Here we go……..

The moment we’ve been waiting for!  The weather has warmed up, and the water has warmed up, and so, the great spring fishing begins.

Here’s the latest:

Kootenay Lake:

April was one for the record books.  Usually the fishing doesn’t pick up until the end of April, but this year, for some reason the fishing has been fantastic since the end of March.

Record numbers of Rainbows have been caught in the past month and conditions are just getting better and better.

Our latest trips have seen up to 30 fish/day, which can be exhausting, but keeps everyone entertained.

Rainbows still average 2 -3 Lbs, however some fish up to 10Lbs have been caught lately.  Bull trout on

the other hand have been fewer and far between, but still getting the odd one up to 10 Lbs.  The biggest Bull in the Easter derby was just under 12Lbs, so there’s still the odd one out there.

Either way, this has been one of the best springs on record as far as the fishing goes, and we only expect it to get better.

Also, the magic moment we have been waiting for has recently happened.  The black ant hatch is on!!!  With a few days of hot weather last week, we started to see some flying ants on the water.  And this past weekend, all the fish that were caught were stuffed full.  So, that’s the beginning of the frenzy.

All fish are now looking up!  Heading to the surface to get in on the frenzy.

It’s that time of year!!!  Let’s go……

Columbia River:

The river is fishing fantastic now!  The Rainbows have put the feedbags on and are aggressively chomping.

Word must be out, as we have been seeing more and more boats on the water and a lot of shore fishermen and women.

Some fat Rainbows up to 5 Lbs have been caught lately, as well as the usual Columbia River clones, as we call them.  Lots of 16″ – 24″ fish in the back eddies lately.

Lots of days with 15 -20 fish to the boat, with the odd ‘hot day’ with up to 40 fish.

That’s prime Columbia fishing.

Looking forward to what the rest of May will bring.

Stay tuned…..

What are they biting on???

On the lake it’s been surface, surface, surface!  With the latest black ant hatch, the fish are all looking up.  So, our favourite Lux flies have been killing it!  Lucky numbers: 207, 210, 221, 222, & 226 have been our best lately, as well as the black ant pattern.

And, just to mix it up, we have been running our favourite Gibbs crocs on the surface as well.  It seems that the bucktails will

work for a couple hours and then when they turn off, the Gibbs crocs take over.  Our favourite brass/fire stripe and the herring aid patterns have worked best lately.

And for the odd Bull trout, we have been getting them on the surface on the crocs, or on the

downrigger on the STS flasher followed by the green pistachio hoochie.

On the river, it’s been a mix of nymphs and streamers.  In the tailouts it seems best to throw a sinking line with the Columbia river bugger or the ‘bulldog’.  And in the eddies we are having best luck with the nymphs and indicators.  Purple prince is magic!

That should cover it for now.

Hope this helps with your next adventure.

Tight lines………..

Captain Kerry