SHOEPEG CORN VS PEACHES AND CREAM CORN
which is better for kokanee?
After many hours of testing, the results are in!
I have heard several times that Shoepeg corn is the right choice for kokanee fishing. I have also heard that this is just an old fisherman's tale, and other corn like Peaches and Cream works just as well.
It is time to put this myth to the test!
I decided to run a series of two-hour tests over the course of the 2020 open water season, using both Shoepeg and Peaches and Cream corn. I fished a few different lakes, including Monte Lake, Stump Lake, Pillar Lake, and Paul Lake, to see if the results would be the same or different depending on the lake. Fish in some lakes may prefer a different bait to fish in other lakes.
I wanted to give the two types of corn the same chance to catch fish by eliminating as many variables as possible, so when running this experiment, I was sure to buy the same brands of canned corn and use the same scent recipe. The first thing I noticed was that the Shoepeg corn took on a pinkish colour with hints of white, while the Peaches and Cream corn was a yellowish pink. The Peaches and Cream kernels were larger than the kernels of Shoepeg corn.
Are tandem hooks legal?
I set up trolling rods with identical gear at the same depth at the same time. The only difference is one spinner would be tipped with two kernels of Peaches and Cream corn and the other tipped with two kernels of Shoepeg corn.
The first test I ran was on Stump Lake. I didn't have to wait long to figure out which bait was working best. The rod with the Shoepeg corn caught 3 fish before the Peaches and Cream got its first bite. By the end of the two-hour test, Shoepeg corn caught 5 fish and had 2 bites while the Peaches and Cream only got 1 bite.
The second test I ran was on Monte Lake. Again the results were convincing. The first fish I caught was on Shoepeg corn, but while I was reeling in the fish, the Peaches and Cream picked up a fish. However over the two-hour test the Shoepeg corn caught 3 fish and got 3 bites, and the Peaches and Cream corn caught 1 fish and got 1 bite.
The third test was on Stump Lake again. This 2 hour test had similar results to the last tests. Shoepeg corn caught 4 fish and had 1 bite while the Peaches and Cream corn got none.
The fourth and fifth test were on Paul Lake and Pillar lake. These results were also similar to my previous findings.
The Final results! In the end, I ran 9 tests all consisting of two hours of fishing with the same gear at the same depth. The only difference was two kernels of Shoepeg corn on one spinner and two kernels of Peaches and Cream on the other spinner. Shoepeg corn caught a total of 28 fish and got 17 bites. Peaches and Cream corn caught 8 fish and got 6 bites. These results were very definitive. The Shoepeg corn out-fished the Peaches and Cream corn by a rate of 3.21 to 1. It did not seem to matter what lake I was fishing- the Shoepeg Corn was consistently better.
My theory as to why the Shoepeg corn worked so much better is that it took on more of a pinkish colour after adding the colour. Shoepeg kernels are also much smaller in size than those of the Peaches and Cream and are closer to the size (although still bigger) of a kokanee's natural food.
Although Shoepeg corn can be difficult and expensive to get in Canada, I am now a believer. Shoepeg corn for the win!!!
PHOTO GALLERY
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