Southern Van Isle Lakes..

[BCHoyt]

Wife and I are looking at heading out for some trout this weekend and was wondering where is hot right now for the south island.. We will be fishing from shore, spin gear... Any suggestions please.. We have a 4X4 so can get to a lot of places!

[huntcoop]

Send a PM to 835, he knows his South Island fish.

[835]

Thetis has good shore fishing, there are some good rock out crops to fish from. Use a bait bag and just sit it on bottom, "Drop off fishing" is what we called it.
If you can ralley a tin boat or something that floats Elk lake by the Canoe club can produce real nice fish.

The "back woods" lakes for the most part are still too cold to fish, nore provide good shore fishing. But i'll shoot you a pm if you want to go just for the fun of it. Although like i say it might be tough fishing.

[steel_ram]

Some of the best trout fishing on local Victoria area lakes I've seen has been on highly accessible lakes (Elk and Langford) where I've very recently and regularly seen shore fishermen with nice 18" + Rainbows. Not very aesthetically pleasant however unless traffic noise doesn't bother you.

Most of the small lakes in the highlands are decent, however the fish are smaller and often wormy and very limited shore access.

I haven't fished lakes much out past Sooke or Duncan. If I'm going to travel at all, I'd rather hit the rivers.

[Jim Prawn]

Cowichan is slowing down now but should still produce some fish with the potential for some big ones. (Got one 23-7/8" a week and a half ago). Lots of shore access especially if you dont mind a short walk to the creek mouths. 1/4 - 1/2 oz Deadly Dicks and Crocodiles are my preference for casting mainly because you can get great distance out of them and most of the fish in Cowichan are Cutthroat which eat a lot of other fish. Current regs; single barbless, bait ban, no fish over 50 cm.
Good luck
JP