Dragon Lake ....Quesnel BC.

[Winch101]

Going to visit MIL..in Quesnel ... anybody offer any advice on fishing Dragon lake ....Thnx

[fishman]

I fished it years ago and it was good but it is on the decline...it is generally a good early spring lake..........i watched a tv fishing show on the lake a couple years ago and they were talking about how the lake has declined and were giving they reasons why...........fishing pressure,more houses around the lake and pestcides and fertilizers getting into the lake etc.........i watched them catch fish on the show they were 17-21 inchers so by our standards still worth fishing

[clarki]

I fished Dragon in '05 or '06 I forget. I fished it half a dozen times during late October into November, as late as Nov. 11th, that was a cold day of fishing... It was and still is the best rainbow trout fishing I've ever had bar none. Some days were slow but the average day produced lots of fish and the hot days meant big fish! one day I got into a string of 6 fish in a row
starting at 22 inches each one bigger than the one before with the 6th being 27-28 inches!! the 6th fish turned into a double header with my buddy getting a monster of 8-9 Lbs! The cool thing is all the different strains of 'bows you catch!

We caught fish 2 ways: sinking lines and floating lines so bring both setups as you will need to use both throughout the day. bring 6 wt rods, no less.

On full sinking lines in the deep water I had great action on a green catatonic leech slowly stripped or even just left on bottom when they were a little slower and not chasing anything.

floating line nymph rig under an indicator near the cattails was what we did mostly as it produced tons of fish. red and purple chironimids worked well for us.

we fished the cattails right at the golf course near mayfly bay as well as the the cattails and drop off near the launch at "the quarry".

I have no idea how it will fish this time of year or if its what it used to be but if youre alone in a boat try to anchor on a spot where you can be on the edge of deep water, then get your nymph rig over towards the cattails in the shallow flats and then cast the other way with your sinking line to cover the deep water to find the fish. I hope this helps, Good luck!

One day I'll make it back there to fish again..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v725/anyluck/dragonwithmurph029.jpg

M

[fish44]

cool story, i was born in Quesnel and we always went to Dragon Lake, always had a fun time. There are always bears on the shore, did you see any on your trip?

[Russ C]

X2 what clarki said, Dragon should fish well in the fall as most lakes will. You can catch some of the biggest fish of the year in the fall. I would go with leeches fished under an indicator, or cast out on a sinking line. Best of luck and let us know how you make out. Russ C

[s_erickson]

hammered a 22" rainbow there this year at easter. Yup easter. There was still ice on the lake the first day i was there, broke through the edge and put my belly boat in. used an orange spratley and got it within the first 30 seconds. Took me 8 minutes to land it, it kept running out and going under where the ice was still. Didnt catch a thing after that, just a couple bites. My wife is from there and i heard that they have so much natural food (fresh water shrimp) this year that they are hard to get to bite, but that was a month or so ago, it might be better now, best of luck, take lots of pics.

[Krico]

The weather this summer was colder than usual. Most of the lakes around here did not warm up as much as usual, and the nights have been cool so fishing may start to pick up. Fall is an awesome time to fish Dragon as most guys are in hunting mode so the lake is usually fairly quiet in comparison to spring and mid summer. The cooler it gets, the hotter the fishing in my experience. I too have fished as late as Nov 11 (from a float tube, brrr!). Good success in fall just trolling a micro leach, or slowly retrieving. Make sure to have a good hold on your rod, they really smash the flies sometimes!

Stop in at the local fly shop and they should be able to hook you up (sorry for the pun) with the right presentations, whenever you get there.