Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[bobby b]

 In the past, not really knowing what I was doing,  I was always hit and miss when it it comes to fishing lakes here in BC.
Well after a lot of research and with the help of this site and others, my success rate increased exponentially!

This spring I spent sometime in the interior.
 Chironomid fishing under an indicator......wow. The hits were hard the runs were fast and the fish were 'yuge' !! What a blast.

Between the hatches, I also had great success with leeches. One of the biggest fish I caught ( 4 + lbs!!) was at around 6:00am on a small balanced leech under an indicator. I was the only one on the lake that morning.....first drift with the leech ...oh about 40 seconds in and WHAM!!! The only thing I can compare it too was like fighting a steelhead...which makes sense I guess. On a 4wt rod, it was a battle to remember thats for sure.
I am not a big fish eater, but my wife loves 'em, so I did keep my limit each day... this fish however, I could not bring myself to 'bonk' she was just as gorgeous as they come, super bright chrome, hardly any spots.

Over he past couple of days there was zero sign of any chironomid in the water. An older gent that I chatted with for a while advised that I try slow drifting or slow trolling ( I was in a fishcat belly boat ) a 'skip nymph' ....basically a mayfly nymph. Needless to say the trout just hammered 'em!! 

In the shallows I also tried a pumpkin head with great success too....as I understand it the 'Pumpkin Head' was created specifically for the fish in Tunkwa Lake.

Just an amazing Spring for me so far, i was by myself and did not get pics but at least i have the memories.

Thanks to Rod and Kitty for the great informative videos on the setups for this fishery. I have renewed confidence now when fishing BC lakes in the Spring.

Cheers

[halcyonguitars]

Sounds like fun! I hope to get out in early July...

[psd1179]

Sounds like fun! I hope to get out in early July...

too late.

[Noahs Arc]

too late.

Not at all too late for a lot of lakes. I'd imagine some lower elevation lakes will be fishing good still through early July with the colder temps we've been having.

[DanL]

I agree that we are probably still a ways from full on summer doldrums for mid-elevation lakes, though recent  reports suggest that the chironomid hatches have started to get more sporadic now with the rising water temps. You can be sure fish will  still actively snacking on other sources, you just have to figure out what that is. Search patterns like wooly buggers, boobies, leeches might help you get into the first couple for a throat sample, just like what the OP did.

Long range forecast is calling for some serious heat though. If it really does get too hot by then, you may have to find some higher elevation lakes or hit ones known to be productive through the summer. Wish I could be of more help but I have no experience up there that time of year...

edit

One of the biggest fish I caught ( 4 + lbs!!) was at around 6:00am on a small balanced leech under an indicator.

wow you definitely made the most of your days. No bankers hours for this guy!

[psd1179]

I found less hatching recently. The first thought was close to summer. but the second thought might be the cold spring was lasting.

The water surface temperature is usually higher than 15 celsus. No low fruit fishing anymore. Still produce a dozen of fish most of the time, but 40+ fish day is gone for sure.

[Damien]

I'll be up at Roche starting this coming Sunday for a few days.  Hopefully it wont be too hot and there will be less angling pressure  fishing Mon-Wed.

Looking forward to my 3 year old catching her first fish.

I've never caught a Brook Trout before.  Can anyone point me in the direction of a lake around Roche that has them?

[DanL]

I've never caught a Brook Trout before.  Can anyone point me in the direction of a lake around Roche that has them?

Horseshoe lake which is right at the turnoff to Roche West. The road in was closed about a month ago because of erosion of the culvert but if you can carry a cartopper a short distance, the park rangers have no issues with people fishing it for the day. May be fixed by now, not sure.... Some really big brookies there though not that easy to catch. Got a couple that looked like footballs last year over two days of fishing.

Rose and Tulip on the way to Roche apparently also stocked with brookies though they are youth accompanied waters so I have no experience there.

Also Edith lake closer to Kamloops also has brookies. Seem to get a few each time I've been there.