Kokanee

Kokanee look like small sockeye: bright silver with a blue-green back, tiny or no spots, a slender body and a deeply forked tail, running 10–16 inches in most lakes and 4–7 lb in the richest. In late summer they turn brick red with green heads, and males grow a hump and a hooked jaw before dying after the spawn. They are native to lakes from Alaska through British Columbia, Washington, Idaho and Oregon and have been stocked widely in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada and California.

Kokanee feed almost entirely on zooplankton, filtering it in open water at the depth where temperature sits near 50–55 °F (10–13 °C), which puts them 20–80 feet down through summer. They school tightly, so anglers rely on sonar, downriggers and attractors, and because they do not eat fish, they strike small bright lures out of aggression and curiosity rather than hunger. Their soft mouths, acrobatic fights on light tackle and rich red flesh have built a devoted following of 'koke' trollers across the West.