Kokanne Salmon – Trolling with Corn
Kokanee are a plankton eater, meaning that despite popular belief, Kokanee do not eat your lures. They are extremely territorial so when a Kokanee goes after your lure it is actually to defend their territory.
So, how do you lure in a fish that won’t eat your lure? You make them mad. And the best way to do that is with colors and scents. We won’t cover colors in this blog post but we will in future blog posts. Right now we are focusing on scent.
There are several different scent products on the market today that you could use, (Atlas Mike’s, Pro Cure, Smelly Jelly, etc but the ones we use are pictured in our photo. Play around with the different brands and various scents until you get just the right combination for the Kokanee in your lake. We mix several different combos every day and try them on different poles. While trolling with corn if one corn is out performing another we will switch to that scent for the day.
The question we get most of all is…”Why do you use white shoepeg corn? Why not yellow corn?” Shoepeg corn on it’s own is a proven Kokanee scent. The kernels are long and slender and more hydro-dynamic (effecting your lures action less). Yellow corn has a hard center and is more square. Also, yellow corn will swell up in a fish’s stomach, causing harm to the fish! Please don’t use yellow corn!
Tips When Mixing & Trolling With Corn:
• Drain the water off your corn before adding scent. Don’t rinse your corn.
• Mix in a plastic tupperware with a lid and store in the fridge when not in use.
• Open a window when playing with scents. Some smell horrid but the fish love them!
• Add one piece of corn to each hook. Place the corn on the hook so that the open end of the kernel points back, away from the hook eye. This is more hydro-dynamic and the scent will bleed out the back of the kernel better. Hooks without corn get significantly less hits than hooks with corn, but only put 1 per hook, too many effects the action of the lure.
• When fishing, bring a towel or fishing wipes for your hands. Some of these scents really smell horrid and your fingers will too after loading the corn on the hooks!
• Don’t leave the corn in the direct sunlight on your boat. Try and put it in the shade when you’re not using it.
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