22 April 25, 2025 VOL. 44 • ISS. 4

The small fillets from Bullards Bar kokanee are the perfect size for teriyaki salmon! Fillet and marinate them in teriyaki sauce overnight. Next, grill them flesh-side down to get a good sear. Once off the grill, remove the skins and place them over a bed of steamed jasmine rice. Drizzle teriyaki glaze over the fish, and Sriracha sauce around the outside of the plate. To finish it off, sprinkle some sesame seeds over the fish. Without a doubt, this is an easy but rewarding way to enjoy fresh kokanee!

Photo by Jack Naves, Fish Sniffer Staff

As kokanee always do, they incrementally pushed deeper as the morning dragged on, with fish coming as deep as 104 feet by noon. This is a key strategy that new kokanee anglers must be aware of: you must continually move your gear deeper as the day progresses to match the depth of the descending fish. While we were catching lots of kokanee, we weren’ t catching any over twelve inches. I was running some old-school lures: Mack’ s Wedding Rings! These lures started Mack’ s Lure company in 1969, but apparently nobody told the kokanee that they are obsolete. I couldn’ t get my lines in the water fast enough before getting hammered. I was running the same lure on each rod: a custom purple Wedding Ring with a gold blade. We passed an old twisted stump on the shoreline when my high rod set at 75 feet deep started jabbing towards the water. Just as the fish got off, my other rod set at 88 feet deep started bouncing. I immediately grabbed the rod and reeled tight.“ It’ s on” I relayed to Kyle, and he stood patiently with the net.“ That’ s a better one” Kyle indicated

During the Kokanee Power derby at Bullards Bar on April 5, author Jack Naves found a plethora of kokanee between ten and thirteen inches in length. The fish shown here was his team’ s largest kokanee of the derby, while higher placing teams found several fish over the thirteen-inch mark for their five-fish weigh-in.

Photo by Jack Naves, Fish Sniffer Staff

as he netted the fish. Indeed, he was right, as the fish measured 12.8 inches on our measuring board. While it was a nice fish, it turned out to be our only decent fish of the day. Meanwhile, a separate group of boats fishing the Mill Creek area on the main lake were finding larger fish over thirteen inches in length. Many of those teams placed in the top five, while we were barely able to squeeze into the standings with our lone twelve-incher. It was a beautiful day to be on the water, with great weather, emerald-green waters, and soaring eagles and ospreys to keep us company! The Kokanee Power directors and volunteers did an excellent job of running the raffle and ceremonies over their PA system. The teams enjoyed a delicious barbeque lunch as part of the derby entry to reward a hard day’ s fishing. If you are new to kokanee fishing or just want to meet new anglers and get ideas, these low-key derby events are a must-do. They typically feature a hot lunch, raffles, and lots of sharing between participants. Their next derby is at Shasta Lake May 3-4. Sign-ups and other information can be found on their website at kokaneepower. org

Team Winners( five-fish weight in pounds) 1.) Joe Smith, Danielle Limme 2.67 2.) Justin Ross, Les Woodall 2.59 3.) Logan Noble, Dennis Young, Jacob Noble 2.41 4.) Jack Schultz, Brian Thomas 2.40 5.) Mark Peruzzaro, John Kett, Shannon West 2.39 6.) Chris Dunham, Robert DeGroot, Michelle DeGroot 2.38 7.) Tom Hamada, Scott Dean 2.35 8.) Shawn Estey, Kristopher Bessent, Keith Curtis 2.34 9.) Richie Hight, Samantha Hight, Bradley Donaldson 2.31 10.) Anthony Albericci, Kevin Enos 2.29 11.) Dustin Ainsworth, Austin Young 2.29 12.) Mark Sepelyak, Paul Franco 2.28 13.) Jim Brittain, Kyle Cobb, Jack Naves 2.28 14) Tim Farnham, John Zeman, James Franco 2.28 15.) John Holman, John Ginocchio 2.20

Big Kokanee Side Pot( one fish weight in pounds) 1.) Shawn Estey, Kristopher Bessent, Keith Curtis 0.73 2.) Mark Sepelyak, Paul Franco 0.73

Big Trout Side Pot( one fish weight in pounds) 1.) Brad Hunkins, Dave Koistinen 1.00 2.) Warren Frederickson, James Blea, Lonnie Weber 0.94

Junior Winners( one fish weight in pounds) 1.) Mason Cetinich 0.56 2.) Ford Mitchell 0.54 3.) Anthony Fontaine 0.52 4.) Cole Bane 0.50 5.) Hudson Clavern 0.46

The top five teams and junior anglers got to take home these hats and gleaming trophies on Saturday, April 5 at Bullards Bar. Kokanee Power hosts six derbies each year, with raffles, hot lunches, and fish stories to be had by all.

Photo by Jack Naves, Fish Sniffer Staff

The Fish Sniffer is looking for an Internet Marketing Specialist to help drive the digital Fish Sniffer Magazine into the future.

Knowledge of fishing is very helpful. FishSniffer. com needs to be totally rebuilt, and Internet marketing increased to build the numbers on the magazine and website.

Ownership status a possibility for the right individual.

Contact Paul Kneeland at 530-346-8696 or paulkneeland @ fishsniffer. com