Brambles 2015 kootenay lake fishing log

[Brambles]

My friends say I should keep track of how many hours I've spent fishing kootenay lake for the big one!!! Rough estimate from May 2013 till now Dec 12 2014......I'm estimating 2600 hours.....f@&k, might be more!

Kootenay is suffering from a substantial downturn in fish sizes! But I don't scare easy so I keep putting in my time. When things turn for the better, I'll be there!!! With my lines in the water!!!

This hopefully will act as a running fishing log for 2015, those who are interested can chime in.

any advice on how to make this thread more interesting over he year, lemme know!!!

[goatdancer]

There probably a few fish caught in just a few hours so the "average" time is gonna be skewed. Years ago I think it was something like 250 hrs.. Keep it up and you will connect. A "bad" day fishing is still better than a "good" day at work.

[Rattler]

Post up some vids...going to have to stop dropping f bombs though...lol.

[Brambles]

Considering the downturn in the lake and learning everything as we go with little help from the local fishing community I think we're doing well. By "we" I mean my two kids and I... The occasional friend that tags along as well! We have boated many nice fish and lost even more.... But still no 20+ lbers

[Brambles]

Post up some vids...going to have to stop dropping f bombs though...lol.

thats gonna be F@&kin tough!!! ....lol



might need a camera guy!,,, someone who actually wants to get out and fish!!!!....don't know anyone like that though!!!

[Rattler]

thats gonna be F@&kin tough!!! ....lol



might need a camera guy!,,, someone who actually wants to get out and fish!!!!....don't know anyone like that though!!!

Yeah you funny guy...heading out Sunday now. A guy has to use his own boat every now and again eh...

[Jagermeister]

What's the status of the kokanee population these days? And is BC Hydro still fertilizing the lake? There was a substantial decline in Gerrards in the years following the completion of the Duncan Dam. Seems to me that it was tied to the collapse of the kokanee population. That was the primary reason Hydro started fertilizing.

[jtred]

How are the fish you are catching? I'm from Creston and spend a bit of time on the lake with friends each year, although not lately, from what I'm hearing the Gerrards are underweight severely and full of worms. Is this true for you? I'm more into fishing the smaller alpine lakes for cutthroat or the rivers and streams for trout but I usually get out on the big lake at least once a year. The BC family day derby was cancelled due the decline in fish hopefully the other derbies will follow suit for at least a few years? Do the biologists know the cause?

[Brambles]

What's the status of the kokanee population these days? And is BC Hydro still fertilizing the lake? There was a substantial decline in Gerrards in the years following the completion of the Duncan Dam. Seems to me that it was tied to the collapse of the kokanee population. That was the primary reason Hydro started fertilizing.


How are the fish you are catching? I'm from Creston and spend a bit of time on the lake with friends each year, although not lately, from what I'm hearing the Gerrards are underweight severely and full of worms. Is this true for you? I'm more into fishing the smaller alpine lakes for cutthroat or the rivers and streams for trout but I usually get out on the big lake at least once a year. The BC family day derby was cancelled due the decline in fish hopefully the other derbies will follow suit for at least a few years? Do the biologists know the cause?

Yes, they are still fertilizing the lake! Nitrogen and phosphorus both north and south now.

The decline is possibly just part of a cycle. But there are many events in history and not so recent past that complicate things!

When the Duncan dam was built it cut off spawning habitat for 2.8 million kokanee!!! That's why the meadow creek spawning channel was constructed, in compensation, Which IIRC has about a 750,000 capacity. Doesn't really seem like a fair trade to me. The dam also cut off important sediment flows and run off from reaching kootenay lake, which wasn't fully realized until the shutting down of cominco's phosphorus fertilizer plant.

it also cut off more potential gerrard spawning habitat, I fact I've been informed that there is a small population of Gerrards spawning at the base of Duncan dam!

then the damn Mysis shrimp were introduced!!!! Biggest mistake in history in many lakes throughout the world!

more recent is the discovery of the IHNv virus in the spawning kokanee and the loss of a large portion of the kokanee biomass in the lake, mostly in the feeder sizes. There still seems to be a reasonable population of giant west arm kokanee in the main lake! 14" plus isn't uncommon. I don't normally fish kokanee but I was getting them on 10" flasher and 4" hoochie swallowing 3/0 hooks....not your typical kokanee rig! However those fish are too big for most fish to feed on.

Lots of the fish caught are lite for their length and have worms. Most stomachs are empty. Feeding periods are short.

The gerrard numbers at the channel are still very good and although not as high as the peak 4 years ago, still twice the historical mean!

Normally with abundant prey sized fish the Gerrards would feed to get fat, but with the dramatically reduced kokanee biomass I feel they have gone into survival mode and only feed occasionally followed by a period of dormancy.

anyways....... I'm goin fishin....c yah later!!!

[Jagermeister]

I worked on the construction of the Duncan Dam. I was there the day the water flow was stopped to start the impoundment of Duncan Lake. We had great anticipation of seeing large fish trapped in pools in the river. Surprisingly, that did not happen. Only a few little fish and some coarse fish.
The Meadow Creek spawning channel was just completing construction at the time and I was under the impression that it was to accommodate about 500,000 spawning fish. That would hatch way more alevins.
I didn't know they introduced mysid shrimp into Kootenay Lake, and in 1949 yet. What is worse, they introduced mysid into the Okanagan Lake in the '60s and they already knew it was a failure. Just goes to show you that biologists are not infallible.

[Sofa King]

Okanagan lake has large populations of the kokanee that shore-spawn.
is kootenay lake's geography not conducive to that?
I would think they would just naturally start to do it.
I witnessed it on shuswap lake with the record sockeye run.
the creeks were all jam-packed with fish, so the salmon just kept moving up the shorelines.
I was watching salmon spawning right near the shores as they couldn't get upstream.
I would think that obviously the shoreline and gravel would have to be just right though for them to change to that.

sure hope that lake rebounds.
it's a shame to hear about how much it's changed.
it was always a destination that I wanted to try, but not much real point any more.

[huntinnut]

Good luck Brambles! Your kicker must be pretty much wore out!!

You know there's not many big fish around when the guides are posting pictures of 18 inch rainbows and skinny ass 5 to 8 pound bull trout with the odd odd 10-12 pound rainbow that should be 4-6 pounds heavier on facebook. Some of the fish their clients are keeping look gross! I don't envy them these days.

If you want the big one then pull flies all the time! I like smoked bull trout too so I switch it up and pull flashers alot, but almost all derby winners come on bucktails. More big ones have been caught on the 215 or 228 and similar flies, than anything. I'll be over at belfour for Kokanee a couple times this spring, if the season is open. We should meet up and bs!

[Sofa King]

bucktails hinge more around weather and season. choppy water and colder weather when the fish are closer to the surface. theres a reason most derbies arent in the dead of summer. fishing year round, one has to have several options in their box to get the fish to the boat.

[huntinnut]

Sofa King, You are right about the bucktails and summer.

