Kootney lake fishing?

[browning375]

Does anyone have any advice for fishing Kootney lake?

Was looking for best time of year to go and what type of tackle to use etc.

I have the downriggers and gear from walleye to salmon, just need some real advice.

thanks,

Rob.

[fish gunner]

Does anyone have any advice for fishing Kootney lake?

Was looking for best time of year to go and what type of tackle to use etc.

I have the downriggers and gear from walleye to salmon, just need some real advice.

thanks,

Rob.

kootany lake is a tough lake to learn, but well worth the effort.if you look at the downrigger thread there is lots of info.there.spoons, large bucktail streamers apex hockey sticks,and large plugs all work. oct - april are your best bet at good fish.bring fairly heavy gear with a high line capacity, 10-15lb test it is my experience the fish are quite line shy.wind plays a big factor in locating fish, down wind of points seems to hold more than its share of fish.good electronics make a big difference, in locating the the pods of rainbows.dont expect to show up and start catching right away. its not that kind of lake.one other thing these fish are missiles be prepared.to deal with the hardest fighting fish in fresh water.I did not have resources like this form.nearly every weekend for a year to hit a gerard over 10lbs,that's just a fair bow on kootany.my best 23 lb, and I have netted a 27lb for a friend. dont want to scare you off, you have just started down the road to canadas premier fish.
jeff

[WayneChristie]

talk to tacklerunner, its his stomping grounds

[Wrist Twister]

Go on the search link. Put in Kootenay Lake. Lots of good information
posted from fellow AOF members on tackle and other information.:)

[browning375]

thanks guys.

[mapleleafman3]

the Kootenay Angler has some good info
http://kootenayangler.com/index.html

Fishing Report
http://www.reeladventuresfishing.com/report.html

They got some monsters in there!

[JTRED]

I live in the valley and have gone out a few times every winter for the big Gerrard rainbows. Right now is coming on the best so I've heard, the big ones are after the bucktails on the surface and the Dolley's are hitting on downriggers with lyman's plugs. Last time we were out was in December, biggest rainbow was 8lb and the biggest dolley was 7lbs.

[tacklerunner]

Rainbows (and dollies) from surface as far down as 150 ft. 88 ft was magic number 3 weeks ago. Plugs and crankbaits about 4" long in Jan/Feb which is prime time. And/or flasher with a hoochie on downrigger. Short leader behind flasher, maybe 28 inches or so. Hoochie got the biggest rainbow few weeks ago. Troll slow, 1.5 - 1.8 MPH. When water warms up to 60 degrees then it's time to drag hair on surface. Usually May or later. Beginning of hair season troll 2.5 - 3.0 MPH. Increase to 4 MPH as summer hits and even up to 5 MPH. Always let 200 or more feet out when trolling the surface.

PM if you want best spots to fish given the season.

[fishinggeek]

check out website, trophytroutguide. they have alot of kootenay lake rainbow pics and storys up from recent fishing.

[Kingfisher]

Rainbows (and dollies) from surface as far down as 150 ft. 88 ft was magic number 3 weeks ago. Plugs and crankbaits about 4" long in Jan/Feb which is prime time. And/or flasher with a hoochie on downrigger. Short leader behind flasher, maybe 28 inches or so. Hoochie got the biggest rainbow few weeks ago. Troll slow, 1.5 - 1.8 MPH. When water warms up to 60 degrees then it's time to drag hair on surface. Usually May or later. Beginning of hair season troll 2.5 - 3.0 MPH. Increase to 4 MPH as summer hits and even up to 5 MPH. Always let 200 or more feet out when trolling the surface.

PM if you want best spots to fish given the season.

Great post TR.

Browing you would be well advised to print off this one and keep it with you to read again while your out there. I can't wait to get my boat out there this spring and drag some bucktails out there. Some heart stopping hits when those gerards smack that fly on the surface. Troll a long ways back from the boat. They don't seem to hit when the flies are too close to the boat.

My brother lives in Nelson at the south end of the lake. He said when it's slow he brings out the planer boards to put the lines out to the side.

I found sometimes when there was a chop on the lake we seemed to do better. Makes for some rough trolling. But the rewards are more than worth it.

Can't wait to get my new boat rigged up and get out there.

Rob

[chubbdarter]

Fished the Koot for over 40 years, might actually have logged more hours on the Koot than any other lake. Many months and even some full years living on the east shore.

All though water temp is definetly something to consider with good reason, remember these fish dont get big by taking a break from eating. Kokanee are never safe from being breakfast,lunch or supper.

