NEWS

By
Paul Henry Abram
Kokanee Fall
The first day of Fall is officially here and, right on time, the Kokanee Salmon in Bass Lake are in full spawning mode and striking at anything you can get to irritate them. Last Sunday saw me and good friend and fishing buddy, Richard Grahlman, on the lake bright and early in the company of non-other than guiding afficionado, Todd Witwer. We were joined by Todd's friend, Ray Appleton, the ever popular talk show host of KMJ Radio in Fresno, 580 on the AM dial. Our goal, to find and catch as many Kokes as Todd could put us on to, and, hopefully, set a new lake record. As I reported last week, Todd's wife, Bonnie set a new record of 21 inches, only to have it broken a few days later by Mark Sobel - the bar is now at 21 1/8 inches. My heartfelt condolences go off to fishing legend Mike Beighey . You may remember him from past stories - he is the guy that, when on lake, river, stream or ocean, fish fear him. Mike held the record for the largest Kokanee on Bass Lake, 19 3/4 inches, set way back in 1986. But, records are meant to be broken - hang in there Mike.
The Jig Is Up
Todd treated us to his latest finding - jigging, rather than trolling. He self taught himself after reading about the technique being used for Kokanee up in Washington. He experimented with various of his home-made lures, locations and depths and now has the method perfected. Richard and I had some doubt when, for the first full hour, I had the one and the only strike. But then, true to form, Todd had the first fish on - a brightly colored, gaping jawed, but still firm as could be, large salmon. Then all heck broke loose, as fish after fish tightened lines. Once we had three fish on at the same time, and twice there were double hook-ups. I netted one fish for Richard with my fish still in the net. The action was fast and furious, and then ended just as quickly as it had started. "We drifted off the school", Todd calmly announced, as he put his boat in gear and headed after another large school. All in all, after about three hours of fishing, we landed 18 large kokes (yep, I was the one that was two short of a limit!), but no record. All were larger than the 1976 record, and all were in the three plus pound range. I came real close with a 20 ½ inch male. I believe Ray had one as long, and even thicker. He enjoyed the trip so much he talked about it for long periods of time on his radio show the next morning, and my photo of him with his limit of 5 is now on Todd's website at www.kokanee.net. <http://www.kokanee.net./>
It's Not Too Late
Not everyone is lucky enough to have a top notch salmon guide as a friend, and Richard, Ray and I are all indebted to Todd for his eagerness to show us a good time and share his expertise in locating and landing the elusive land-locked sockeye salmon, known as Kokanee. You owe yourself a once in a lifetime experience - if you have never hooked into a large salmon Todd is available to show you how. And, he means it when he says: "My goal is to provide our customers with all of the tools and personal instruction necessary to make for a fun and successful trip. While we want your repeat business and referrals, we also want every customer to take with them information that may enhance their next fishing trip without a guide". Todd's charters include all bait and tackle as well as coffee, water and sodas, and your fish cleaned and bagged, with 1 to 5 people per charter. You can reach him now at 779-2429 to catch a few before the season ends, or arrange for a trip beginning in early summer when the bite will start again. And here's hoping to share YOUR next Catch o' the Day.