[Sofa King]

i will still try them any time.
one just never knows.
but in the warmer days i run a plug, apex, or fly on type 8.

[Brambles]

First Day of 2015 fishing for me today, got a late start as I got off nightshift this AM. Tracked down a fishing partner and got on the water by 10am.... Trolled a variety of lures and bucktails for 6 hours but we just weren't in the right place at the right time when the short bite occurred.

lures ran between the two rods

pepto bismol Bill Norman
black/white Gel Bill Norman
228... Ran two separate times
GS215
november special
214
watermelon K4 quikfisk....to try something ooddball
lemon lime flasher w/green oil slick hoochie

water temp hovered 40.7-41.1 deg
wind mostly 10-15 km/hr south 1-3 ft chop

heading out tomorrow, hopefully we won't have two slow days in a row!

[Sofa King]

good luck.
if you's get the snow that's coming in here, you might have some shovelling to do.

[Sofa King]

I have the purple/yellow modified bill norman.
I still don't think it's even been wet yet.

[Brambles]

Good luck Brambles! Your kicker must be pretty much wore out!!

You know there's not many big fish around when the guides are posting pictures of 18 inch rainbows and skinny ass 5 to 8 pound bull trout with the odd odd 10-12 pound rainbow that should be 4-6 pounds heavier on facebook. Some of the fish their clients are keeping look gross! I don't envy them these days.

If you want the big one then pull flies all the time! I like smoked bull trout too so I switch it up and pull flashers alot, but almost all derby winners come on bucktails. More big ones have been caught on the 215 or 228 and similar flies, than anything. I'll be over at belfour for Kokanee a couple times this spring, if the season is open. We should meet up and bs!

Yeah, the fishin has certainly gone on a downhill slide as far as fish size goes! Numbers seem to be alright but the big stuff is scarce!

i tie my own bucktails so I run em quite a bit, but I'm also always mixing it up and trying other stuff to trigger a bite depending on environmentals and the number of people I manage to drag out with me!

shoot me a pm if your in the area!

[Brambles]

I think the heavy snow is starting late Sunday....I hope....

that billy is called sour grape!!! Works as well as any!

[Sofa King]

are yours modified?
where he's changed the hook set-up and put rattle bearings inside.

have you noticed better results between modified and non?

[Brambles]

are yours modified?
where he's changed the hook set-up and put rattle bearings inside.

have you noticed better results between modified and non?


Yes all of my Billies are modified! I can't really compare as even the Non-modified ones that I bought elsewhere got modified by me afterward.

[Brambles]

January 4th

lines down at 8am till 4:20pm
8 hrs 20 min
Running total 14 hrs 20 min

2 Rods

228 caught most @ 3shakers
214 caught one fish but was biggest at 5 ish lbs. very dark, red rainbow, really cool color!

Water temp 40.5 deg
very dark day, overcast right down to the water with snow after 2pm
wind up to 10 mph, up to 2ft chop.... Mostly under 1ft

[Brambles]

January 9th

8am-4pm
8hrs
running total : 22 hrs 20 minutes

2 rods

228 caught 1 rainbow and 1 seagull
215 caught 2 rainbows
1 dolly FLasher hoochie 108ft

[Brambles]

Jan 11th

10am-4pm
6 hours
Running total: 28 hrs 20 min

215 caught 1 rainbow
Flasher hoochie caught 1 Dolly , unsure of depth, moved from 120 ft to 200ft and saw doink doink immediately after!! Fish coulda been on before the depth change!!

[.264winmag]

Thanks for the updates! Keep at er. I'll be starting my kootenay lake quest next time off lol. Prolly better luck winning the lottery instead of catching a monster rainbow by the sounds of it. Will be camping at Woodbury, no idea if it's a good spot to start but it's with three old friends so the gerrard is a bonus. Hopefully we'll have some sort of a story, there usually is even if not fish related lol. Tight lines!

[1899]

My friends say I should keep track of how many hours I've spent fishing kootenay lake for the big one!!! Rough estimate from May 2013 till now Dec 12 2014......I'm estimating 2600 hours.....f@&k, might be more!

Kootenay is suffering from a substantial downturn in fish sizes! But I don't scare easy so I keep putting in my time. When things turn for the better, I'll be there!!! With my lines in the water!!!

This hopefully will act as a running fishing log for 2015, those who are interested can chime in.

any advice on how to make this thread more interesting over he year, lemme know!!!

That's about 40 hours per week, every week. How the heck do you manage that?

[luckofthedraw]

My friends say I should keep track of how many hours I've spent fishing kootenay lake for the big one!!! Rough estimate from May 2013 till now Dec 12 2014......I'm estimating 2600 hours.....f@&k, might be more!

Kootenay is suffering from a substantial downturn in fish sizes! But I don't scare easy so I keep putting in my time. When things turn for the better, I'll be there!!! With my lines in the water!!!

This hopefully will act as a running fishing log for 2015, those who are interested can chime in.

any advice on how to make this thread more interesting over he year, lemme know!!!

Pics, or it isn't happening :lol:

[Dannybuoy]

Thanks for the updates! Keep at er. I'll be starting my kootenay lake quest next time off lol. Prolly better luck winning the lottery instead of catching a monster rainbow by the sounds of it. Will be camping at Woodbury, no idea if it's a good spot to start but it's with three old friends so the gerrard is a bonus. Hopefully we'll have some sort of a story, there usually is even if not fish related lol. Tight lines!

Ditto ! Easter Dolly Derby coming up ....

Brambles : Any size to the fish you are catching ?

[Brambles]

Pics, or it isn't happening :lol:

i will try and take more pics, nothing special has been coming in these days however!


Ditto ! Easter Dolly Derby coming up ....

Brambles : Any size to the fish you are catching ?

Since the new year 6lb dolly and 5 lb cutbow are the biggest!! First time we've seen a cutbow, cool colors!!

between now and march is when fishing gets the slowest!

[Brambles]

That's about 40 hours per week, every week. How the heck do you manage that?

Average to achieve 2600 hrs is 31.5 hrs per week!

i have a 4 and 4 schedual and in the summer with long days its easy to rack em up fast! I was hitting it real hard!!
i think I based it on an average of 10 hrs per day!
However it was just an estimate on some quick and dirty math, hence the fishing log......

[Stone Sheep Steve]

You should put some of those hours into the wolf reduction program! Lol.
Yes. Pictures will make this better...even if it's just weather shots.

SSS

[Brambles]

You should put some of those hours into the wolf reduction program! Lol.
Yes. Pictures will make this better...even if it's just weather shots.

SSS

My policy is, i shoot every wolf I see on the lake!!

roger that!! On the pics... I'll try my besticles

[huntinnut]

It's time for the 'purple jesus', and a miracle!

[Brambles]

I have been running the 160 lyman "purple Jesus " a bit more lately, it was doin pretty well in Despcember but have yet to get a ish on it in January! And I haven't got a rainbow on it yet either! although there is no reason why they wouldn't like it!!!

[Islandeer]

Great effort great dedication.

