Fishing mailbag: Handle bass the right way; plus, are kokanee in this Idaho reservoir?

Fishing season is hitting its stride as the spring weather (finally) stabilizes, and I’ve been getting lots of feedback from excited readers. For today’s column, we tackle recent comments and questions from my inbox:

Help protect nature from stray fishing gear

Reader Ilse sent in a heartbreaking reminder of the damage fishing tackle can do when it’s not discarded properly — a picture of a heron hanging from a tree, wrapped in fishing line.

Leaving old line, sinkers and hooks behind can be dangerous not only for wildlife, but for other anglers and recreationists. Line, in particular, has a way of winding up in bad places. If you snag and break your line, please try to retrieve as much of it as you can! I always carry a Ziploc bag in case I need to discard line, because it also has a knack for falling out of pockets and off of boat decks.

Tackle isn’t the only fishing-related litter that gets left behind. Used bait containers are common finds — while sturgeon fishing this spring, I found 10 empty glass bait jars lined up on the bank. Undesirable fish like pikeminnow and carp (I harvest many of mine — they make great cut bait) often get left dead on the bank, along with the remains of cleaned fish. Do everyone a favor and toss dead fish and guts back out into the water. Crayfish and other critters will handle the rest!

Notes on proper bass handling

As bass season hits its peak, reader Don sent in a request to remind local anglers about best practices for handling bass, especially large ones.

Bass are a relatively easy species to handle because their large mouths pop open when gripped with a thumb to the bottom lip. The safest way to hold a bass is to grip it firmly by the bottom lip with one hand and support the back end of the fish with your second hand while holding it horizontally. This avoids putting torque on the jaw — torque that could damage the mouth and decrease the fish’s chances of survival. The two-handed horizontal hold is best for photos, or when releasing fish.

The second-best way is to grip the bottom lip and let the fish hang vertically, without any angle that puts torque on the jaw. This is a good way to hold fish while removing hooks, or for a quick selfie.

While we’re on the subject of big bass, I’ll add a friendly recommendation to practice catch-and-release, which is required through June 30 in many Idaho fisheries and is always wise during the spawning season. Large adult bass are often at least a decade old, and they are crucial to sustaining local populations. Idaho Fish and Game recently published an article with lots of good info about spawning season. Give it a read — and let those big bass go so they can spawn and grow!

Are there kokanee in C.J. Strike?

I’ve gotten several inquiries about kokanee salmon in C.J. Strike Reservoir. I have not personally caught or witnessed a kokanee out of C.J., but it’s true that Fish and Game stocked about 90,000 fingerlings there in 2020.

Given the healthy populations of bass, perch, crappie, trout and other fish-eating predators in C.J. Strike, it’s likely many of those kokanee were eaten. Some survived, surely, but not in numbers that resulted in much of a kokanee fishery. And while 90,000 fish sounds like a lot, it is worth noting that popular kokanee fisheries like Lucky Peak and Anderson Ranch have received significantly more fingerling kokes since 2020 — 650,000 at Lucky Peak and 500,000 at Anderson.

C.J. Strike remains an outstanding fishery for a variety of species, but it will take a higher-volume stocking effort — which seems unlikely, in my opinion — to add kokanee to that list in the near-term future. Thanks for your emails, and tight lines!

Jordan Rodriguez has been fishing Idaho waters since he was a teen. Share your fish stories, adventures and questions with him at tightlinesboise@gmail.com, or visit www.tightlines208.com for the latest local fishing reports and upcoming class offerings.

This story was originally published May 16, 2023 at 4:00 AM.