Had enough of Buntzen and Lafarge, so took the day off and made my way to Jones - something I've been planning for some time. I was expecting a tricky drive up the FSR, but it wasn't as bad as I'd read, though lots of crater potholes. No problem with my SUV. I was shocked at first sighting of the lake - it looked half-empty. The water was 200m from the original shoreline, and tree stumps were all exposed. Saw a couple of trucks parked by the water, so gingerly drove over the hard-baked sand and mud to park by the water edge. Assembled my pontoon, and off I went. An earlier study of the lake map indicated deeper water towards the middle, so I headed out, trolling a brown woolly bugger on a fast sink. Wind starts to pick up, and soon, I don't need to row.... I'm sailing
No hits until I approached the deeper area - then it was all action for the next few hours. I basically rowed/finned from one side to the other - at mid-lake, with hits every 10min or so. Hookups were less frequent.... landed 7 in the 3hrs, including a very silver kokanee. Size range 12-15". Would have been a higher rate if I had been holding my rod, instead of rowing. The wind was a real drag. So were the waves
. But the sun was out, the mountains still snow-laiden - and not a soul in sight (the other fishers must have headed deep south - the lake is 3km long). With the water level as it is now, I wouldn't recommend belly-boating... but a pontoon is fine if you have oars or a motor. It was real tough getting back - going against the north wind. As far as fish-action goes, no better than my local holes, but the scenery and solitude made the 2 hr trip and gas worth it.
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Topic: Jones Lake Report - Thursday 4th (Read 2393 times)