Tried the flash flies? Glow spoons? Baitrix? Westcoast salmon gear I use might work. Is your boats electronics dialed in? Dummy flashers?

Good luck!!

[Brambles]

Ive got a copcar silver horde flashfly that ive caught fish on!
tried spoons on and off, only ever caught one dolly on a spoon!
I run dummy flashers some times, sometimes without!

dont know what a batrix is!

fishfinder is a furuno 1870f and although its showing fish, you never see the surface fish and rarely catch a big hook when going over it!

meat and potato lures on kootenay are bucktails, lymans, tomics, flasher hoochies!

Sometimes if we got lots of rods out we'll try something different, byt the bites are short and far between so its hard to stray from whats working!!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

My policy is, i shoot every wolf I see on the lake!!

roger that!! On the pics... I'll try my besticles

Then you should switch to ice fishing. Might be cheaper as you will use a lot less fuel...but probably more in ammo.

[huntinnut]

I've had good luck on both the lyman 160 and 16 on dark days in Jan/feb running both plugs right on the surface, or maybe one down with an ounce or two to keep it out of the way. Lyman 16 is probably my best plug, and I had a great one until I lost it. I had to buy 3 more before I found one that would catch fish consistently again. Probably 1 in 4 fish was a rainbow on either plug. I find if you run them back and forth across the middle of the lake, right on the surface, you'll catch more rainbows.

[Brambles]

I see lyman has changed the color patterns on the #16, i bought one the other day to see if it works any better! Kinda got some blue in it with some weird green!

[huntinnut]

the paint jobs on all 3 that I bought were slightly different, and none looked quite like the older style. I hope you catch a good one here soon! I'm hoping to get out in the next couple weeks here on the south end of the lake.

[Islandeer]

Try pouring a can of Kokanee in the water when you first set your gear to appease the fish gods, or a can of Lucky which works good here on the Rock!

[Brambles]

I only went out fishing one day during my last set of days off, started building another boat so I dedicated a couple days to some teardown.

[Rattler]

Here is the cutbow I caught with Brambles. Too much fun on the flyrod!

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo218/Teika2001/FullSizeRender-1_zps48df8653.jpg (http://s377.photobucket.com/user/Teika2001/media/FullSizeRender-1_zps48df8653.jpg.html)

[Rattler]

http://i377.photobucket.com/albums/oo218/Teika2001/pic1_zpse0e7f272.jpg (http://s377.photobucket.com/user/Teika2001/media/pic1_zpse0e7f272.jpg.html)

[.264winmag]

That's the coolest looking trout I've ever seen! Thanks for posting. I've caught lots of cutbows but nothing like that.
Im gonna try a grey ghost bucktail off one planer board, 5" Lyman 'Lucy' on the other. Worked ok on the arrows for me last summer but no bows' over 5#. I've yet to get a bite on the down riggers in 30hrs trolling the fresh water lol. Salmon no problem can't keep em off, even trolled a spring up in Mabel but I can't get a trout on the riggers?...

[Brambles]

Grey ghost 215 is a good bucktail and should be tried every day regardless of light or water conditions.

If I got 3-4 rods running then I always run a 215 and a 228 regardless of speed

ive run the #10 Lucy a bit this winter but nothing so far but it's a good plug that does produce on the right days #69 shazam has been working well, 160, 98, 23, 16

this time of year the rainbows are gonna spend most of their time 30ft to Surface... Dollies are still pretty much at every depth!
the big rainbows will go deep this time of year but don't seem to be feeding down there.

as I mentioned the fishing will be slowing down a bit more but it can always happen, my son's 16lb pig was caught Feb 2nd 2014 on a pepto Bill Norman.

[.264winmag]

Hmmmm, thanks for the tips! Maybe I'll try 10/20 feet on the riggers with plugs. Could care less about the dollies, got a 28# mounted good enough. They don't fight anyway:)
Cheers

[Brambles]

28 pound dolly... Geezus....that's a RARE trophy... Was that on kootenay?

[BCrams]

Do you use planer boards 3-400 feet out the sides?

[Brambles]

80-120ft out each side typically

[.264winmag]

Dollie was in lake Revelstoke, 1991 I think? Blue Macs Squid plug on the surface, still got the plug might have to bring it out of retirement...
I run planers' 50-70 ft out the sides, 300 ft behind boards. Sound legit? I'm pretty green with the boards but it's fun so far.

[.264winmag]

I'll put em out the side more:) Picked up another set of electric riggers, gonna rig em up to run the boards. Be easier than reeling the sob's in on a halibut rod lol

[Brambles]

It's pretty flexible, I've got fish anywhere from 175-400 ft behind the planer! It's all about getting the right action on the planer board! And for me, When my boards start jumping too big and with a long slack pause, I tend to stop catching fish!

I shoot for a smooth pull with he occasional bunny jump or a pull that creates a series of bunny hops all the time.....depending if I'm running a skull head or unweighted bucktail! Or Plug, get lots of fish with a plug on the planer......smooth pull with an occasional bunny hop triggers strikes.

the problem is your water changes 10 times a day and it can be a challenge keeping your board moving right!

i have designed a set of boards that are proving to be very versatile from glass calm water to good waves and are 4-way reversible. Run em on either side, or upside down depending on what action u want!

[Brambles]

Jan 19th

10:30-4:40
5hrs 10 mim
total time 33hrs 30 min

Water temp 39.9-41.1 deg

one 28" rainbow that only weighed 3 lbs but shoulda weighed 12lbs on a 215 5 minutes in
One 3lb dolly flasher bucktail @ 80ft
one 250lb numbnut!!

pics to follow

[Brambles]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5222&stc=1

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Didn't know there were eels in Kootenay Lake?

[Brambles]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg3_zpse58f3f8c.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg3_zpse58f3f8c.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg2_zps3740691f.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg2_zps3740691f.jpg.html)

[Brambles]

And for the piece de resistance!!!!!

the 250lb numbnut

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg1_zps2c5f33da.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg1_zps2c5f33da.jpg.html)

[Brambles]

Barbs were pinched but still had to pull like a muther f$&ker to get it out!!!!

[BCrams]

80-120ft out each side typically

Run your 80 / 120 and run the other 300 and you ll nail that big bow.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

And for the piece de resistance!!!!!

the 250lb numbnut

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg1_zps2c5f33da.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg1_zps2c5f33da.jpg.html)

stick a couple more of those in your face, add some dreadlocks and you'll fit right in in your town!

[huntinnut]

If i'm using planner boards I dont tend to run the line that far back behind them. I usually run about 280-300ft total including the 60-80 feet my boards are out to the side. The farther the lines are behind the boards, the more line drag and stretch, and thus less action from the boards being imparted on the fly. I'm not always a fan of running planner boards either because of the lost effective fishing time they tend to cause from missed hits and weeds messing up the fly. How long was that fly running on it's side? I think color is more important to getting strikes than the planer boards. I set my drag super loose on a fly behind the boat so that any little hit or weeds will pull line and alert me to check the hook and make sure it's running straight. If a big fish hits I just pick up the rod and tighten the drag to set the hook. I tend to run boards if there are 3 or 4 of us in the boat to keep lines out of the way.

