I'm Positive that the Kokanee I saw 30+ Years Ago Were BIGGER!

[OceanSunfish]

Taylor Creek has always been a fun place to take guests, especially those that aren't exactly huge outdoor enthusiast to see 'mother nature' in action during the fall months....

As most know, Taylor Creek is where the Kokanee from Lake Tahoe run up and try to spawn, usually in October. As a kid, I remember seeing very large Kokanee in Taylor Creek that reminded me of their sea run version. But, when I visited Taylor Creek not long ago, I was shocked to see the demunitive size of these 'red fish' circling in Taylor Creek. BAIT came to my mind when I saw these fish balled up!

What happened!

I know that other lakes planted with Kokanee during the past decade have been essentially over planted by DFG and therefore, the fish are stunted.... On the other hand, Kokanee were introduced in some lakes to be BAIT.

Nevertheless, what happened to the once mighty Tahoe Kokanee?

[Mike R]

It would be interesting to see if the average size has slowly decreased or the size of the kokes is variable from year to year.

Kokanee are notorious for their boom-bust cycles in that one year the primary production of a lake will be low (low food), resulting in small kokanee; and, then next year there is a lot of production, resulting in larger fish. These cycles could be more pronounced in an oligotrophic lake like Tahoe.

[oregonsteel]

Taylor Creek has always been a fun place to take guests, especially those that aren't exactly huge outdoor enthusiast to see 'mother nature' in action during the fall months....

As most know, Taylor Creek is where the Kokanee from Lake Tahoe run up and try to spawn, usually in October. As a kid,

You were 2 feet tall and they were 1foot tall, they were MONSTERS!! Now you are 3 times larger so they seem 1/3 the size.

[OceanSunfish]

You were 2 feet tall and they were 1foot tall, they were MONSTERS!! Now you are 3 times larger so they seem 1/3 the size.

Ha! Good one. I actually thought of this when I was at the creek, but the kokanee I saw were really really small..... All head and lockjaw, no body length. And, I was standing much taller than 2 feet all those years ago too. <grin>

I distinctly remember spin anglers taking a few "bright" ones home on the chain style stringer too and they were of much larger size vs. what I saw in the creek recently that would have looked pretty funny on a chain stringer due to their deminutive size.....

In any event, I think the "cyclical" theory described by Mike R. makes sense.

[Ralph]

Last year's run out of Bullard's Bar Reservoir consisted of 3-4 inch fully mature fish. They were perfectly proportioned and certainly not undernourished. I met with the DFG kokanee biologist at Stampede a few weeks ago during egg taking. He was coy to the point of being rude when I asked him why the Bullards fish were so small. He said that he wasn't given his full allotment of fish. I told him his answer didn't make any sense then he went on to say it was simply a "bad year". Either he didn't know the reason the fish were so small or refused to admit an error in his management. My guess is that the fish have been inbred to the point that they should be playing banjos about now. The runs are about a month earlier than they were in the 70's, but the biologist denied that also. I truly admire 99% of the folks at DFG, but a few are total jerks.
Several years ago Project Kokanee proudly crowed they planted 200,000 fish in Stampede. We all know what happened to the fishery during that time. More is not better, but it makes good advertising for NGOs and increased fishing license sales to the uneducated.

[OceanSunfish]

Thanks Ralph for the reply that really makes sense....

The fish I saw in Taylor Creek were really proportioned, but due tho their tiny size, it appears that they are all head and jaws.... In fact, I heard the term, "cute" too many times......

I would like to know if the Kokes in the tributaries to Stampede are easily accessible and visible to the public so that I can take my family and friends on a simple hike for viewing. The trip to Taylor Creek is much further vs. Stampede and I can coax more people to take the drive, get out, and enjoy a little nature on a classic fall day in the sierra mountains.

They're not fisherman, but are still interested in teaching their kids, etc.

[Ralph]

Nothing beats Taylor Creek. The viewing chamber, easy access and astounding numbers of fish are worth any inconvenience. Also, water is released into Taylor Creek for the sole purpose of the kokanee run so the timing is very dependable.

The easiest place to view Stampede kokes is at Sagehen creek. Park where hwy 89 crosses the creek. It is a gorgeous, very easy 20 minute walk to the reservoir. Many reservoirs have strong kokanee runs with good access. I have an article in the upcoming CA Fly Fisher magazine that includes a list of all the kokanee planted lakes in the state and alloted numbers of fish per lake.

[Tony Buzolich]

Another place to easily view kokanee from the road is at the headwater of Boca where the Little Truckee comes in. There are several pull-outs along the way going up to Stampede but most seem to spawn closer to Boca.

When we were living up there my wife and I would fish the mouth regularly in the evenings after dinner. Any time we'd let the line sink deep we were almost assured of taking a kokanee. You could immediately tell when you had one hooked up by how much harder they fought compared to the planter trout.
TONY

[Ralph]

The Truckee schools take the kids over to Donner Creek to watch the run where the fish stack up behind the Donner Lake dam. The size of the run is highly variable from year to year. Good bear watching in the evening.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

When I worked at West Capitol Rod & Gun in West Sac about 40 years ago we use to do quit a bit of trolling for Kokanee with lead-core line.

Back then some of the popular places were Bullard's Bar, Folsom Lake and Lake Tahoe.

Bullard's was loaded with smaller fish up to about 13 inches so the limit was 10 per day.

At Folsom Lake we caught them larger, like 17 inches and bigger at times.

Lake Tahoe had the largest. I saw 2 in person that were dead and brought into the bait shop by Lee Hudson that we around 24 inches and ~5 pounds.

I have not really stayed up with the Kokanee fishery so I don't know what has happened to it.