Happy New Year Everyone !!
2020 is here, and so are the fish. We had a great month of December, and have started off January with a bang!
Here’s the latest reports:
Kootenay Lake:
December was a good month full of fish and fun. We had a number of group parties and company outings that proved to be very entertaining and successful. And so far, January has started out great as well.
Most of our days are still consisting of a mix of Rainbows and Bull Trout. Most Rainbows between 2 – 5 Lbs, and Bull Trout between 2 – 12 Lbs 
have been coming in. We’ve had a few 20 fish days still as well, so it’s good to see they still put the feed bags on once in a while. It seems like we get a few days of slower fishing when the fish are probably just laying low and digesting, but then we get a few days of feeding frenzy. So, you just have to be out there.
Our best days have been while fishing the Northern portion or the Southern portion of the lake. It looks like there’s more food available in those ends and the fish are congregated. Although, our last outing in the central portion of the lake also produced 18 – 20 fish. Must be just the right place at the right time. That’s fishing.
As per usual, we look forward to catching our biggest fish of the year during these winter months. So, stay tuned, as January is just getting started.
Arrow Lakes:
Upper Arrow just produced a 20 plus pound Rainbow on the weekend. Although the action is less, the quality is there. That will keep people coming back.
Although, we haven’t hit the upper Arrow recently, we’ve heard of Bull Trout between 5 – 15 Lbs, and Rainbows between 2 – 15 Lbs, and finally, the latest 20 pounder that was caught.
The annual Blue Knuckle Derby takes place next weekend (Jan 18,19), and should provide us with some good reports to bring back. Good luck to all who will take part in that one. Weather permitting, we hope to be there as well.
And the Lower Arrow has produced some good fish as of late as well. Captain Mark has been hitting some nice Bull Trout up to 12 Lbs lately, and a mixed bag of Rainbows between 2 – 8 Lbs as well. The annual Scotties Marina Derby will take place in February, and we look forward to taking part in that one as well. It’s always nice to have a good social event in the middle of winter to get to see all the familiar faces and share some good stories. Looking forward to that one.
Prime time for the Arrow Lakes is usually January & February, so stay tuned for more reports.
Columbia River:
Winter fishing on the river has been pretty good as usual. It’s been all shore fishing lately, but that hasn’t kept the rainbows from biting. Daily catches have been consistent with 2- 4 Lb Rainbows coming to the shore.
The fish seem to be congregated like they’ve been for the last couple months. So, if you find them, you will do well. There’s been a few crazy days with 10 – 20 fish being caught. Mostly float fishing or bottom fishing has been best.
We’ll continue to pick an choose our days on the river, and hope to see some more warm, dry days in the future.
Stay tuned…
What are they biting on ??
Kootenay Lake Rainbows are still feeding on the surface. Our favourite bucktail flies have been producing best. The lucky number 203 (November Special), #210 (bleeding gill), and a new one we’ve been trying from our friends south of the border has been working well also. The ‘Natural’ from Frisky Jenny has been catching quite a few lately.
When the flies aren’t producing, we’ve had great success on our favorite Gibbs/Delta Croc spoons again. The Gold/fire stripe, and the gold hammered/ firestripe have been our go to spoons on the calm days. The Rainbows just can’t seem to resist them.
And our Bull Trout have been coming in mostly on our Gibbs/Delta Lemon lime, STS, and Oki Yellow/green mist flashers paired up with our favourite green spatter back hoochies. Favourite depths on Kootenay have been 101′, 121′, and 153′.
On the river, we have been mostly bottom fishing with our Delta Tackle ‘leader saver’ and our Gibbs/Delta bottom bouncer. Using bait has been the answer.
West Coast 2020:
It’s that time of year when everybody needs to make their arrangements for this coming summer holidays. We’ve been filling our salmon fishing dates since December, but if you plan on making the trip this summer, we would recommend you figure out the dates as soon as possible. It has become our most popular trip and accommodations seem to fill up fast.
So, if you’re interested in joining us for some Salmon and Halibut fishing this summer, drop me a line and we can start to make the arrangements.
That’s it for the first report of 2020!
Here’s to another great year!
Tight lines……….