[.264winmag]

Ouch!!!
I hear you on the picking up weeds etc, a small split shot 10 ft from fly helps catch a few stray pieces of salad. I've found going to braid eliminates the stretch factor, 30ft of fluorocarbon leader spliced onto braid with Albright knot makes things look natural. 300 ft behind boards and you can still see a shaker on the line. Although I haven't hooked any decent bows' yet lol...

[Brambles]

I haven't been impressed with the knot strength of flourocarbon so I don't use it anymore.

i tried braid last year on a couple different rods and although I enjoyed the sensitivity I didn't enjoy the increase in lost fish. Might try it again one day, I've made big improvements in bucktail hookup ratio with some changes I've been testing out!

[Brambles]

Going out tomorrow, minor bite starts at 7:10am, should be a beautiful day!!!

[luckofthedraw]

Going out tomorrow, minor bite starts at 7:10am, should be a beautiful day!!!

Best of luck! Keep up with the pics.

[huntinnut]

Good luck!

[Jim Prawn]

I haven't been impressed with the knot strength of flourocarbon so I don't use it anymore.

i tried braid last year on a couple different rods and although I enjoyed the sensitivity I didn't enjoy the increase in lost fish. Might try it again one day, I've made big improvements in bucktail hookup ratio with some changes I've been testing out!

I have had the same experience with fluorocarbon. Tried a couple different brands and still not happy. Back to the good ol' Trilene! I use braided line trolling for cutthroat, not as big as your bows (7 lbs would be a big one) but similar fishery; topwater plugs mainly. I tie about 20-30 feet of mono on between the braid and the plug. My theory is that with 100-150 feet of line behind the boat there is too much stretch in mono for a good hook set. Good luck!
JP

[.264winmag]

I haven't been impressed with the knot strength of flourocarbon so I don't use it anymore.

i tried braid last year on a couple different rods and although I enjoyed the sensitivity I didn't enjoy the increase in lost fish. Might try it again one day, I've made big improvements in bucktail hookup ratio with some changes I've been testing out!

Strange, I have the exact opposite experience with the durability and knot strength of fluorocarbon. Started using the braid/flouro on my downrigger rods and Islander mr3. Dozens of springs caught on the same leader while guiding clients that are sometimes quite hard on rigging:) The hookup ratio while trolling offshore is way higher with the braid, no fighting the clip and instant hookset. Also can see a little dinker on the line at 200+ feet deep. One thing I have found with the flouro is it likes to bind/burn while cinching up a knot, needs plenty of saliva or the knot is weakened drastically. I use the palomar when possible. Not uncommon to use the same 50ft of flourocarbon spliced onto braid mainline for an entire guiding season. The same braid has been on the reels for 5 years!

[BRvalley]

not all fluoro is created equal...what brand were you using? and was it leader material or mainline fluoro, big difference

nice thread to thread through, congrats on your success, hope there's more...300 lb numbnut? lol

[Brambles]

Which brand of flourocarbon you using? Weight?

i haven't used braid on a downrigger rod! The one rod I tried it on the most was an 11.5ft eagle claw wet noodle. It took a loooong time for the rod to load up to what little spine it had? My theory was the soft rod was gonna replace the stretch of mono. It didnt work out very well, lots of strikes and lost fish on that rod!
i tried braid on a second more conventional rod but for one reason or another I swapped back to mono!

[markomoose]

C'mon Brambles!We wanna see a big slab-Lotsa pics- Big smiles.

[Brambles]

January 21st

another typical day of January fishing
7am-4pm
9hrs

Total running time 42hrs 30min

2 Rods

3 Fish caught, 1 Strike that was witnessed on downrigger but didn't take.

1 Rainbow on 215 bucktail
1 Rainbow on 160 Lyman "purple Jesus" surface
1 "fish" that was LDR 20 ft behind the boat

no medical emergencies today which was nice!!

[Brambles]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg1_zpsc60fd7d1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg1_zpsc60fd7d1.jpg.html)

[Brambles]

C'mon Brambles!We wanna see a big slab-Lotsa pics- Big smiles.

You and me both!!! It's been a pretty big dry spell...... But stay tuned, it will happen!!!! Hopefully mid February it will start to pick up!

Randy Zedonka from Gill and Gift has arranged a meeting regarding the kootenay lake fishery and the biologist from Nelson Matt Neufeld will be present to answer questions.

[.264winmag]

I run the power pro 50# with Maxima flourocarbon 40#, for the lakes I'm running 10ft of the seaguar 20# flouro for leader. I've used the Maxima ultra green spliced to braid with good luck, allows use in down rigger clip, gives a bit of shock absorption and is pretty durable too. Get a couple weeks salmon fishing before changing out.
Can't wait to get out there on Friday afternoon!

[Brambles]

Hope you do well, it's rare that I go that far north so I'm interested to hear your fishing report!

Im also back to work on Friday! Might be able to get out Sunday!

[Brambles]

Fluoro I've used is

maxima 20lb
berkley vanish 12lb
spiderwire 15lb

cant say I noticed more fish with flourocarbon or less with mono.

[BCrams]

[QUOTE=Brambles;
1 Rainbow on 215 bucktail
1 Rainbow on 160 Lyman "purple Jesus" surface
1 "fish" that was LDR 20 ft behind the boat

[/QUOTE]

Pics or you didn t catch them!!

[Brambles]

Little 16" -18" rainbows?

If they are anything over 5 lbs or wonderful coloring I'll be sure to snap pics!

[BRvalley]

Fluoro I've used is

maxima 20lb
berkley vanish 12lb
spiderwire 15lb



that explains he poor review! vanish is the worst fluoro out there, horrible knot strength...maxima ain't much better

if you're interested in trying fluro out again, seagar invizx is pretty good and easy to find (bps, cabelas)...there's some good stuff from the Japan/US bass guys but hard to find in Canada and not worth the extra cost imo

[Brambles]

Thank you for the info, I'll look into that brand!!

[huntinnut]

I'm going to try get out on Sunday here for a while on the south end. Probably try more for bull trout though.

[Brambles]

Im thinking of going out Sunday well, good luck!

[BCrams]

Instead of the 12" fish - can you post up that avatar pic? Looks to be better than 17" :mrgreen:

[Brambles]

Heading out in 30 minutes......hopefully something to share later, and I'll take some pics of the little fish for BCrams.

[Brambles]

January 25
8:30-3:30
7hrs
Running Total 49hrs 30min

water temp 39.9

the name of the day was FOG

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg1_zps010a89ee.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg1_zps010a89ee.jpg.html)

[Brambles]

Then it got thicker



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg2_zps47189fc0.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg2_zps47189fc0.jpg.html)

[Brambles]

Then it got real thick...danger, get lost or crash into something THICK!! Thankfully for a good chartplotter and lots of previous tracks, we were able to navigate safely all day! Radar would have been icing in the cake!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg1_zpsa5659e49.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg1_zpsa5659e49.jpg.html)

[Brambles]

Fished hard all day had 4 rods out and didnt get a bump all day, only heard on the radio a few being caught. Good to assume that they DIDN'T feed today!!



heard on the radio that a property owner along the lake seen a bunch of seagulls feeding on something on the beach, went over and seen a bunch of dead 3"-4" rainbow minnows. There is talk that concerned residents are going to send them to a private lab for testing because they don't think the government either cares, knows or telling the whole truth!

