FISHING
STAMPEDE KOKES ARE BACK, BABY! TRUCKEE-AREA FISHERY CHURNING OUT NICE-SIZED FEISTY FIGHTERS By Cal Kellogg
T
he action was fast and furious. I’d just finished putting the first salmon of the day into the softsided cooler when the shallow leadcore rig trolling a corn-tipped pink spinner teamed with a 3-inch midnight blue dodger about 6 feet deep got crushed. “Fish on!” I yelled to the running
DJI Action Camera as I worked to wrench the rod out of the holder. I’m always amazed how hard a decentsized kokanee will fight. This sockeye was using every trick in the book, including hard runs, wild jumps and violent head shaking. The diminutive salmon was only about 15 inches long, but it put the 3- to 5-pound planter rainbows I’d
been catching in the Valley to shame in terms of energy and fight. The first time I brought the salmon to the kayak and prepared to slide it into the net, all hell broke loose. The fish bolted straight down in an impressive power dive that pulled line off the reel and pinned the rod to the rail, eliciting an eruption of schoolgirl-like giggling from me.
Hard fighters and great table fare, kokanee salmon provide anglers with plenty of good action. Stampede Reservoir near Truckee is one of Northern California’s better fisheries and should be a good option the rest of the summer. An orange spoon teamed with a small willow-leaf-shaped dodger closed the deal on this handsome landlocked sockeye. (CAL KELLOGG)
calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
43
