Starvation Reservoir Kokanee Salmon Fishing

Starvation reservoir has kokanee? Some people don’t believe it, but the state has been stocking kokanee in Starvation Reservoir since 2016. Most people think of Starvation for their rainbow trout and walleye fishing, but the kokanee there grow nice and fat. State biologists reported, and this is a direct quote, “The ones that we do see in nettings and the ones anglers catch are beautiful, 20-22″ and thick as footballs.” That’s pretty much what every kokanee fisherman is looking for. Starvation Reservoir offers fantastic kokanee fishing, along with a lot of other fishing opportunities, including monster rainbow trout, and probably the best walleye fishing in the state. It’s a trolling fisherman’s dream.

Even though there are some fantastic fish, most of the kokanee my friends and I have caught here have been by accident. If you’re trying to target kokanee, you probably stopped at Strawberry instead of driving another hour. If you’re there fishing for kokanee, you’ll probably catch a lot of rainbow trout. The rainbows there grow nice and fat though. A 2-3 lb. rainbow is pretty much the norm. That sounds like a pretty good consolation prize instead of throwing back cuts all day at Strawberry.

About Starvation Reservoir

Starvation Reservoir is just outside of the town of Duchesne, UT. I’ve got family up in that area, so I’ve driven past Starvation and through Duchesne hundreds of times. I go by it, it has fish, I run a fishing website, naturally I’ve stopped and fished it once or twice. Duchesne used to be a little nothing town that you had to pass better fishing to get to, a not a lot of redeeming features in terms of attractions. It has added a couple restaurants in the last few years, making Starvation a much more attractive fishing destination, especially with the ability to get off the water and grab a quick bite to eat before heading home. The fish have always been there, but Starvation was always kind of just ok, and most people have to pass Strawberry to get to Starvation, and for the most part, most people would rather just stop at Strawberry. That said, if you’re in eastern Utah, or if Strawberry is super crowded, Starvation is a great option for chasing that chrome in the water.

Where is Starvation Reservoir

How to Fish for Kokanee in Starvation Reservoir

People report that the best places to find kokanee are in by the bridge, or by Juniper, and I’ve found that to be true as well. The most popular way to fish for kokanee at Starvation Reservoir is trolling with a downrigger. You’ll want to troll at 1-1.8 mph with a kokanee rig. 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. If you’ve got a fish finder, and you’re patient, you should be able to find schools of kokanee throughout the reservoir in deeper water, as long as you know what kokanee look like on a fish finder. If its early in the season, and you’re not seeing any, that means they’re really close to the surface. Run a long setback and wait for bites.

Most Common Depth for Finding Kokanee on Starvation Reservoir

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 45’’ with an average being around 35’, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to consistently find them at 35’. Electronics are very important, and especially at Starvation where the water is deep and kokanee depths can vary so drastically. Honestly, I find its easier to find them when they go deeper. When they’re close to the surface, it can be

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.

Most Popular Kokanee Salmon Rig for Fishing Starvation Reservoir

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 Starvation Reservoir

Squid hoochies are the most popular type of lure used on Starvation Reservoir, 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.

I like the pink rocky mountain tackle super squid. It was also developed in Utah, which is kind of nice to fish with local gear.

Most Popular Dodger at Starvation Reservoir

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 combos. Pink and silver, pink and orange, etc. Watermelon, pink and green, also falls into that category. I’ve personally had a lot of luck with the watermelon dodger there. Maybe because the colors are kind of similar to a rainbow trout, which are more common than kokanee. Whatever the reason, its just worked well.

Most Popular Bait for Kokanee At Starvation Reservoir

The most popular bait to tip the hooks with at the end of your lure or hoochie is overwhelmingly shoe peg corn. 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.

Most Popular Scent at Starvation Reservoir

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 Anise, with Bloody Tuna coming in second, and a variety of garlic options coming in third.

Video of Kokanee Fishing on Starvation Reservoir

Here’s a video put out by Kokanee Addicts, a Utah fishing channel, that put together this video during their kokanee tour of Utah in 2022. They had more luck with the trout than they did with the salmon, but its still a good video and gives you a good idea of the lake and the conditions.

Other Fish You Can Catch Trolling for Kokanee at Starvation Reservoir

Walleye

Starvation has seen steady growth over the last few years in their walleye population. I’d go so far as to say that it could be the best walleye fishery in the state right now.

Rainbow Trout

There are some monster rainbows at Starvation. I asked biologists- Are rainbows the fish that you all are primarily managing for?  “Yes, we stock 50-60,000 10 inch rainbows each fall that have become known as “Starvation steelhead” . They grow fast and are thick.  We have a great zooplankton base at Starvation and they are known to pick off a few perch during certain months of the year.” 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.

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.

Kokanee Stocking Challenges at Starvation

I was able to reach out to the state officials that manage the fish populations at Starvation to really get an idea of the outlook for kokanee fishing, and they really shined a great light on the situation. Specifically, I asked about the inconsistent kokanee stocking efforts at Starvation.

“We would like to have stocked kokanee for 5 consecutive years at Starvation, but this location falls second in priority in our region to Flaming Gorge, if the quota is not met for the gorge then our 80,000 fish go to the gorge.  This is just the way it ends up some years when we have wild kokanee spawns.  So I think that the state parks site is one year off, we got two years in a row of a quota then missed a year then got one more year.  We have learned that stocking any 3″ or smaller fish into Starvation, they do not survive that well. 

Our walleye population has increased over the past 3 years to numbers that are suppressing all forage species in the reservoir.  Some make it, but a lot do not and end up as forage for both walleye and rainbows.   For kokanee, I think it’s a numbers game and a consistency thing.  We just can’t get consistent stocking of them right now in the region and the Gorge is a world class kokanee fishery that heavily relies on every fish they can stock. 

I think we learned a few things, like we can grow some beautiful kokanee.  We had the unfortunate event of the Dollar ridge fire and floods that happened and wiped out hope of much natural reproduction by kokanee in the Strawberry river.  I would have liked to have had it play out differently and be more successful, but I can only control a small part of this.    The rainbow fishery makes a lot of happy anglers at Starvation and I see that continuing to be the main focus of the cold water portion of our management plan.  We have a whole management team for Starvation and they are great.”

Where do Kokanee Spawn at Starvation Reservoir

State biologists reported to me that they have seen a few colored up fish in the Strawberry River and weirdly up in the very northwest corner of Saluratus wash one year in the late fall.  Recent reports though show that more fish are making their way up that river, and Starvation may have an established and self-sustaining kokanee population now. Not a huge one, to be sure, but its a start.