[huntinnut]

We went out from Kuskanook this morning and fished for 6 hours or so with three of us. Dead flat calm and got really foggy. Lost a 4 or 4.5 lb bull trout by the boat on a cop-car-ish apex with 4 ounces of weight, and had one small fish hit and get off the lyman 16 on the surface. The bull trout looked like it was in o.k. shape. My favorite flasher/ hootchie combos had no hits, tried all sorts of depths. We had to use the chartplotter to get back to the harbour as well. Couldn't see the dock 200m away.

[Brambles]

What speed u get your hits at?

we tried from 1.7 mph- 2.6 mph even worked down to 220 ft but nothing, by the sounds of it the majority of the fish strikes today were lost, which tells me those strikes weren't because they were feeding but curious or pissed off!

[.264winmag]

Brambles I recognize those planer boards from today, you trolling just south of the ferry crossing around the big rubber floats?
We fished 12 hrs the last two days with only one strike on a grey ghost off the board, tripped the clip but no hookup. Tough fishing, yesterday with the chop the gear seemed to be working well but maybe we were trolling to fast. We were more around 2.5-3mph. Talked to locals at Woodbury, one small Dollie came in last two days. They were grilling us on info for fishing kinbasket lake, they're tired of the poor fishing! Was a fun wet camping trip, the hot springs were great. Think I'll stick to the arrows until Kootenay picks back up.

[Brambles]

You must have been in the Campoin explorer walk around? Yes that was us circling that orange bouy!

i think we're gonna try other lakes in a couple weeks. I'll still fish kootenay because my boat is moored there but my other buddies have boats we can pull to check out Arrow and Slocan!

[Brambles]

Those planers I built so they can be run in all types of waters e at any speed, not sure if we had that starboard board running upside down or not when u went past but I can get em to hop at 1.8 mph and dead calm!

[.264winmag]

Haha right on, that's my explorer...
I'd definitely be mooring my boat and soaking the gear on a regular basis if I lived there. Just a bit far for me to travel. I'll let you know if I run into anything in the arrows.
Cheers

[.264winmag]

My boards didn't want to jump much under 2.5mph, I rigged em to pull from closer to the middle as opposed to the front and helped a bit. Need to get em working at slower speeds. Had good luck at 3mph in the summer but fish are more active then I think...

[Brambles]

Yeah the water temp is 10-15 degrees cooler than their optimum feeding temp and 25-30 degrees cooler than summer! Causes their metabolism to slow down, they move less and feed less........that's winter fishing for yah!, I caught fish up to 3.3 mph last year in the summer, but lots in that 2.6-2.8 when running flashers in the summer!
our big one last February was 2-2.2 mph on a billy 199ft back off the boat so that's approx 25 ft down I figure

[btridge]

sorry, can't read

[Brambles]

January 28
8:30-4:30
8hrs
Running total 57.5hrs

water temp 39.7-40.1 deg
light wind from south east, 6" ripple

One lonely 2lb ish dolly, Blue/White Bill Norman @ 210 ft....eek

[Islandeer]

Pour more Lucky in the water ....

[Brambles]

Yeah, haven't done that yet.... I'll try it next time I go out!!!

[markomoose]

Still no pics Brambles.Maybe it isn't happening.Chuck some meat out there??

[Buck]

You need my old man if there is a fish in that lake he will catch it.LOL

[Brambles]

Feb 4th
Day #9
10-4:30
6.5 hrs
Total running time 64 hrs

I got off work in the AM so it was a late start, tried pretty much everything......another zero fish day, talked to some other boats and they struck out as well.

some lures use:
Grey ghost 215
black purple bucktail

black/purple slow troll apex
rainbow slow troll apex
3" black silver apex

160 lyman
blue/white bill norman
black/silver gelcoat bill norman red/blue glitter
purple/yellow bill norman

also a few experimental lures I'm working on!


slow time of year, reports of a 21lber being caught a few weeks ago keeps the anticipation up....

[Sofa King]

sheesh, kootenay lake is starting to sound like okanagan lake. put in many a no-fish days on there.

[Brambles]

Friday the 13th

lived up to its reputation......without the blood and slaughter however......just plain terrible fishing!

8am-3pm couldn't take the boredom anymore and left early!

Running total 71 hours....

not a goddamn thing today!

cant wait till the warmer weather or March/April.....water temp is rising however 40.0-41.0 degrees

[Sofa King]

in those 71 hours of fishing, how many fish have you got to the boat?
has it been a better/worse season?

from how slow it's been everywhere, I'm in no big rush to get over to shuswap.
getting antsy though.
have been going through all my gear, arranging and sorting, rearranging and resorting.

[Islandeer]

Maybe Safeway? Ouch!!! Your odds are fattening up, the fish gods will deliver,be ready ....

[Brambles]

This winter is slower than last winter by a fair margin. I don't have the Totals at home, my log calender is in the boat. Things will turn around, winter is always slower than any other time of year?... With fish entering winter low on body weight, and food scarce...im sure they are laying dormant. I see lots of good fish at 200-250 ft. This last August had some of my best back to back days with 17 and 20 fish. We just need some kokanee!,

[tim3500]

And the old saying. Bad Day Fishing Better Than A Good Day At Work ! I dont look at as poor fishing but experementing to see what works that is what makes great fishermen keep up the good work .

[Sofa King]

And the old saying. Bad Day Fishing Better Than A Good Day At Work ! I dont look at as poor fishing but experementing to see what works that is what makes great fishermen keep up the good work .

its hard to experiment and test anything when the fish are awol.
the time to experiment is when the fish are biting.

[tim3500]

The fish are there . You have to make them bite !

[Brambles]

The fish are there . You have to make them bite !


Come on up and give it a shot!,

[Jim Prawn]

Shoot Brambles, sounds like its time to pack'er in. Go scoutin for some mulie sheds, shoot some yotes, catch a couple dozen two pounders out of a mud puddle somewhere... I must say I am truly impressed with your perserverence (or however that's spelled). If I had that kind of patience while I was hunting I would have my name in the book by now!
JP

[Down South]

I have seen the same kind of decline in Okanagan Lake over the last 15 years, hopefully we will see improvement in the near future, as I can't imagine it getting worse

[Brambles]

Shit Brambles, sounds like its time to pack'er in. Go scoutin for some mulie sheds, shoot some yotes, catch a couple dozen two pounders out of a mud puddle somewhere... I must say I am truly impressed with your perserverence (or however that's spelled). If I had that kind of patience while I was hunting I would have my name in the book by now!
JP

I won't give up yet, I got moorage on my boat until the End of September so I'll fish till then. Depending on how it looks at that point I might pull it out and give it time to improve! I hate giving up so it will be a tough decision!!

im looking forward to hiking around this spring, shed hunting is gonna be super tough, the snow is almost completely gone at the wintering elevations.

