An Evening Kokanee Limit at Whiskeytown Reservoir (Kokanee Across America)

Kokanee Across America Is Made Possible by:
- Paulina Peak Tackle: paulinapeaktac...
- ‪@OldTownCanoeKayak‬ Canoe & Kayak: oldtowncanoe.j...
With Support from:
- Humminbird: www.humminbird...
- Cannon Downriggers: www.cannondown...
- ProCure Bait and Scents: www.pro-cure.com/
Whiskeytown Reservoir just 20 short minutes outside of Redding, California is home to a thriving Kokanee fishery. This modest sized reservoir consistently produces fast limits of fish up 16" in size and is a great location for new and kayak Kokanee anglers. In this episode of Kokanee Across America I make quick work of an evening limit on this beautiful mountain lake.
Tackle used in this video:
- Paulina Peak Tackle 7'3" Kokanee rod: paulinapeaktac...
- Paulina Peak Big Dodger Wonderbread: paulinapeaktac...
- Peak Performance Dodger Silver Moon Jelly" paulinapeaktac...
- Paulina Black Micro-hoochie: paulinapeaktac...
- Paulina Red/Orange Micro-hoochie: paulinapeaktac...
- Gulp Maggots: amzn.to/3NgzSNi
- Pro Cure Water Soluble Krill: amzn.to/3w75MpM
- Pro Cure Water Soluble Shrimp: amzn.to/3a1zsfH
- Pro Cure Water Soluble Anise: amzn.to/39gDMXI
Kayak & accessories:
- Old Town Salty 120 PDL Kayak: oldtowncanoe.j...
- Humminbird Helix 7 SI/DI/GPS: amzn.to/36MC8w3
- Pro-Cure Shrimp Water Soluble Oil: www.pro-cure.c...
- ‪@cannondownriggers1811‬ Lake Troll: amzn.to/3wbaO4L
- Cannon 6 lb ball: amzn.to/3yzlTxZ
- Gamakatsu Split shot/Drop shot hook size 2: amzn.to/3s3gVp5
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[@TinyTrout]

I love how you always find your self in places I've lived

[@tonyh.9957]

It's so cool to watch you on KZbin and actually see you fishing my home lake!!! 👍👍👍

[@bestfishing6338]

I live in Redding. Let’s fish together bro

[@ehdcoyote]

Thanks!

[@spiltmilt]

Thank you for your support!

[@craigambroson2482]

Love all the education. Had to smile at your pronunciation comment. Thanks for another great video.

[@matttaylor9385]

What you missed by not going to Berryessa: wake boarders skipping across the water, parasailers higher than low flying airplanes, very sparkly bass boats going mach-10 and some of the biggest carp I've ever seen.

[@spiltmilt]

Ha! Looks like I made the right choice. Whiskeytown is very beautiful and I unfortunately had to share the lake with exactly one boat.

[@boattothebelly]

Only thing I caught in the last week was Covid 🤦‍♂️. This vid helped my day go way better!! Have a safe trip Tyler! Keep up the great work.

[@TheTroutman85]

Awesome!!!! Cool to see you around our lakes.

[@joncalvo3591]

I e said it before, but I bought this Old Town Salty 130 after seeing you in one last summer !

[@joncalvo3591]

120

[@johnspecht7449]

Anoher really fun video, thank you very much.

[@macsmith2092]

The weather finally allowed us to get out for some kokanee fishing this last weekend. We caught our first handful of "self respecting kokanee" this season. Thanks for sharing.

[@samuelmiller4743]

This video popped up when I was searching whiskeytown and now I think I've seen all your videos. Just got 2 shirts and 2 hoodies

[@ShenpaiWasTaken]

Finally a video with the downrigger on the salty! :D Looks like it works pretty well, looking forward to doing the same. :)

[@terryhopper1147]

Great video and as always interesting commentary (on my favorite lake) Thanks for making the trip down here. We are looking forward to Lake Shasta becoming our next Kokanee haven

[@bartribotta1118]

Great vid again, your choice of lakes was the right on for sure.Berryessa is really large lake in a yak.I also enjoy your explanations of stuff. Good stuff hope you can finish this kokenee across America plan.and thanks for taking it on..

[@BC-ue3ku]

That looks like a nice fishery. I’d be stoked to catch kokes like that around here.

[@Phishrman]

Very cool watching you fish in California and breaking down the lake. I probably fished there a week before you and had the same experience with the fish from the surface down to 40', And it almost didn't matter what color lure. But I did use mostly the ProTroll Kokanee killer.

[@mlinder85]

I have never heard it being called "Paul-eye-na"... weird... but that is maybe because it is always in my head. Thanks for the great content as usual.

[@pianofish5198]

You make such great content. Another great video!

[@pancakeface5717]

Thanks Tyler. I had tentative plans for a trip to Whiskeytown when that massive fire changed my mind. Think I'll try this spring (2023). Looks like fun and not horribly far from my home in Vancouver, WA. I'll track down some black hoochies for my trip. Who'd a thunk it (?) but I guess fish eat all kinds darker colored stuff. I might try them on Merwin sometime, too.

[@Nik-gh6gz]

Its so cool to see you local. Your a legend!!! Come to Berryessa next time.

[@sfkeygrip]

I always seem to have good luck at Whiskeytown. And the fish have always been heathy. Now I am sad that the secret is out but glad you enjoyed your outing there.

[@ocrun6765]

Nice session. If you're still in the area take a drift down the Sac river through town with your fly gear. Just be careful of banging rocks in the riffles.

