3 Best Kokanee Lures in 2023: Salmon can’t Resist Them!

Kokanee Salmon are spread right across the Western USA. From the lakes on Northern California to those of Idaho, Washington and of course Alaska. There is no shortage of Kokanee spots to go fishing.

The trick is getting one on the end of your line. And Kokanee natively feed on plankton, which are really tiny and impossible to imitate with a look-alike lure.

But being the resourceful anglers we are, a variety of different approaches including beads, blades and lures manage to coax Kokanee onto the end of our hooks year in year out.

So let’s take a look at the best Kokanee lures that will catch their interest and lead to consistent strikes, even though these lures are Goliath’s when compared with the size of plankton!

The Best Kokanee Lures in 2023

I love to fish the Little Hoochie Kokanee Lures in the spring to catch Kokanee as they start to push down away from the surface of the water. During spring, Kokanee will move down from the warm surface water to feed at a depth of around 10 to 20 feet on most lakes. And it’s at these depths when I’ve had the most success catching Kokanee with Hoochie lures.

If you aren’t familiar with the Hoochie, it’s a particularly effective saltwater lure that looks like a squid moving through the water. Hoochies are a soft plastic lure with a skirt that is designed to look like the tentacles of a squid, which creates a lot of action in the water when used correctly.

I like to pair my unrigged Hoochie with a couple of beads that act as a spacer down to a swivel with either a single of double trailing hook. You can also add a smile blade just above the lure to create that little bit of extra action in the water, which usually means more strikes!

I fish a pink Hoochie with a golden blade, but try switching out different colored Hoochies and blades to find what works best for your local area. As always, the best Kokanee lures are the ones that catch Kokanee!

This is a Kokanee lure that brings serious action into the water. Brad’s Kokanee Cut Plug spins on the line which adds loads of movement onto your hooks. It also works by breaking up the water and creating a lot of shake on your trailing hooks. All of this movement works to raise the Kokanee salmon’s interest in what you are serving up. A juicy hook!

I like to use a bead on my line just below the lure to hold it at the exact distance I want it to be away from my hooks. You should rig it up so that the tail of the Cut Plug lure sits more or less where your first hook ties onto the line.

This Kokanee lure from Mack’s Lures comes rigged up and ready to go, so there’s nothing else required from your end except tying it on. I recommend going with this option if you aren’t confident in building out your own rigs.

I use the Double Whammy Kokanee Pro lure in the shoulder seasons when the water is still really cold and the fish aren’t quite awake yet. It brings a lot less action to the water than some of the other Kokanee lures on the list, which makes it my top pick when fishing for less active Kokanee.

I’ve also had good success getting strikes on this lure when the Kokanee are sitting up near the surface and are a bit more timid. Any lures that present with too much action scare the fish off when they are sitting in the topwater so you want to be running a Kokanee lure that is a bit more subdued to get those strikes.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s still enough action created in the water to get the fish interested. But it isn’t quite so aggressive as with the Cut Plug or Hoochie Kokanee lures.

Kokanee Lure Rigging Tips and Tricks

Use a Kokanee Dodger!

Typically I pair the Kokanee Lures that I recommend here with a Kokanee Dodger setup. Experienced anglers will know that this is quite a common setup when going after Kokanee Salmon. Most Kokanee Rigs will consist of a dodger, a leader and a lure.

When the water starts to warm up in the lakes as the seasons march forward, the Kokanee start to dive deeper. And this is exactly when you need to start bringing a Kokanee Dodger into your rigging setup if you aren’t already using one. The more aggressive presentation is perfect for when the Kokanee get their confidence from being in deeper waters.

Change the Leader Length!

Your leader length is going to vary based on how much action you are trying to bring into the water. When you are fishing the Little Hoochie or the Kokanee Pro lures, you should keep your leader length short. At or under 12 inches will do the trick most days, but you may have to vary it based on how the fish are responding on the day.

You are going to need a longer leader when fishing with Brad’s cut plug, more like 18 to 24 inches. This high action lure can pretty much catch fish by itself because of how much it disturbs the water and there is no need for a short leader to increase the action.

Switch up the Action of your Kokanee Lure!

Some days the quiet action of the Mack’s Lure Kokanee Pro will be all you need to land a Kokanee, especially in early spring when the fish are still in the top of the water column. Other days it’s going to take a much more aggressive presentation to get those fish to strike.

Anglers like to switch up their lure colors when they aren’t getting any bites, buy my tip to you is to switch up the action of your lure instead. On days when the Little Hoochie isn’t getting you any bites, try going to the Kokanee Cut Plug instead. And vice versa.

I find the change in action results in increased chances of strikes more so than changes in colors. So try switching up your action before you reach for ten different colors of the same Kokanee lure!

The Last Cast

Landlocked Kokanee Salmon are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature, which means you need to be too! The best Kokanee lures to use in early spring are going to be different to the Kokanee lures that you’ll need to use in mid-summer when the fish are down much deeper in the lake. These fish prefer to live in water temperatures of 55 degrees and you’re going to have to chase them as they move around the water column.

Adapt or die!

And before you go and purchase a myriad of different colored lures, remember that sometimes all you need is a change in presentation. Move from a low action to a high action Kokanee lure and you just might tempt a strike. Or vice versa!

So rig up your downrigger and get on down to your favorite lake to try out some of the most effective Kokanee lures I’ve come across. And then tell me all about it!

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