[Sofa King]

I have seen the same kind of decline in Okanagan Lake over the last 15 years, hopefully we will see improvement in the near future, as I can't imagine it getting worse

yup.
although, its not like okanagan was really great.
ive fished it since 2000, and have put in many a dawn til dusk day out there, with never so much as a tap on any of the rods.
but we do that because you never know when that 16 lber is going to make that reel start screaming.
we know they are in the lakes, but it can be extremely rare to meet them.

[Sofa King]

is the worm dillema still a problem on kootenay?
is that corelated to the dwindling kokanee stocks?
or another issue that is plaguing the lake?

any chance that overfishing could also be a factor?
i know from many pics ive seen , that a whole lot of those trophy fish are being killed.

[Brambles]

is the worm dillema still a problem on kootenay?
is that corelated to the dwindling kokanee stocks?
or another issue that is plaguing the lake?

any chance that overfishing could also be a factor?
i know from many pics ive seen , that a whole lot of those trophy fish are being killed.


no, over fishing isn't the issue, oddly enough our rainbow population at the spawning channels peaked 4 years ago at 1100, which is 4 times the historical average. Although the last 3 years have been a decline in numbers We are Still over 700 which is 2-3 times he historical average!

the high peak 4 years ago has caused a surplus of up and coming rainbows, sounds good right......but the problem is that we are now experiencing the lowest kokanee numbers in history, be it the virus they found or a surplus of predators ......likely both.

the good news is that the zooplankton numbers are 2.6 times the average.... Which tells me mysis shrimp population is down this is loosely supported by the fact that I've seen rainbow and bull trout both feeding on mysis shrimp, which they traditionally don't do, but that food source has run out as well.

but with high zooplankton numbers that means lots of food for the young kokanee to feed on........but what we are experiencing is the kokanee are getting BIG....too big for the rainbows to feed on!,,, Such a delicate balance!!!



I will know more on Feb 23rd where we have a big meeting with the government!!

[Sofa King]

delicate balance indeed.
it's crazy.

does the gov do any stocking in the lake?
they seem to love stocking the shit out of all the little puddles but ignore the actual great larger lakes.
like Okanagan, it does have some great fish in it, but overall, it's a terrible fishing lake.
it's insane that the gov doesn't take advantage of it's locale and help improve it and try to make it a fishing destination.
airport, world class hotels with marinas right on the water, wineries and orchards, etc, it has the potential to be so much better.
tourism $$.
maybe someone just has to point out to them that many non-residents would bring their dollars there for it.
maybe then they'd "allot" extra resources.

[Brambles]

No stocking that I know of for kokanee ...... but most of the gerrard eggs come from this fishery, im not sure if they were selling kokanee eggs too outta the kootenays too!

we could sure use some kokanee transplants now though!

the retired biologist that was in charge of the fishery is saying that it could be more than a decade for this fishery to rebound if substantial and drastic measures arn't taken SOON!

[Sofa King]

No stocking that I know of for kokanee ...... but most of the gerrard eggs come from this fishery, im not sure if they were selling kokanee eggs too outta the kootenays too!

we could sure use some kokanee transplants now though!

the retired biologist that was in charge of the fishery is saying that it could be more than a decade for this fishery to rebound if substantial and drastic measures arn't taken SOON!

seems insane that they wouldn't already be planning for a large kokanee stocking.
but then, these are the people that thought Mysis shrimp was a solution.

[Brambles]

We need more kokanee spawning habitat....BC hydro is directly to blame after the construction of the Duncan dam, they replaced spawning habitat for 1.7million kokanee with a channel with a capacity of 500,000-750,000 kokanee.

there are stories of the channel workers shoveling kokanee outta the meadow creek spawning channel because it was already full....what a waste!!!

[Sofa King]

won't the kokanee just naturally start shore-spawning though?
that is, if there's adequate structure in the lake.

[Brambles]

Kootenay doesn't have an abundance of shallow shoreline with appropriate gravel to spawn...the lake drops off fairly quickly to a table top flat bottom that doesn't vary much between 400-500 ft.

Arrow lake has some of he best shore spawning habitat but bc hydro fluctuates the water levels soooo much that they kill off any shore spawning eggs

[Sofa King]

Kootenay doesn't have an abundance of shallow shoreline with appropriate gravel to spawn...the lake drops off fairly quickly to a table top flat bottom that doesn't vary much between 400-500 ft.

Arrow lake has some of he best shore spawning habitat but bc hydro fluctuates the water levels soooo much that they kill off any shore spawning eggs

makes sense.
so losing any of their spawning grounds at all makes a severe impact obviously.
and I guess maybe fisheries would be hesitant to over-stock if there is insufficient spawning grounds??
it would be nice is they just donated them as feeder fish though.

[btridge]

We need more kokanee spawning habitat....BC hydro is directly to blame after the construction of the Duncan dam, they replaced spawning habitat for 1.7million kokanee with a channel with a capacity of 500,000-750,000 kokanee.

there are stories of the channel workers shoveling kokanee outta the meadow creek spawning channel because it was already full....what a waste!!!
It wasn't just BC Hydro, the goat river used to have a very large kokanee run in the 60's before the dyking district changed the channel of the river out to the kootenay river.

[Brambles]

February 21
9-3:30
running total 77.5 hours

another slow day, but looks like I missed the main bite that week by a day or two! Buddy got a dozen ish he day before! Very sporadic feeding!

we got two rainbows, one midget and one eater
water temp 39.5-40.0

morning started out with a nice bucktail chop, after we rounded 20 minute point it got real sporty. Had two waves come over the bow and slam into the windshield and funnel gallons of water through my bow hatch into my cuddy. Hatch was closed but doesn't have a good seal. Had to let the gear soak a little longer than normal before changing lures due to going into the wind!




Sun came out in the afternoon, waves calmed down so I put out my ol faithful sunny day bucktail, hand tied of course....it's called "the gong show",

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg2_zpsa6379aa5.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg2_zpsa6379aa5.jpg.html)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/imagejpg1_zps284fcc94.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/imagejpg1_zps284fcc94.jpg.html)

[Liveforthehunt]

That's a good fish

[Sofa King]

nice fish.
it looks like the fish got the stinger hook, and in the lower jaw.
would that fly be running upside-down?
although, one never knows how the fish is striking? side-striking, etc.

[Jim Prawn]

Beauty trout, and spectacular bucktail. Would like one of those for my coho box...
JP

[Brambles]

nice fish.
it looks like the fish got the stinger hook, and in the lower jaw.
would that fly be running upside-down?
although, one never knows how the fish is striking? side-striking, etc.

Nah, stinger runs up and main hook runs down, just depends on which direction the stinger rotates as the stinger wire flosses the mouth!