[@rickw9169]

The Kokanee on Whiskeytown are getting bigger by the month. Two months ago, they were 12 to 13 inches. Now 15s and 16s are common. It was ocean conditions on the lake today but we still managed 2 limits. Large fish was 17 inches. 5 others over 14 inches. The quality and quantity is definitely there this year. Not a good morning to be on a kayak.....

[@joshuadavis8230]

I feel gut inspections are underrated. You can learn a lot about fish behavior by studying their diet.

[@joshuadavis8230]

I can tell you've had a technical education in fisheries.... I'm trying to improve my walleye fishing and hope you might have some college text books to suggest for understanding bait fish ecology. Particularly th introduced Alosa sapidissima (American shad) we have here in the mid-columbia.

[@bretfessenden795]

Would have loved to meet you man. You got me to catch a lot of Kokanee at Whiskeytown!

[@stingray4540]

Whiskeytown in nicer than Berryessa anyways. Funny how they spread out like that. I had something similar last year, marked them at 40’, but couldn’t catch them, the ones on top we were nailing though.

[@adamsnyder9347]

That’s a new Salty for you- different color makes it obvious! I’m curious how you end up liking using a downrigger on that kayak because I’ve got a Predator, and might want to try a downrigger some day.

[@MrJry2598]

If you have a chance, come down to Shaver Lake. We are pulling some nice 18 inch fish with some 19 inchers.

[@spiltmilt]

I'd love to if I had more time and gas $$ 😂

[@tblazy3463]

Nice vid I'm going there soon to give it a try. Hope their still biting!😁

[@waynecollins7929]

Nice catch , my favorite method by far is pedaling around looking for the tell tale rings , was curious if you have posted an itinerary for kokanee across America, best of luck Oh yeah my Spanish is decent so I always pronounce Spanish names and places correctly as well

[@tonyschmucker6661]

curious if you have ever tried Shuttle Hawks with a downrigger. i really like them . i think they would work great for you because you like to keep moving forward while you fight a fish. the shuttle hawk would be back at the surface before you would get the fish in the net. really enjoying the kokanee across america series.

[@spiltmilt]

I've tried them several times but they snag up on the braided downrigger line I use. I've used them with steel cable and they seem to work better on the cable.

[@alexc3629]

Informative video! It seems like you really do your research before hitting the water. Do you have any resources to share for getting info and fishing reports on NW Kokanee lakes? It'd be great to know colors, tactics, and lake productivity, etc. before heading out, especially with long drives and kids.

[@spiltmilt]

Lots of sleuthing on various FB groups and the power of Google

[@gligh01]

Great video! Any plans on fishing Stampede Reservoir? or Pardee Lake (my hometown)?

[@spiltmilt]

Not this year

[@F-N-C]

Cool video man. Have you fished Green Peter Lake in Oregon? Lots of Kokanee.

[@spiltmilt]

I’ve heard they are very small

[@F-N-C]

They probably are, I think that lake gets fished a lot.

[@spiltmilt]

I think there are too many fish in there which is why they are stunted.

[@F-N-C]

@@spiltmilt I’ve caught some pretty nice ones out of Lake Shasta. Great videos too man. Really enjoy watching them.

[@TinyTrout]

Can you go to timothy lake in oregon sometime

[@spiltmilt]

I did a crayfish video there years ago.

[@TheFlyerBill]

What’s your recommendation on failing to get hook set? I had plenty of hits but only 2 hook ups. Only a slow presentation of .75 mph seemed to get a response.

[@spiltmilt]

I speed up and let the boat set the hook but 0.75mph seems slow to me and allows them to grab and release without getting hooked. Try bumping your speed up to 1.3 mph

[@charliecurtis8852]

Can you jig anything for Kokanee? Marabou jig or spoons or anything?

[@spiltmilt]

Yes I have a video on this topic here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZmaY5t6Z7R1jbs

[@danielcole8609]

In your opinion what is the best Kokanee fishery in Oregon

[@spiltmilt]

For size: Wallowa. For numbers: Detroit. Some might argue with me on that and you can certainly catch more at Odell and Green Peter but they are too small to make it worth it IMO.

[@jerillarhen]

yep, I would argue😂, Odell seem to be a bit bigger fish than Detroit this year and most years they are pretty similar with the added benefit of not having near as many boats on Odell typically. Greenpeter on the other hand is terribly overpopulated, hopefully Kokanee power Oregon can help get it back to putting out 14-16" Kokanee like it used to about 15 years ago.

[@danielcole8609]

@@jerillarhen that was when they still planted Spring Chinook in Green Peter now there's nothing to keep the population down its sad

[@kurtfirestone2761]

My opinion is ceramic coating is overrated you keep up with your bike cleaning it when you're right it you have nothing to worry about.

[@chrisdavee9556]

Have you fished Kokanee at waldo lake oregon

[@spiltmilt]

No I’ve not

[@chrisdavee9556]

It's a no motor boat lake electric trolling motors are ok to use

[@troypattillo4100]

Were you using Paulina's rods as well?

[@spiltmilt]

Yes

[@troypattillo4100]

Of course you linked it lol. Apologies for the redundancy. Looks like a great trip!

[@bartribotta1118]

Another question when you use 2-5oz Wts and fish 100ft back I assume you make pretty big turns or do u reel in turn and set up again

[@spiltmilt]

I make big turns if its shallow sometimes sharp turns work to get the bite

[@bobpaget1148]

How do you use the pro cure scents with these rigs? Your flashers, your hoochies?

[@spiltmilt]

I use it on the corn or maggots for bait