Don Pedro Reservoir Fishing Report 2024 [Tips, Spots, Pictures, and Everything You Need to Know]

The landlocked Sockeye salmon are known as Kokanee.

Kokanee salmon mature in lakes or reservoirs and move into streams in the fall to spawn, whereas Sockeye salmon mature in the ocean and migrate into streams.

Kokanee were initially introduced to California waters as fingerlings in 1941.

While our drought is a serious issue that is unlikely to go away anytime in the near future, there is more than enough water to target kokanee.

Yes, the water level is at 50%, and the fish are not holding over the traditional fishing spots.

So it’s just a matter of fishing the right locations at the right depth…

That’s where having the right electronics really helps.

We anglers must work harder than we’re used to in order to catch these cold-water beauties.

Kokanee can be caught dodgers, spinners, spoons, and even simple red hooks. 

To attract the attention of the fish, anglers will tip their spinners and spoons with bits of corn or use an attractant. 

Because this fish has a mouth full of sharp teeth which can easily cut a line, a lead leader is strongly recommended.

Kokanee will be seeking cooler water in June, which will most likely be 100-200-feet water depth, so trolling with a downrigger is absolutely a must.

By the way, if you don’t know how to use a downrigger, that’s okay! A lot of fishing guides we talked to don’t like to talk about such an effective way to fish. Regardless, you deserve to know… click here to learn more

General Kokanee Details

Spawn: September – December

Food: Zooplanton, insects, small crustaceans, shad or other small fish. 

California State Record: 5 lbs 2 oz. Caught 7/20/2013 in Lake Tahoe.

Table Quality: Depending on the fishes diet, the meat can be white to orange-red in color. The meat is firm, flaky, and is considered excellent eating.

Angling techniques:

• Trolling with or without downriggers
• Fish attractor such as a  flasher or a dodger – great when trolling.
• Trolling spoons such as a Krocodile spoon, Super Duper, Crippled Herring, Cast Champ, or  Hus-Lure – simple, easy to use, can be trolled or cast-retrieved at any speed.
• Inline spinners such as the Bang-Tail and Shyster – gets a ton of bites.
• Minnow style baits such as the Luhr-Jensen Quick Fish and the Rapala BX minnow – known to hook up giant fish.
• Real or artificial corn – great because it will never spoil or mold over.
• Natural salmon eggs – it’s hard to beat natural salmon eggs when trout are eating salmon eggs, they’ll eat up jars of this stuff!
• Artificial salmon eggs – great because they float off the bottom – ideal in rocky or grassy conditions.
• Real worms – such as meal worms or nightcrawlers.
• Artificial worms – great for trolling and will never die.
• Dry flies (floating flies) – The insects that land, float, or live on top of the water, which are represented by dry flies.Investing in a kit gives you a wide assortment of flies and a good selection of types and sizes allow you to quickly adjust to any situation.
• Wet flies (sinking flies) – Wet flies imitate insects that develop and inhabit below the water level before emerging and rising to the surface. Investing in a kit gives you a wide assortment of flies and a good selection of types and sizes allow you to quickly adjust to any situation.  
• Woolly bugger flies – One of the most popular fly patterns ever is the Woolly Bugger. These mimic small fish, leeches, larvae, and worms. Investing in a kit gives you a wide assortment of flies and a good selection of types and sizes allow you to quickly adjust to any situation.  
• Steamer flies – They can also mimic larger animals found in streams and rivers, including crawfish, larger leeches, and smaller fish. Investing in a kit gives you a wide assortment of flies and a good selection of types and sizes allow you to quickly adjust to any situation. 

• **The number one key to successful trout fishing, is to use light line (2 to 6 pound) and small hooks (10-14 sizes), and small sinkers