Hayden Lake Kokanee Salmon Fishing

Hayden Lake is a popular destination for kokanee salmon fishing in western Idaho, not far from Spokane, WA.

About Hayden Lake

Hayden Lake is located in Kootenai County Idaho. The elevation is 2287, and is a deep natural lake. Wikipedia only has it at 178 feet maximum depth, but all the locals will tell you that there are areas of the lake that are more than 800 feet deep. Hayden is a very popular lake because of its crystal clear water and sandy beaches. Heck, they even have life guards through the summer. The lower elevation leads to lower temperatures than some of the other alpine kokanee lakes in the area. That, combined with the sandy beaches tend to attract water sporters as well as fishermen. The lake is big enough though that its not a huge problem, especially because I’d say the bulk of people are attracted Lake Coeur d’Alene, which is bigger, and more well known in the tourist industry.

There is also a health population of kokanee salmon at Hayden Lake, and the state of Idaho has continued to stock more in the lake every year.

Amenities at Hayden Lake

Located in northern Idaho north in Coeur d’Alene. It’s less than a half mile north of the city. You can find several hotel options there in town. One highly rated hotel is Triple Play Resort Hotel & Suites. There is a boat launch and a marina on the south west side of the lake. The lake has restrooms, is ADA accessible, and has no boat motor restrictions. There are 3 main public access boat ramps:

Boat Ramps at Hayden Lake

• Honeysuckle Beach
• Hayden Lake Marina
• Sportsman Park

If you want to avoid the water sporters, I’d recommend the Sportsman Park boat ramp. It’s on the opposite side from the beach. It’s also free to use to launch your boat.

Where is Hayden Lake

How to Fish for Kokanee in Hayden Lake

The most popular way to fish for kokanee at Hayden Lake is trolling with a downrigger. You’ll want to troll at 1-1.8 mph with a kokanee rig, and I list the most popular gear below for that. Some people try to troll for kokanee without a downrigger, but to be frank, there are two types of kokanee fishermen- those that have downriggers, and those that want them. 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.

Hayden Lake is really big, and there are a lot more places where you can find kokanee, but the most commonly reported areas of success in the forums, social media groups, and fishing reports are English Point, east of English Point, by Sportsman’s Park, and overall in depths of 85-120′ deep. People having success launching from all three boat ramps, so there isn’t just one place you need to go to catch kokanee. 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.

Most Common Depth for Finding Kokanee on Hayden Lake

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’ to 85’ 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, and especially at Hayden Lake where the water is REALLY deep and kokanee depths can vary so drastically. The hardest time to find them with the fish finder is in the early season. That’s because they’re higher in the water column, and generally spook away from the boats. If you’re not marking them, use a long setback.

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.

Hayden Lake’s Kokanee Salmon Population

Hayden didn’t have kokanee until about 2012 when state biologists first stocked the kokanee salmon in there. They’ve really taken off and thrived in the lake. The state specifically has been stocking some early spawn kokanee, a kind that spawn in the inlets and tributaries. By the fall, there is virtually no inflow in these inlets, so the kokanee cannot spawn. Because of this, state biologists are able to effectively manage them for quality and quantity. 

I spoke with a state biologist about Hayden and they told me that they get larger sized fish there. Not the productivity that some other fisheries in the area have in terms of quantity, but the fish are bigger. It’s nice to have fish that are consistently in the 12-14” range. The lake is not as big as some of the others in the area, but its been really popular. It’s also right in town too, so its practically an urban fishery. Because of that, it gets a lot of activity.

Most Popular Kokanee Salmon Rig for Fishing Hayden 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, generally, in terms of colors, kokanee fishing on Hayden lake.

• 47% are using orange
• 35% are using pink
• 11% are using green
• 7% are using something else

* If a person used a combo, such as a dodger that was both pink and green, or an orange hoochie with a pink dodger, I counted it as both colors.

Most Popular Lure or Hoochie at Hayden Lake

Squid hoochies are the most popular type of lure used on Hayden Lake, though wedding ring lures are pretty popular as well as well. Pink was by far the most popular lure color on the water, with green and orange as secondary choices. 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 Kokanee Dodger at Hayden Lake

There were several popular kokanee dodger colors according to the forums. According to the forums and groups, an orange dodger is the way to go. I put a few of them to the test and the Arrow flash dodger has performed the best for me. The action it gave off in the water really seemed to do the trick.

Most Popular Bait for Kokanee At Hayden Lake

In my research, I try to figure out what the most popular bait people are using at a lake to tip the end of the hooks on their lures. There weren’t a lot of people that were talking about what they were using to tip their hooks while kokanee fishing at Hayden Lake. Those that did talk about it were fairly evenly split between shoepeg corn and maggots. I personally love both the pink fire corn, and the gulp maggots. They both come pre-scented, and definitely increase the number of fish you’ll bring in.

Most Popular Scent at Hayden 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. This is the first lake I’ve researched where people weren’t talking about the scents they were using. I tried a few out on the lake, and my favorite here was Krill. It’s not one that many people use, and maybe that unique scent did well for me when I was running the test, but it produced.

Video of Kokanee Fishing on Hayden Lake

This video showcases a good snapshot of the sizes of kokanee on Hayden Lake as well as how hot the fishing can be on the reservoir.

Other Fish You Can Catch Trolling for Kokanee at Hayden Lake

Rainbow Trout

There are a good amount of rainbow trout in the lake, and there’s a chance you’ll hook into one when fishing 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.

Other fish at Hayden Lake

You’re not as likely to hook into one of these fish while chasing kokanee at Hayden Lake, but they’re in the water.

• Bullhead Catfish
• Sunfish
• Bluegill
• Pumpkinseed
• Largemouth Bass
• Smallmouth Bass
• White Crappie
• Northern Pike
• Yellow Perch

Hayden Lake Kokanee Fishing Specific Regulations

The main thing to note on regulations is that the limit on kokanee fishing is 15 per day, down from 25 previously. Make sure you check the Idaho State Fishing Regulations to stay up to date on any changes before hitting the water.

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