Yeah its a poor man's downrigger setup. I've used it to get kokanee in my inflatable kayak. It seems to work.

Good results trolling for trout in June-July.
I start the day in my kayak looking for fish on my Lowrance. Once I find a hot spot I troll at the lowest speed with a lead line and 2-4 ounce weight. After the weight I attach a snubber, then I use a 4" flasher followed by 3ft of line and then a pink or chartreuse small hoochie squid with double hooks.
Trout seem to like plastic worms, or green power bait. I go between 10am and 3pm. Letting out 25-35 ft of line works best.

I want to try Shaver Lake and Bass Lake next!

Can any body recommend a reasonable fish finder to use with a kayak. I'm primarily interested in Kokanee salmon fishing.

Trying to fish Kokanee at Shaver Lake CA, but no bites at the beginning of September 2022. Weather has been quite hot >90 deg. Is this just a bad time to find Kokanee? I tried letting out my line from 50' to 160', but nothing? I tried a pink hoochie, as well as DozerDave's wedding ring spinner.
Phil

I forgot to mention, that I don't have a down-rigger! Probably obvious.

Anybody know how much weight to add to my line (lead line) to get 50' depth at a trolling speed of 1mph. Of course I need to also know how much line to let out.

I was going to try to calculate all this, but I'm concerned about my head exploding!

Thanks Jarhead and DD for the rigging tips and fishing location suggestions. Jarhead, do you know if Millerton Reservoir has Kokanee?

Thanks for all your input! I'm really excited to try some of your ideas! I'll let you know how I do Labor day weekend!

Hi, I don't know about you but for me Kokanee salmon is one of the best fish I've ever tasted. Therefore let's figure out how to fish them!

I just had one hour to put my Kayak in the water at Shaver Lake. I dropped a lead line in the water with a flasher and pink hoochie. Bait was corn soaked in oily tuna. Nothing happened until I let my line out to 90ft. I paddled very slowly to keep the line deep and, voila! A beautiful 15" Kokanee.

Was I just lucky? Please let me know your successes in the Fresno area, or anywhere in Northern Ca for that matter. Phil

Hi,
I'm fairly new to fishing and to get started I went out on a guided trip in Boca Reservoir near Lake Tahoe, CA. I couldn't believe that we pulled 35 Salmon out the morning we went in late July.

I got excited about it and tried renting a boat locally at Shaver Lake CA. I didn't have downriggers so I used lead line, and weights, and tried to fish around 50 ft depth. I didn't have a fish finder and my boat didn't have a true trolling motor so it was hard. I only got one bite, and it ran off with my bait. No more bites that morning.

I would appreciate any advice from experienced fishermen!
Thanks, Phil