Electric Lake, Utah Kokanee Salmon Fishing

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 kokanee fishing.

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 efforts. There is however a small boat ramp, so you are able to get into the kokanee. The boat launch there isn’t the nicest, but it’ll get your boat in the water. The 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. 

In this article on kokanee salmon fishing on Electric Lake, we look at the best locations on the lake, boat speed, depth, 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 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. 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. 

About Kokanee Salmon

Kokanee salmon are landlocked sockeye salmon, which means they don’t return to the ocean and live their entire lives in lakes or reservoirs before spawning in rivers, streams, or gravel close to lakeshores. These salmon are delicious and are really strong fighters, making them a prime target for anglers, and the popularity of this fish is growing. Kokanee are a schooling fish that feed on zooplankton in the water. They tend to find where these plankton are at and then they congregate and feed all in that one area. These plankton, and the kokanee that feed on them, like to hang in water that is around 50-55 degrees, so these salmon are usually only able to survive in deep alpine lakes and reservoirs, and can be found from depths of 10 feet, all the way down to over 100 feet deep.

How to Fish for Kokanee on Electric Lake

The most popular way to fish for kokanee at Electric Lake is trolling with a downrigger, or jigging for kokanee, either from a boat or while ice fishing. You’ll want to troll at 1-1.8 mph with a kokanee rig, and I list the most popular gear reported at Electric Lake for that below. You can also jig for kokanee but trolling is definitely the more popular option. 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 trolling down the center of the lake, trying to make sure you stay in the deeper sections 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 30’, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to consistently find them at 30’. Electronics are very important when fishing for kokanee, and electric lake is no different, because the water is deep and kokanee depths can vary so drastically

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, 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

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 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. It was about 95% pink, so its a pretty safe bet.

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.

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.

Most Popular Scent at Electric Lake

Kokanee are extremely sensitive to scents, so many anglers use a scent spray or gel to help both cover the human scent, and attract the kokanee. Gulp maggots or scented shoepeg corn can help cover that scent, but others like adding a gel as well. According to our analysis of the forums, the most popular scent is Bloody Tuna, followed by a variety of garlic options.

Where is Electric Lake

Video of Kayak Fishing for Kokanee on Electric Lake

Other fish you can catch trolling for kokanee at Electric Lake

Rainbow Trout

There are a ton of rainbows on Jordanelle, and you’ll hook into them fairly often while you’re trolling for kokanee. If you’re looking for table fare, I personally like the taste of kokanee vs rainbow trout, but they’re both a lot of fun to catch.

Tiger Trout

A tiger trout is a hybrid between a brook trout and a brown trout, and they look really cool. They have a spot pattern that I think looks more like leopard spots rather than tiger stripes, but they’re a fun and unique trout to catch.

Cutthroat Trout

There are a couple different cutthroat trout species in Electric Lake. Cutthroat trout love to strike at kokanee rigs.

Utah Kokanee Fishing Regulations

• The state of Utah considers kokanee to be a part of the trout bag limit
• You Cannot have any kokanee salmon in your possession at any body of water from September 10 through November 30
• Bag Limit is a total of 4 kokanee salmon or trout, with additional kokanee bag limits at some specific bodies of water.

Fishing regulations can change at any time, so we recommend that you check on the latest Utah fishing regulations before you hit the lake.

Taking the time off from September to November helps protect the fish while they spawn, but be ready to get back at it in December and on for ice fishing for kokanee at Electric Lake!