Kootenay Lake:

From extreme cold, to Springtime weather??  January was a mixed up month.

We started out the month with some pretty consistent fishing.  Weather was consistent and water temps were still favourable.

Average days saw up to half a dozen fish being caught, and it was very pleasant to be out.

But then, the cold snap.  10 days of -20C to -30C degree temperatures made it an easy decision to stay inside.  Boats don’t really like those kind of temps, although we have done it many times.

Since the cold snap, the water temperature has dropped to it’s coldest of the year as well.  And the fish have become a bit lethargic.

Although, now that the crazy weather has swung in the other direction, we are experiencing spring like conditions.  While not favourable for our skiing tourists, it has become a lot more enjoyable on the water.  In fact, we have been entertaining a lot of those skiers lately.

Calm waters and warm weather makes it enjoyable…..

The last week of January and first week of February, we have been out on the lake a number of times.  As stated above, the fishing has been a bit slower due to the cold water temperature, however we are still managing to catch a few.

Generally, when the water is at it’s coldest, the fishing may be at its slowest.  However, this is the time of year when we see the biggest fish being caught.  Might only be 1 fish, but the trade off can be worth it.

Either way, it’s a pretty neat experience being out on open water in the middle of February.

If this warm weather continues, we could potentially see a bit of an increase in fish activity as the water warms up.

Stay tuned….

What are they biting on???

The bite, although a bit inconsistent has been happening at a couple different times of the day.  We’ve had to slow our presentation down and try to entice lazy fish.

We’ve been catching Bull Trout on our favourite Gibbs flashers and hoochies down 120ft – 160ft.  The STS flasher or the Green/Yellow mist flasher followed by either the green spatterback or the green pistachio have been best for us.

Rainbows, on the other hand, have been biting on the surface.  Slow trolling a bucktail fly is still producing fish, as well as our favourite Gibbs Croc.  The good ole Brass/fire stripe is still our favourite.

Hoping for the water temp to bounce back up above 40 degrees and potentially see some more activity firing up with this crazy spring like conditions we’re seeing.

Either way, you’ve got to be out there to catch fish.

So, let’s go……

Tight Lines….

Captain Kerry