We’re back from the West Coast and have joined our team on the lakes and rivers.
What started out to be a dismal season, not knowing if we could take guests out, and a lot of cancellations from nervous guests and our American friends who couldn’t make it this year; turned out to be another successful season.
We’d like to thank our Canadian friends for stepping up and filling our schedule for the summer. It was great to meet new guests and fun to share our local resources with our new local tourists. Looks like next year could be busier than ever.
And now, here’s your latest fishing report:
West Coast Salmon/Halibut
August was a pretty good month for fishing on the coast, when the weather cooperated. The month started out with a few days of calm seas and lots of fish. The coho showed up in numbers and the halibut fishing was off the charts.
As the month progressed, we ran into big seas and strong winds for days, but we managed to find some good fish in sheltered waters. On most of our trips, we managed to get a good weather day mixed in with the others and managed to get offshore for Halibut. Mid month, the Chinook were showing up in good numbers along the shore line and we would fish the first half of our day along the beach, and then head offshore for halibut and possibly some coho.
August saw some of our biggest fish coming in as well. Chinook in the 30 Lb range and some coho later in the month up to 15Lbs made for some excitement.
In mid-August DFO announced a slight change in Halibut regulations which allowed our groups to keep their 2-day limit in just one day, which made it way more worth the trip to the bank. Salmon were thinning out on the banks, but the halibut fishing was on fire. So, like other days, we would head offshore for Halibut and then finish up for Salmon along the beach.
Near the end of August, another wave of Coho took over on the banks, and it was non stop action again for Coho and Halibut right through until we finished our season in early September.
Over all, I would call it a very successful season. Some hot days and some not so hot days, but in general we had a blast and still managed to find the fish for our guests.
Thanks again to all the new families and groups who joined us this year. Looking forward to what next year will bring.
Since this has become our most popular destination, we recommend booking almost a year in advance.
As always, if you didn’t book your dates for next year when you got off the boat, we will save your same dates until the end of October, when we will open up all the dates for next year to everybody. So, if you want the same dates, make sure to drop us a line sooner than later.
And for any new people interested in joining us next year, feel free to contact us in October when the dates become available.
Kootenay Lake:
During the month of August, the weather was scorching hot and the water temps were close to 20 degrees. That made a difference in the fishing for sure.
Our guides did a few trips very early in the morning to beat the heat and tried to be back at the dock before the temperature became too uncomfortable.
The morning trips managed to hook a few fish each day, but seemed like the Rainbows headed for cover, but the Bull Trout were still fairly aggressive. Most trips saw a few Bull Trout with the odd Rainbow mixed in.
Now that September has arrived and the mornings are cooler, the water temp is gradually dropping and the fish are starting to show some life again.
We are starting to hit the water consistently again and slowly getting better and better results.
We’ve had some decent days on the lake lately. Seems like the mornings have been better for Bull Trout, and the afternoons have been better for Rainbows. The smoke in the air has made it a bit uncomfortable, but it has been keeping the temperatures down. So, it’s been a bit of a trade off.
Looking forward to some cooler weather and expecting the fishing to pick up later this month.
October and November are usually the beginning of our prime fishing. So, stay tuned for some prime fall reports.
What are they biting on ???
On the west coast it was our usual suspects. Some of our favourite Gibbs/Delta flashers in green lemon lime or blue Brain freeze colors. That followed by our Skinny G spoons in blue/chrome (tailspin), or herring aid pattern seemed to work best for salmon. Our Halibut fishing was on fire and they were chomping on the Hali Hawg tipped with salmon bellies.
And back home on Kootenay so far, we have had most success for the Bull Trout on the Lemon Lime flasher followed by the green pistachio hoochie or the spatter back. Best depths as of early September have been 80ft – 121ft.
And for the Rainbows, we’ve been having best success on the Gibbs Delta Croc spoons, although our bucktail flies should take off pretty soon as the water temperature drops and more fish start heading towards the surface to feed.
Looking forward to our prime fall fishing.
Stay tuned.