Electric Lake Ice Fishing for Kokanee

There’s a great opportunity to fish a less well known lake for the elusive landlocked salmon. This article will tell you everything you need to know to do some Electric Lake ice fishing for kokanee salmon.

Kokanee Fishing on Electric Lake

Electric lake is a high altitude body of water near Monument Peak, UT, and is home to a population of kokanee salmon. Electric lake isn’t technically a lake at all. It’s a reservoir that was created in 1974 with the creation of a dam. The lake was originally stocked with kokanee salmon at the same time as Causey Reservoir, and both have proved successful. Most of the shoreline is privately owned, which really limits any shore fishing and access, but that’s not as much of an issue during ice fishing season.

Electric Lake has a depth of 217 feet and about 425 acres in total area. It is right next to Huntington Reservoir and Cleveland Reservoir in the Manti-La Sal National Forest. Electric Lake tends to stay frozen longer than a lot of other lakes in the state, so if you’re into ice fishing, Electric Lake is a place you need to get familiar with.

In this article on kokanee salmon ice fishing on Electric Lake, we look at the best locations on the lake and what most people are having the most success with. We’ve pulled this data from multiple forums, tabulating averages and what most people are reporting success with, and then we put it to the test, and tried it out for ourselves. If you want to catch Kokanee ice fishing at Electric Lake, here’s what you need to know.

Amenities at Electric Lake

There are restrooms available on the North side of the reservoir, and this lake is managed by the forest service, so they’re closed during the winter months. Don’t count on them. The nearest towns are Huntington, Fairview, and Scofield, which are all smaller towns, but do offer some restaurants and lodging options, including both hotels, campgrounds, and RV parks. 

How to Fish for Kokanee on Electric Lake

The most popular way to fish for kokanee at Electric Lake is either trolling with a downrigger, or ice fishing. When ice fishing, you’re trying to or jig for kokanee, which can also be done from a boat in the summer months. You need to find the kokanee, get on them, and then work that school of kokanee until they move on. Then you find them again.

Where to Find Kokanee on Electric Lake

Electric Lake isn’t as big as a lot of other kokanee lakes in Utah, so locating them is pretty straight forward. We recommend drilling down in the deeper part of the lake, close to the center of the lake. If you’ve got a fish finder, you should be able to find schools of kokanee throughout the lake in deeper water, as long as you know what kokanee look like on a fish finder.

As it gets warmer, kokanee salmon go deeper. They can be hard to find, but depending on the water temperature, you can find Kokanee salmon from 10’-60′ with an average being around 20’ during ice fishing season. That doesn’t mean you’ll be able to consistently find them at that depth though. Electronics are very important when fishing or ice fishing for kokanee, and electric lake is no different. Because the water is deep and kokanee depths can vary so drastically, a fish finder is crucial.

Most Popular Kokanee Salmon Rig for Fishing Electric Lake

I combed through several forums, fishing reports, and social media groups to figure out what most people were reporting having success with. Your most common kokanee trolling setups will probably work, even when ice fishing, but a little refinement and knowledge from locals never hurts. This is what people are reporting success with.

Most Popular Lure or Hoochie at Electric Lake

Ice Flies or Squid hoochies are the most popular type of lure used on Electric Lake. Pink was by far the most popular lure color on the water for lures. Any of the lures below will work well. I don’t really like to troll with the kokanee flies, but they do work well when ice fishing. I think the weighted jighead style makes for a better jigging action. As for the squid hoochies, I personally prefer the double hook kokanee lures, as kokanee strike out of aggression, and the two hooks provides twice the opportunity to hook into a kokanee.

Most Popular Dodger at Electric Lake

There were several popular kokanee dodger colors according to the forums. According to the forums and groups, a pink dodger is the way to go. People also liked pink combined with silver. This was the nearly unanimous color choice for the electric lake kokanee fishermen, and ice fishing in general, you can’t go wrong. Some kokanee ice fishermen go without a dodger, but I personally have had a lot more success with one, and its become the common practice.

Most Popular Bait for Kokanee At Electric Lake

The most popular bait to tip the hooks with at the end of your lure or hoochie was split pretty evenly between shoe peg corn and gulp maggots. Shoe peg corn is a more firm and resilient type of corn that can stay on the hook better and longer than regular sweet corn. The corn can also absorb scent and flavor, and it provides a kokanee something soft to bite into. If they aren’t hit on the first strike, they’re more likely to strike again. I’m a fan of fire corn, which is a dyed and scented corn. There’s a good YouTube video I’ve added at the bottom of this article, and the guys in there kill it with corn.

Gulp maggots are an artificial maggot that is coated in a good scent. It stays on the line well and has good color for attracting kokanee, and it can last a good long time in the tackle box, which is really convenient, and its actually my go to bait for that reason.

Where is Electric Lake

Video of Ice Fishing for Kokanee on Electric Lake

About Kokanee Salmon

Kokanee salmon are sockeye salmon that are landlocked in fresh water. They primarily feed on Zoo plankton and are generally found in larger lakes that can maintain a cool temperature, or have enough depth to maintain a cool temperature. Kokanee are native to many lakes in the western United States and Canada including Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho in the United States and British Columbia and Yukon in Canada. Populations of kokanee salmon are also found in Japan and Russia. 

Additionally, kokanee have been introduced to many other lakes in the United States including in those states mentioned above as well as in Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico in the west, as well as in New England, New York and North Carolina in the east. Kokanee have also been introduced to lakes in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

Electric Lake is one of the less well known kokanee fisheries in the state of Utah. It’s also closer than a lot of people think. So, whether you’re trolling, or ice fishing, kokanee fishing at Electric Lake should definitely be on your list of things to do.