in Skagit County

Great report! Looks like a really nice lake. I wasn't familiar with God's Tooth spoons - thanks for the tip.

Great report! Looks like a really nice lake. I wasn't familiar with God's Tooth spoons - thanks for the tip.

Appreciate it Redbeard.

At least for some of the lakes up here, the God's tooth does very well. I attached a picture of how they are rigged. Basically all split rings removed, flip the spoon around, thread a 2 hook Kokanee leader through the holes, add a bead between the spoon and the top hook and voila!

At least for some of the lakes up here, the God's tooth does very well. I attached a picture of how they are rigged. Basically all split rings removed, flip the spoon around, thread a 2 hook Kokanee leader through the holes, add a bead between the spoon and the top hook and voila!

Thanks! I love simple rigs. At first I felt like kokanee fishing was more gear than I care for, with dropper weights and flashers, etc. But now that I'm more used to it that part doesn't bug me as much. Still, I prefer to keep things as simple as possible.

Normally I agree that simpler is better...but for Kokanee, I make a huge exception! My success skyrocketed after learning how to use a fish finder combined with two downriggers. Yes there are droppers and leadcore... But watching a fish hammer the loaded up rod and getting to fight the fish with no additional weight makes up for it in spades!