Key in on months with the least daylight for the most part, this puts you being on the water during their feed times in your favour. Long summer days just make trying to zone in on their feed times more difficult. Most times these fish feed hard and its generally not a all day feed. When they deem the Kokes most vulnerable they feed hard. Kokanee are a schooling fish and when a Gerrad decides to attack a bit ball or pushes Kokes to the surface in rough water, it only takes 5-6 Kokes to fill its belly. This fish may not eat for 2-3 days again.

Fish are far more aggressive with Hair water( 6in. to 3 foot chop). Big bows rely on the chop to disorientate the Kokes and also to hide their stalk and attack. As you can imagine a 20lb slab of fish has a tough time attacking 10,000 eyes of a school of Kokes in calm gin clear water. Chop and roll water isnt just important for surface fishing. Right now its a water dog and Billy season which puts the fish at 10-20 feet down. The chop and roll is important in the presentation of these cranks. I go with the wind at this time of year as much as possible. The push the wave gives the boat along with the slight stall effect as the the boat climbs out of the belly of the wave to climb the backside of the wave before it, give the cranks a pumping action.
In the spring when im pulling Hair i actually prefer to troll into the wind with the boards hooked back. This makes the boards porpoise like a dolphin and really adds a ripping action to the Hair.
Make sure to check your Flys often , if a fish hits but doesnt hook up, the fly's hair can become wrapped on the hook and be useless. If it is, comb it out with a toothbrush and check its running correctly before setting it out again.
I never fish the Koot without boards out on both sides during any season.
Over the years ive become not so much a fan of apexs(hockey sticks) or bucktail flys. In fact compared to polar bear i hate bucktail, bucktail doesnt have the action bear hair has. This spring the live target smelt crank with spintech hooks killed even my best polar bear hair flys. The spintech hooks also have eliminated the need to modify the billys, water dogs and hellbenders with a swivel harness off the diving bill.
Apex flashers and hoochies will almost always put a Dollie in your pan but i prefer a kelp cutter with a yellow belly polar bear fly with a peacock sword back for trophy Dollies.
My favorite months are....November, December,January and May.
My favorite lure in winter.....a custom painted water dawg
My favorite lure in spring...is now the live target smelt

Remember always have your boards out and a 25lb Bow will happen to you in time

Good Luck

[fish gunner]

lots of great info guys.one thing to add,when running hair make sure you tune your bucktails to run properly at speeds faster than you intend to troll.so when put on planer boards they dont start to spin or run poorly.the better the conditions for trolling hair the less line you need out,although not very common I have had fish hit hair on boards 100' back.give nasty boy spoons a try we got into some nice bows on the chrome and blue.

[EZM]

I am on Kootenay quite a bit. All information, provided by others above is pretty good. They have the major bases covered.

Don't underestimate using 2 completely different presentations to hit the big ones. For whatever reason, sometimes I run one one downrigger and another on a magmum dipsy diver cranked 3 clicks over to one side. The dispsy must impart a wierd action because there have been days the dipsy diver was king and the rigger was unproductive. I'm a big believer in trying a few different things to see what's happening.

I happen to like big apexes (black with silver flake) trolled 48" behind a 4 oz banana sinker. You can have some success using deep diving predatek plugs (firetiger).

On the rigger I'm ussually using a big flasher (oil slick green/purple) followed by a hoochie - tiger shrimp pattern in a few different colors.

Lyman plugs, as mentioned, are pretty good as well - rig them up behind a flasher for a alternate action. Lyman isn't my first choice and don't seem to be as productive for me at least.

If you are near the west arm (Balfour area) feel free to PM me - I can direct you to a few very productive pockets along the shore south of the bouy. That area has been very good for me over the last few years.

[browning375]

I'm trying to put a trip together this may with a couple buddies. I have always wanted to do this, and regardless if my buddies don't come i still have the wife to steer the boat! lol!!!:love0025:

thanks for the tips, I 'll PM you guys when the time gets near to gear up.

Rob.

[Kingfisher]

Over the years ive become not so much a fan of apexs(hockey sticks) or bucktail flys. In fact compared to polar bear i hate bucktail, bucktail doesnt have the action bear hair has.

I think one of the reasons that the polar bear works so well is the natural sheen it gives off compared to the bucktail. I also like the look of the polar bear more than the bucktail. Oh man so many options. Not sure what to tie next.

One other product that is out there that I have had success with on my "bucktail" style of flies is DNA. It is an artificial product. But they have some great colors and the product has some nice sheen to it as well. I think I will make up some "bucktails" that are half polar bear and half DNA. Should be worth the time to take them out on Kootenay Lake for a trip or two to test them out.

