Tried and true trolling for kokes

Some things never change - like the wheel. It's still round, works fine. No need to re-invent. Same for trolling cowbells for kokanee salmon.

Here's a simple two-part recipe for catching a mess of tasty kokanee salmon in the middle of July, and it hasn't changed in my nearly 40 years in Montana.

First, find a lake with kokanee salmon. Second, troll a Wedding Ring spinner on a string of cowbell flashers on leaded line.

Area lakes with trollable populations of kokes include Lake Five, Glen Lake, Lower Thompson Lake, Little Bitterroot Lake and Ashley Lake. And there's Hubbart Reservoir, Lake Mary Ronan and Koocanusa Reservoir.

Thirty years ago, Flathead Lake would have made the list but, well, we all know what happened there.

Anyway, attach the keel end of the flasher string to the leaded line with a snap swivel.

At the other end of the cowbell wire, attach a rubber snubber and then about 18 inches of 8-pound test monofilament. At the end of the mono, tie on a Wedding Ring lure.

Ya, I know, every kokanee pro has a personal favorite lure and color, but a pink beaded, treble-hook Wedding Ring works fine. Tip the hook with a couple of maggots or kernels of shoepeg white corn.

In most lakes, kokanee migrate vertically at least twice a day. In other words, expect them to be shallower in low light, deeper in bright sunlight.

Leaded trolling line is color-coded, so after identifying the right depth, let out the same number of colors of line each time. Expect to miss about a third of your bites and expect to lose a few fish as you try to reel them to the boat.

Trolling a string of cowbell flashers requires a sturdy trolling rod and a heavy reel. Dragging a string of flashers for 8-12 inch kokanee is cumbersome, tiring and akin to swatting ‘skeeters with a tennis racket. But it works.