Kokenee Fishing, Three Days on the Water at Flaming Gorge

The weather finally cleared, a little, and so we drove the boat to Holmes Crossing,( the name has changed three times from Squaw Creek, to Holmes Crossing, and now to Bridlingers Ferry) . There we saw a few other trucks and trailers and launched the boat. After parking we drove across the lake and had no sooner  put two poles on the down riggers when Renita asked me if I had heard the thunder?

Of course I hadn't and so we watched the sky and saw a flash of lightening in the distance. Now I have been caught in storms before and even had sparks jump from my pole to my hand so we pulled up the rigs and quickly ran back to the boat ramp. Loading the boat we pulled out just in time as the storm reached us and bolts of cloud to ground lighting struck the hill above us.

The next day we got out earlier and soon had missed a fish. Dropping our squid baits back down, (thank you Randy Beavis who makes them and gave us three to try), Renita soon had a nice salmon in the boat. It was now my turn, we take turns by the way, and it seemed forever before I finally caught a fish. The fish were eaters and so now I could relax as I knew that with only one fish I would have had to beg Renita for some of hers.

Soon after the rod released again and she had her second fish of the day. It was good that it happened quick as thunder again started to rumble. We decided discretion was the better wisdom and again we had just started to drive back to the campground when the storm hit. A combination of small hail, heavy rain, and an awesome lighting and thunder display reminded us of why we pull off early.

Day three arrived and the weather forecast was for a massive and cold storm front from Alaska. Snow was forecast for the higher elevations but we still had blue skies so we headed out at an  earlier hour. As we approached the boat ramp we saw that there were only a few spaces left to park.

 Launching, we dove across the lake only to find that there were twenty two other boats already fishing near our spot. Now I am always amazed at the people that think there is only one place to catch fish, they end up sharing, and so we headed out to find another place.

After a half hour one and then the other down rigger poles released and we ended up losing both fish. Rerigging the poles we turned around, and using the gps track hit the same waypoint. The pole tip released again and this time Renita grabbed the rod, fighting in a really nice kokenee. It had started to turn red and she got even more excited as the fish fought hard before she brought it in to the net.

The hook fell off just then but we had it, now if we could only catch another. Turning again we hit the same spot, these are suspended fish, in one hundred and twenty seven feet of water, and this time it was my turn to fight in a beautiful twenty one inch koke.

After missing two more Renita hooked another salmon and now we had three beautiful fish in the boat. Others had seen us catch fish and we were soon joined by a large cabin cruiser who ran full speed right over the school. He then put his pole out and started fishing. Saying unkind things about idiots, to ourselves, we fished for another hour without a bite.

Moving to another waypoint, again away from the others, the pole eventually tripped and I fought in a smaller fish. Unfortunately the fish went belly up and we couldn't release it and added it to the cooler. One more and we would have our limit but it was simply not to be as we fished for two more hours without a bite.

The front approached and it was time to call it a day. Again we got loaded and just got back to the fifth wheel when the storm blasted us with the usual hail, torrential rain, lighting, and high winds. That night it rained so hard that there was probably flash flooding in the area. Luckily the camp ground is high and away from any gullies so we were safe.

Today we are taking a break as the spark plugs are surprised to be in and so we will make a shopping trip to Rock Springs. the forecast is for cold and windy temperatures so we really aren't missing anything on the water. The fish count is eight salmon in three days during which we fished a total of seven hours. Clear skies

ps Randy Beavis has a facebook page on which he demonstrates the swimming motionm of his kokenee squid baits. We met him and his wife four years ago and he's a really nice man and shares his information. His lures worked great for us.