Here we go! It’s that time of year. My favorite time of year. The water temperature has finally dropped and the fish are becoming aggressive again.
October was the beginning of the transition. And we saw some great fish for that month. Rainbow trout up to 22 Lbs. and dolly varden (bull trout) up to 16 Lbs. were being caught.
I had one particular group out with me in October who were truly spoiled by Kootenay Lake. Isabella and Stacey from Australia joined me for a day to experience Kootenay Lake fishing. It was their first time in Canada and one thing on their list was to try fishing. And they chose to go out with me.
Now the pressure was on. First time fishing in Canada. I was hoping the fish were going to cooperate.
Our day started out fairly good. About an hour in, we hooked into a nice five Lb. dolly. Good start. The girls were happy already that they had a picture to take back to Australia. Another hour goes by and another dolly. Now they have each caught a fish in Canada. Can it get any better? Apparently yes.
We landed a couple more fish before noon and were having a great time. The girls were in awe of the beautiful scenery and were snapping hundreds of photo’s to take home.
After a couple hours of down time, the bite turned on once again in the afternoon. This time it was Stacey’s turn and she managed to land a beautiful 10 Lb. bull trout. After releasing this fish, she quietly started to brag that this was the biggest fish of the day. Don’t speak too soon. About half hour later, Isabella was fighting a nice rainbow. A good battle and finally into the net, she landed a nice chrome 14 Lb. rainbow. Now she started to gloat. But I mentioned what happened last time, so don’t be too cocky.
And sure enough, 15 minutes later the line starts screaming off. Now Stacey is into a giant rainbow. This turned out to be the battle of the day. The fish ran out a couple hundred feet of line and jumped about six times. Stacey gradually gained back the line and then it ran out 150 ft again. The girls were amazed. After about a 15 minute battle, she finally got it too the boat. A spectacular 18 Lb. rainbow.
“Welcome to Kootenay Lake,” I said.
After a couple good photos, we released this amazing fish. What a great day and a day for these girls to remember. Thank you for choosing Kootenay Lake. I’m glad we could help make your first time fishing in Canada, a memorable one. Hope to see you again someday.
That was only one story from October. As we creep into November, we are already making new stories with even more fish, and bigger too. The past week has been a good week of fishing. Landing six to 12 fish most days up to 21 Lbs. It’s only going to get better and better. Stay tuned.
What are they biting on?
Well, it’s been a mixed bag. Usually by now, the fish are all on the surface. However, right now it seems that they are scattered throughout the water column. We have been catching a lot fish down deep still. 75 ft. to 140 ft. seems to be pretty consistent. My favorite lures have been the good old flasher/hoochie or some lyman plugs down deep.
There has also been some good feeding frenzies on the surface. But they only seem to last a short period. We have been lucky enough to know when they’re happening, and are prepared with the right gear.
Bucktail flies have been producing big fish when the bite is on. My favourites have been the common colors lately. Magic numbers, 210, 215, 228. Both the regular flies and the skull patterns have been working.
The water temperature is perfect, so the fishing should just get better and better.
Tight lines….
Kerry Reed is the owner of Reel Adventures Charters in Nelson. His column is featured once a month.