Rob

[browning375]

Have you ever tried any coyote spoons on a downrigger? I was going to give it a try with a sliver and blue 3.5 coyote and flasher.

I like to experiment a little with one side, then run the proven never fail on the other.

[fish gunner]

I have had some action on the nasty boy spoon in the color you discribe, I run them on boards with a 1oz lead a rod length up. use high end hard ware to prevent line twist at speed.we found that we caught mid size fish 10- 15lb however we did miss a few that may have been larger.it produced lots of fish but nothing of kootaney size.

[tacklerunner]

Have you ever tried any coyote spoons on a downrigger? I was going to give it a try with a sliver and blue 3.5 coyote and flasher.

I like to experiment a little with one side, then run the proven never fail on the other.

Yah for sure. Experiment. I can only speak for us that have fished the lake for decades. I remember using spoons with some success but we keep going back to the old faithfuls. I remember when the Silver Alaskan was the cat's azz. Everyone needed to go to Spokane to get this magnificent shiny $40 plug (in the '70s) after the 1st 20 pounder was caught on it. And the Lucky Louies and Witch Doctors....and.... Every lure has had some success. Sometimes if you throw a wrist watch with a treble hanging off of it in front of them, they'll hit it. Literally, I've seen it done.

Having said that, thinner profile stickbaits/crankbaits like Raps and thinner profile surface lures like hair or simple hoochies seem to produce the most these days. Remember, you are trying to imitate a kokanee that may be injured and for some reason got lost from the pack making it easy prey. It's strange how easily a gerrard can locate a little 4 inch tuft of animal hair skimming the surface at 4+ MPH in the vast area of water the lake offers. Really not to different that salt water fishing for salmon. Like Chubb said, it's much easier for them to chase down stranded prey than try take on a school of kokes.

To put it into perspective, in Jan this year, the 1 time I got out, bait balls where between 100-150 feet but we hit fish anywhere from 10 - 150 feet. While most bows where in the top 20 feet of water, the biggest one came 88 ft down on a hoochie (targeting dollies). By the way, lost of 15+ pound dollies this year so far. So sometimes, it's not so much about what you throw at them, but where and how you position your offering and a key to Kootenay Lake is determining what speed you are trolling at in order for them to commit.

I guess what I'm tyring to get at in quoting you, "I like to experiment a little with one side, then run the proven never fail on the other." there's not always a proven "never fail" on any given day but given the info in this thread, you should be able to narrow it down to a handful.

[chubbdarter]

Yah for sure. Experiment. I can only speak for us that have fished the lake for decades. I remember using spoons with some success but we keep going back to the old faithfuls. I remember when the Silver Alaskan was the cat's azz. Everyone needed to go to Spokane to get this magnificent shiny $40 plug (in the '70s) after the 1st 20 pounder was caught on it. And the Lucky Louies and Witch Doctors....and.... Every lure has had some success. Sometimes if you throw a wrist watch with a treble hanging off of it in front of them, they'll hit it. Literally, I've seen it done.

Having said that, thinner profile stickbaits/crankbaits like Raps and thinner profile surface lures like hair or simple hoochies seem to produce the most these days. Remember, you are trying to imitate a kokanee that may be injured and for some reason got lost from the pack making it easy prey. It's strange how easily a gerrard can locate a little 4 inch tuft of animal hair skimming the surface at 4+ MPH in the vast area of water the lake offers. Really not to different that salt water fishing for salmon. Like Chubb said, it's much easier for them to chase down stranded prey than try take on a school of kokes.

To put it into perspective, in Jan this year, the 1 time I got out, bait balls where between 100-150 feet but we hit fish anywhere from 10 - 150 feet. While most bows where in the top 20 feet of water, the biggest one came 88 ft down on a hoochie (targeting dollies). By the way, lost of 15+ pound dollies this year so far. So sometimes, it's not so much about what you throw at them, but where and how you position your offering and a key to Kootenay Lake is determining what speed you are trolling at in order for them to commit.

I guess what I'm tyring to get at in quoting you, "I like to experiment a little with one side, then run the proven never fail on the other." there's not always a proven "never fail" on any given day but given the info in this thread, you should be able to narrow it down to a handful.

dont forget the locally made and very succesful Zinger plug, beuatifully painted plug that really worked well. between the Pend and the Koot it took 11 over 24 for me

some guys still drag the alaskans......Blue box alaskans are going for 120 bucks now. Original white carboard box Alaskans are going for over 400.

