Best Kokanee Fishing in Oregon (Outside Central Oregon)

Sharing is caring!

The kokanee is a sockeye salmon that spends its entire life cycle in freshwater.

Kokanee are good fighters, great eating and – in the best lakes and reservoirs – incredibly plentiful.

Sometimes they also are very big in Oregon: In 2010, Wallowa Lake produced the world record kokanee.

Kokanee fishing can be fickle one day, fabulous the next. Be prepared to try different angling methods.

In Oregon as elsewhere, “kokes” thrive where they have cold water and plentiful zooplankton – the tiny critters that make up the bulk of landlocked sockeye diets.

Many of the lakes top kokanee lakes are clustered near the middle of the state, so that region is covered separately in Best Kokanee Fishing in Central Oregon.

But that leaves plenty of other hot spots in the Beaver State. By angling zones, here are some of the best:

Northeast Zone

Wallowa Lake may not always wow you with numbers – and in some years its 25-kokanee limit will be well out of reach.

But when conditions allow, these kokanee can rival their ocean-going kin for size.

That’s because Wallowa contains a non-native freshwater shrimp that become a buffet line for craftier adult fish.

In fact, numerous state records have been caught here, leading up to Ron Campbell’s 9-pound, 10-ounce world record in June 2010.

“Most people troll for them,” said Gina Barstad, owner of Wallowa Lake Marina. She said pulling flashers ahead of a Mack’s Lure Wedding Ring or Worden’s Spin-N-Glo lures is popular here. Jigging also catches big kokanee.

Wallowa also has a very popular rainbow trout fishery, and a few anglers go after lake trout that reach trophy size.

More: Kokanee Fishing at Wallowa Lake

Also in the Northeast Zone: Olive Lake has plenty of smallish kokanee and good numbers of rainbow and brook trout.

Southeast Zone

Lake of the Woods

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Roger Smith would give this big lake between Medford and Klamath Falls the nod for best among kokanee lakes in his district, but only because it sports decent numbers of pan-sized kokes.

The lake also has rainbows and some big brown trout, as well as yellow perch, brown bullheads and largemouth bass.

Fourmile Lake

Its self-sustaining population of kokanee traditionally ran thick but small at about 10 inches, tops. But now that lake trout have been stocked in Fourmile, the growing Mackinaws are cutting into the kokanee numbers. At least the remaining kokes are running larger.

There also are brook and rainbow trout in this deep, high-mountain lake just uphill from Lake of the Woods.

Miller Lake

A fantastic fishery for big browns, along with good fishing for stocked rainbows, off Highway 97 near Chemult, but its abundant kokanee often are overlooked and under-fished. Perhaps that’s because they also happen to be quite small.

Before heading to Miller, read our Miller Lake Brown Trout Fishing and Miller Lake Rainbow Trout Fishing articles.

Heart Lake

If you’re heading east, this lake between Klamath Falls and Lakeview has kokanee that generally run on the small side, but there also are some occasional nice rainbow trout.

Willamette River Zone

Green Peter Reservoir

If you’re tired of hearing about salmon as an endangered species, go to Green Peter Reservoir, where everyone wants you to take home the 25-kokanee limit … and then come back and do it again tomorrow (as long as you don’t waste these tasty fish).

Some years the kokanee are pan-sized but so numerous a little thinning might help; other years they are commonly caught at good sizes, often 14- and 15-inchers.

Greg Graham, a former president of Kokanee Power of Oregon, a nonprofit that supports trout and salmon lake fisheries, likes to troll Shasta Tackle Company’s Cripplures and Humdingers, as well as hootchie-type lures.

Buddies who prefer jig fishing like the Gibbs Minnow, Graham added.

The reservoir, southeast of Albany, also is planted with rainbow trout and has some largemouth bass.

More: Kokanee Fishing at Green Peter Reservoir

And even more about all types of fishing here: Green Peter Reservoir Fishing

Detroit Lake

Hugely popular for rainbow trout fishing and power-boating, this big reservoir east of Salem has been a rising star in the kokanee ranks.

Not only are the kokanee typically larger at Detroit Lake than they are at Green Peter, they seem to become more numerous every years.

In fact, ODFW has decided that anglers now can keep up to 10 kokanee (or a mixed bag of trout and kokanee, with no more than five of them being trout).

Detroit Lake also sports landlocked Chinook salmon, but under current regulations these salmon must be released. Know your fish: The Chinook have spots that kokanee don’t have, and kokanee have a more sharply forked tail.

More: Detroit Lake Fishing

Timothy Lake

A high-mountain beauty southeast of Portland, kokanee anglers here can attempt to fill a 25-kokanee bag limit when the bite is on, although these probably won’t be the biggest kokanee you’ll find.

This is a nice spot for rainbows, brookies and crayfish, too.

More: Timothy Lake Fishing

Triangle Lake

A quaint Coast Range lake west of Eugene, Triangle Lake sports a moderate population of kokanee along with some trout and a pretty good bass and panfish fishery.

More: Triangle Lake Fishing

How to Catch More Kokanee

Read up on the most effective kokanee fishing tactics in our easy guide.

Oregon Resources

ODFW Weekly Fishing Report
ODFW Trout Stocking Schedule
Oregon Fishing Regulations
National Weather Service

Return to Best Kokanee Fishing in Oregon page