Lake McClure Fishing Report 2023 [Tips, Fishing 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
• Leader: 18-24-inch leader. The more active the fish are, the shorter the leader you want. The attractor will also shake and wobble the lure as it wobbles back and forth.  The longer the leader is, the less action your lure will have.

• Attractor: 6in Shasta Tackle UV sling blade or a Jensen Trout & Kokanee Dodger in blue, silver in clear water, or chartreuse, bright pink in stained water.

• Mack’s Peewee Hoochie or Wiggle Hoochie in green, blue, pink, or  +/- a Mack’s Smile blade in front of the hoochie. Works great in stained water.

• Troll with a wedding ring spinner size 2. Works great in clear water.
• Tie on a #2 straight shank lightwire Neko rig hook (yep, the same hook that bass anglers will use), then   thread on a 2-inch Berkley Power Minnow on a size 2 light wire finesse hook behind your sling blade +/- a Mack’s Smile blade in front of the hoochi. Great option in really clear water. 
• 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.
• 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. 

• **What to do if you’re not getting bites: (1) small piece of cured anchovy or cured shad to the hook and cover with bait scent. (2) change the lure color based on the water clarity. (3) If water clarity is the same, then change to a lure with either more action (Wiggle Hoochie) or less action (Berkley Power Minnow on a 24-inch leader).  (4) go to a different spot

  You’ll have the best results if you troll 1.5-2.0 mile per hour. 

  Many times salmon or trout will just follow the lure being trolled, sometimes up to 5-10 minutes and not strike! So to create a reaction strike, you want to either speed up or slow down your troll every few minutes. Another good way to get a reaction strike is to make a sharp turn of the boat.