Witch Docs are fetching 50 bucks.

if i had was held to 2 lures on the Koot, they would be a water dawg crank and a 8 inch polar bear fly with army green back, black lateral, crystal flash white belly. With dark purple very close second

[fish gunner]

I have had good or better success with spoons.the one draw back with spoons I find you must use the very best terminal tackle to prevent line twist at kootaney lake speeds.the other issue we had the spoons drew mostly mid size fish 6-10lb.we
ran 1 oz lead a rod length up the line we missed a few so cannot say big fish dont hit spoons. good luck.tight lines.hope to be out on the big water mid may.

[Rob Miskosky]

This is why you go to Kootenay Lake. :sHa_shakeshout:

http://www.albertaoutdoorsmen.ca/images/temp/kootenay_lake_gerrard.jpg

[fish gunner]

amen,now I got to figure out how to post ma pics

[tacklerunner]

You got it Rob!!!

I've posted this pic before. 26 lb 3 oz from February 2011. And it's my friend not me who landed it after 65 minutes on 15 lb test. Same day got a 15lber with 13 kokanee in it's belly.

Don't forget you need purchase a Rainbow Tag for Kootenay in addition to your basic license IF you with to retain up to 5 rainbow per year OVER 50 cm.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc416/tacklerunner/262lbrainbow.jpg

[Trout Addict]

Incredible information and pictures!!

Curious, has anyone ever attempted fly fishing on that lake?

Type 7 full sink, get me down about about 15-25ft with streamers?

I may be going there for a week this summer, waste of time or could I potentially pick up some smaller trout?

Thanks

[tacklerunner]

Incredible information and pictures!!

Curious, has anyone ever attempted fly fishing on that lake?

Type 7 full sink, get me down about about 15-25ft with streamers?

I may be going there for a week this summer, waste of time or could I potentially pick up some smaller trout?

Thanks

Absolutely!!! Fly fishing is very effective. But in the summer you will want only a slow sink tip, floating or very very very slow full sink line as they are most always in the top 5 FOW. Unfortunately it's hard to cover water fly casting so your best bet is floating at creek mouths. The bows hold at the end of the current, smaller ones at the edge. What I mean by end of current is not just where you visibly see the current end but rather where the flow calms as there is still underwater flow for many metres. I like to drive the boat straight toward the creek mouth and kill the engine before hitting shore(of course). Then cast in the slow water along the edges of the creek run off as I drift out. Then once you think you have been pushed out as far a you're going to get, spend some time there casting in all directions. That where the the bigger smarter ones are hanging; in the calm water not expending energy waiting for the straggler to be washed their way. Plus they're close to the kitchen so to speak.

I've never heard of or seen a monster caught using this method but there are plenty of 3 - 10 lbers to be had on the fly in these areas. I use an 8wt with a very very very slow sinking line which just keeps my streamer below the surface. Skimming the surface with floating line is not a bad thing either. A 7 wt would suffice or 6wt if you're adventurous. (I've only got 4, 5 & 8 wt) Strip it hard and fast then pause. The more erratic the retrieve is, the better.

[fish gunner]

tackle runner is right ob for searching patterns and creek mouths,I have twice been trolling in very small aluminum boats 14'-16'and came across large fish pinning kokanee to the steep shoreline creating a large herring ball of koke,we could row with in casting distance of the stressed bait fish,I cannot put in to words how hard these fish kill a streamer. my first encounter with fly rod, I broke off two fish I est,10-15lb before I felt the pressure of the fishi on the reel.my second with attempt 15:lb florocarbon leader netted a 16 lb6 oz bow that emptied my 7 wt loaded phluger madalion in seconds, more than once.spending time in a 16' lund with a 20 horse has its benefits you can sneak up on feeding fish on a very rare occasion.

[Trout Addict]

Thanks gentleman,

Great info, I have a 13 foot pontoon with a 3.5hp gas motor so I can move around not bad.

Sounds like too much fun I'll definitely have to make it happen now!

[Jarred]

Great posts, planning a trip there in the next couple weeks, weather is calling for a bit of rain but shouldn't be a problem. Just curious where to buy some good quality polar bear hair flies.

Thanks

[deschambault]

Stop in at Gill and Gift at the ferry dock on the west side of the lake - he knows the lake and has a huge selection of tackle. Otherwise check in at Woodbury or at the south end of Kaslo.

[Chuck Feathers]

thought I'd resurrect as I'm hoping for a few days on Kootenay next week. Plan to launch out of Kuskanook and was hoping for some advice for a first timer on the lake (fishing at least, spent many summers playing there). I'm mostly a c&r guy, certainly anything of size I'd prefer to put back to grow some more, but wouldn't mind a few koks for the table. Any advice for what when and how this time of year would be great?