[Brambles]

Beauty trout, and spectacular bucktail. Would like one of those for my coho box...
JP

Coho like crazy colors?

this bucktail has a lot of sparkle to it, looks great on a sunny day

[.264winmag]

Nothing wrong with that Bow! Seems to be eating well...

[Brambles]

Nothing wrong with that Bow! Seems to be eating well...

That size is still pretty much bug eaters! Also Had some mysis shrimp in its stomach

[bighornbob]

Just saw this about a regulation proposal:

http://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/pub/ahte/angling/kootenay-lake-troutchar-and-kokanee-quota

[Sofa King]

i notice they conveniently dont give any reasons for the kokanee decline. if they dont address that and correct it, it will never recover to the fishery that it used to be.

[Jim Prawn]

Coho like crazy colors?

this bucktail has a lot of sparkle to it, looks great on a sunny day

Oh yeah! Hell I bet that one would even entice a big spring behind a flasher!
JP

[Brambles]

Feb 23
Day #12

8am-5pm
Running Total 86.5 hrs

3 rainbows, biggest was 18" or so

1 on the gongshow
1 on a 228 w/pearl
1 on smithwick

[Sofa King]

3 fish, good job.
maybe things are picking up.
the weather's warming steadily each day.
solunar tables are saying next Monday is in the "good" zone.
but the temps are going to be much warmer by the Monday after that, I have to get out soon, starting to jones.

[huntinnut]

Any news from the meeting on Monday? I couldn't make it as i was on kid duty.

[Sofa King]

dang, there's been the odd beauty biting on Okanagan.
never thought I'd see the day when one would try Okanagan lake over kootenay lake.

[Brambles]

Any news from the meeting on Monday? I couldn't make it as i was on kid duty.

I'll post up later tonight some of what was talked about! Take too long on my iphone

[Brambles]

Any news from the meeting on Monday? I couldn't make it as i was on kid duty.


OK, to summaries the meeting, it was a great turnout....the occupant load of the community hall was violated by a handsome amount, standing room only for lots of attendee's

it was also well attend by all levels of government and multiple biologists and persons in charge of the habitat restoration initiative!

biologists agree that the decline in kokanee is due to an unprecedented predator/prey imbalance!

they don't feel the virus has a major impact but they admitted that they didnt know for certain.

fertilization levels didnt cause it

They feel that regulation changes made in 2008 from 4 rainbow catch limit to 2 rainbows and going to barbless hooks could have caused the substantial increase in gerrard numbers seen in 2012...

they feel that there is sufficient fry in the lake and eggs in the channel to provide the required numbers for the kokanee to bounce back. Where we are lacking is 2-3 year old fish!

they feel that recovery is going to take 2-8 years!

sounds like they are still developing strategies and putting a team together to study the issue and make recommendations!

some things tossed around were egg transplants and possibly creating more spawning habitat in other locations so the lake kokanee weren't completely reliant on the meadow creek and lardeau river spawning run!

[Sofa King]

OK, to summaries the meeting, it was a great turnout....the occupant load of the community hall was violated by a handsome amount, standing room only for lots of attendee's

it was also well attend by all levels of government and multiple biologists and persons in charge of the habitat restoration initiative!

biologists agree that the decline in kokanee is due to an unprecedented predator/prey imbalance!

they don't feel the virus has a major impact but they admitted that they didnt know for certain.

fertilization levels didnt cause it

They feel that regulation changes made in 2008 from 4 rainbow catch limit to 2 rainbows and going to barbless hooks could have caused the substantial increase in gerrard numbers seen in 2012...

they feel that there is sufficient fry in the lake and eggs in the channel to provide the required numbers for the kokanee to bounce back. Where we are lacking is 2-3 year old fish!

they feel that recovery is going to take 2-8 years!

sounds like they are still developing strategies and putting a team together to study the issue and make recommendations!

some things tossed around were egg transplants and possibly creating more spawning habitat in other locations so the lake kokanee weren't completely reliant on the meadow creek and lardeau river spawning run!

wouldn't them putting in size regs have helped also?
proper limits should help ensure specific sized fish survive.

decline in kokanee is due to inbalance in pred/prey they said.
they don't view the loss of spawning grounds as an issue?

so, what is your general view of the things they had to say?

[Brambles]

WELL since you asked, I had issues with a few things they said,

1.) they said we have a current predator/prey imbalance but they increase the limit on the size fish that eat bugs.... It doesn't do anything to reduce the numbers of the already fish eating rainbows in the lake!

2.) it was mentioned that the number 500,000 kokanee returning to spawn was the trigger that kokanee stocks were becoming insufficient....so the numbers declined to 500,000.....and they did nothing........then a year of 200,000 and they did nothing.......and another year I believe of approx 200,000 and they did nothing.........then the numbers fell to a new historic low....60,000...now What are they doing? Not much in my opinion, a bit of needed channel maintenance to try and reduce the risk of viral contamination, and assembaling a team to study the problem......they are sooo far behind they think they are first.....totally a reactive approach.

3.) the most direct comparison case study is Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho, they suffered a severe predator/prey imbalance in 2007....when biologist Jeff Burrows was asked if they were familiar with the case and its similarities he said yes they were familiar with Lake Pendoreille and their lake trout problem but "he didn't know if they had introduced Gerrards into their lake"..........are U ****ING kidding me?????? Or if they had rebounded back yet........oh my god???? Read a friggen paper!!! They did REAL work and made some hard decisions, not this half measure shit these bio's are doing here...and they put a lot of money into their resource and it still took 5 or 6 years.....but are catching 24 lb rainbows again.

4.) DFO has to approve any fish transplants.....oh great...now we gotta wait for those slow ass wheels to turn!,,

5.) Jeff Burrows kept referring to the reports by fisherman of no big fish as "anecdotal claims" almost like he was calling us a bunch of complainers and liers!!


i think they are going to set up a second meeting later down the road at a bigger venue!

[Sofa King]

not good, that they want to do "studies".
all that is is a job-creation project.
they did that on okanagan.
they were getting 300k or something each year to boat around and catch fish.
and they are never in a hurry to have a conclusion, as they want that job and money to continue, so each year's findings is not conclusive enough and they will need to continue their program.
its bullshit, they know there is a problem, they know the problem, just act on it now so it can move toward rectification.
any money thrown at "more studies" is wasted money that could have been spent on a solution.

[Down South]

If Okanagan Lake is an indicator as to how the treat the problem in Kootneay Lake, the Kokanee will be nearly gone before anything meaningful is done, then after they close the fishery down to rebuild it they will open it back up too early like Okanagan, where we have a 5 fish limit, with nearby Wood Lake closed.

It will only be a matter of time before the additional fishing pressure on Okanagan depletes the Kokanee again

[Sofa King]

the main difference on Okanagan is that the kokanee are relatively safe from the lack of rainbow.
still baffles me that they refuse to stock Okanagan lake, but completely overload all the piss-puddles up in the hills.

[Down South]

I can tell you compared to the late 90s when Kokanee were closed the fishing sucks, the fish are fewer and a lot smaller, come on we have fishing derbies on the lake and we have not seen a fish over 10lbs entered in the recent derbies.

In my opinion the kokanee are no where near historical average levels, and will never recover without help

[Dannybuoy]

I can tell you compared to the late 90s when Kokanee were closed the fishing sucks, the fish are fewer and a lot smaller, come on we have fishing derbies on the lake and we have not seen a fish over 10lbs entered in the recent derbies.

In my opinion the kokanee are no where near historical average levels, and will never recover without help
You must be talking about Okanagan lake ...... the kokanee in Kootenay lake were at record numbers in 2011 and were small so made great feed for the rainbows and bull trout . Its only in the last year or so that the fishing is on a decline .
Sorry Brambles , don't mean to hijack your thread . Tight lines .

[Brambles]

I doubt that the kokanee were at a record high that recently, they have been on a steady decline for 3-4 years....the Gerrards hit a record high at about that time though!!

[Sofa King]

are there people who go out and target the kokanee for fishing?
I know there are people on Okanagan who were so excited when they opened the kokanee for fishing.
never understood that.
I get it on a lake like monte or wood, where that's mainly the primary fish.
but on the large lakes where the large fish are, I view kokanee as food for the fish that I fish for.
why fish for the weenies? target the apex.

[Brambles]

Kokanee are a popular sport fish, great for kids, and delicious!!! I can see why the preds prefer them.

[Dannybuoy]

Also kokanee up to 9 lbs in Okanagan lake , and 2-5 lb common on Kalamalka .

[aggiehunter]

Limits on Kokanee are way too high. People target them as a food fishery. Just got back from the Arrow and the dollies are skinny...we let them all go...the few we caught. The province treats big lakes terribly and the public needs to do something to get attention to them.

[Sofa King]

Limits on Kokanee are way too high. People target them as a food fishery. Just got back from the Arrow and the dollies are skinny...we let them all go...the few we caught. The province treats big lakes terribly and the public needs to do something to get attention to them.

they can't treat them terribly if they aren't treating them at all.
it baffles me that they just completely ignore our real waters.
who gives a shit about the puddles in the hills.
and they waste so much money stocking fish into little piss ponds that either get winter-killed, ice-fished, etc.
these puddles couldn't hardly sustain fish if they didn't put them there in the first place.
and for some reason they expect that the large lakes will just take care of themselves or something.
why can't they stock some dollies or lakers or gerrards?
the real money is spent by people with boats on the larger lakes.
little tinnies with electric motors and belly-boats on the puddles aren't exactly doling out a bunch of money to go fishing.
yet they get all the benefits of the stocking.
let's get some fish into our waters that actually take some effort to target them, not just dropping some bait through a hole in the ice in ten feet of water.

[huntinnut]

I just don't like that the biologists didn't act more quickly while the fish were still in decent shape. 2/day on fish >50cm, including bull trout starting 2 years ago when Kokanee spawners were already dropping quickly may have done something. The bull trout are also aggressive kokanee feeders and need to be included in management, but rainbows are getting all the attention. 3 pound bull trout eat alot of kokanee too.

I guess i'll have to do my part and get the fly rod out this spring to target the smaller fish. A tom-thumb trolled very slowly as a wet-fly on a sinking line around the creek mouths and points is deadly on the pan-friers.

[Sofa King]

have the squawfish over there exploded in numbers?
okanagan is absolutely loaded with them.
and shuswap is now also.
i troll along the drops, and if you watch closely, you can see stacks of them.
last year, right at the lighthouse at the narrows, there were stacks of them.
unfortunately, they are pretty much completely overlooked and ignored as being a problem.

[aggiehunter]

Sofa...I killed 10 sqawfish last year...autopsied each ones stomach contents and could only find evidence that they were eating the same bugs as the rainbow...this was in a river albeit...so not sure about the lake...now I let them go if I don't need a little fertilizer.

[Sofa King]

kill 10 in shuswap and they'll be stuffed full of salmon fry.

[aggiehunter]

Sofa, have you done this?

[Sofa King]

Sofa, have you done this?

yeah, why do you ask?

[SPEYMAN]

Was enjoying this thread until someone jumped in with their opinions and thoughts. Why this person doesn't just start a thread of their own,oh yeah, they already did that. Maybe they should stick to it and leave others alone.

[Sofa King]

Was enjoying this thread until someone jumped in with their opinions and thoughts. Why this person doesn't just start a thread of their own,oh yeah, they already did that. Maybe they should stick to it and leave others alone.


actually, we were talking about the decline on kootenay lake, which was started by brambles himself.
it is your post that has nothing to do with the topic in any way and is nothing but hate and slander.
and now you succeeded in misdirecting the thread.
F it, its all yours spey.
sorry brambles, i'll stay out of your thread.

[aggiehunter]

sofa....I just wanted your observations as to stomach content that's all....

[.264winmag]

Anyone else having good luck for big bows'? Couple guys I know smacked a couple beauties today, one was 19.3#...

[srupp]

Pretty awesome RB anywhere...
Srupp

[Brambles]

Anyone else having good luck for big bows'? Couple guys I know smacked a couple beauties today, one was 19.3#...

That's not gonna be on Kootenay Lake....I ended up pulling my boat out instead of paying $1200 per year to catch shakers...the return to Gerrard was dismal, as was the return to lardeau and meadow creek channels for Kokanee...
pits gonna be a long, tough road for Kootenay lake....largely because the Biologists were super slow to react...and still only with half measures...

[.264winmag]

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h325/Doubleheader2/EBE946B2-FDF9-42A5-8FBC-0CB7243E389A.jpg (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/Doubleheader2/media/EBE946B2-FDF9-42A5-8FBC-0CB7243E389A.jpg.html)
Looks like koot lake?

[Brambles]

Was that the 19 you were talkin about? When a outs was it caught?

[.264winmag]

Was that the 19 you were talkin about? When a outs was it caught?
Yup 19.3#, yesterday

[Brambles]

Looks like another fatty in the box too!

[Brambles]

That's a super rare fish these days...

[.264winmag]

Ya not sure size of other one, I'd gues low teens anyway. These guys fish a lot, still seem to snag a decent Gerrard every third day on average out the arrows/kootenay. I'm a try and get out with em to learn the ropes in the new year. I know the one guy ties his own bucktails, totally anal about it. All off the planer boards...

[Dannybuoy]

That's a super rare fish these days...

You are right ! Did you see the results of the thanksgiving derby ? .... a fraction of what the usual weights are .

[butcher]

Well the Kokanee stocking has started (albeit somewhat slowly). 100,000 eyed eggs this fall, a ytbd number of fry in the spring. The big problem being it's really hard to get kokanee eggs these days.

[Brambles]

The report i seen said 477,000 eyed eggs put into the nor5hern channels, i assume meadow cr and lardeau...

Problem is they gotta make it down the gauntlet past all the massive lardeau river bull trout..

[butcher]

You're right. it was 477,000. All into Meadow Crk to bolster the return there from what I can see.

[markomoose]

Man that is one large and beautiful Rainbow 264