Thanks

[Speckle55]

Here is my buddy with a 24# Gerrard he lives in Creston just caught in Sept
enjoy

David:)
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a488/Speckle55/Hunting/559294_10201116471372293_1811605644_n_zps812c17bd. jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/Speckle55/media/Hunting/559294_10201116471372293_1811605644_n_zps812c17bd. jpg.html)

[trouty]

was there on the weekend, unfortunately poured and wicked wind. The water has cooled off and was around 57d which means the fish will be moving up. Guys were getting them on bucktails already, pink patterns, spoons etc in the top 30' of water. Koks are spawning.

[Chuck Feathers]

Thanks for the replies, awesome fish, would it be worth trying close to Kuskanook or better off heading toward Pilot Bay or?

Too bad about the koks but I suppose that will make for less feed for the big hogs that might make them more apt to hit an imitiation!

[Pixel Shooter]

Cant wait to get out there at the end of the month, give er for 5-6 days. Hopefully I will have something to post lol

[Nakoda boater]

Thanks for the replies, awesome fish, would it be worth trying close to Kuskanook or better off heading toward Pilot Bay or?

Too bad about the koks but I suppose that will make for less feed for the big hogs that might make them more apt to hit an imitiation!

Not all the Kokanee spawn at the same time so it is worth a try!

[Chuck Feathers]

Not all the Kokanee spawn at the same time so it is worth a try!

Good to know, was going to also ask how best to target some kokanee on the lake as well?

[Nakoda boater]

Good to know, was going to also ask how best to target some kokanee on the lake as well?

Apex Kokanee killer, wedding band and #1 nickle plated Dick Nite spoon.
Good luck, we will be out there next weekend.

[Buckwheat]

Check out reel adventures fishing report on his site. I find that Kerry has the most up to date reports on the Koot. Good luck it's a tough but rewarding lake

[Chuck Feathers]

Apex Kokanee killer, wedding band and #1 nickle plated Dick Nite spoon.
Good luck, we will be out there next weekend.

Thanks, got two of the three, have heard you need to troll way slower for koks than for the big boys but hopefully have time for some of each, lousy weather today but got the boat launched in time for 4-5 hrs of trolling yesterday afternoon with a couple of rookies in the boat we only got 2 on and lost both, one got close enough to see that it was probably only about 4lbs, the other felt like at least twice that but was a long distance release, both on bucktails on sinking flyline. Saw some huge schools of fish down deep on the finder, assuming they were koks shooled up like the Sockeye I've seen in Babine Lk.

[Speckle55]

My buddy just won the Fish Derby with this fish:sHa_shakeshout:

enjoy

David:)
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a488/Speckle55/Hunting/1380287_10151670191115969_635480304_n_zps8552d5bf. jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/Speckle55/media/Hunting/1380287_10151670191115969_635480304_n_zps8552d5bf. jpg.html)

[Chuck Feathers]

My buddy just won the Fish Derby with this fish:sHa_shakeshout:

enjoy

David:)
http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a488/Speckle55/Hunting/1380287_10151670191115969_635480304_n_zps8552d5bf. jpg (http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/Speckle55/media/Hunting/1380287_10151670191115969_635480304_n_zps8552d5bf. jpg.html)

Nice fish! Whereabouts was it caught?

[Chuck Feathers]

Took this shot of my fishfinder on Sunday.

[Speckle55]

Rainbow Road .. which is beside Bull Trout Run in middle of lake :test: marked spots on fish finder

Hope this helps:D

David:)



Took this shot of my fishfinder on Sunday.

[Bjay]

Tied commercially in the 1970's for Balfour Supperet store at Balfour on the west arm. The most popular small flies for the lake and arm were Royal Coachman with polar bear wing and Muddler minnow size #2 9672 hook.The flies took lots of fish to 10 pounds. Lots of big fish hooked but hard to hold huge fish on small hooks. I would use heavy salt water hooks if I was going to tie again for the lake.
Bjay

[rielbowhunter]

I got a good one in August, in 68' of water.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151766539760318&l=d5c849c0fc
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151766539760318&l=d5c849c0fc

[Nakoda boater]

I got a good one in August, in 68' of water.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151766539760318&l=d5c849c0fc
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151766539760318&l=d5c849c0fc

Great job!
Were you using a plug?

[btridge]

Caught and released an 8 1/2 lb rainbow on the weekend, on the top with a dark fly. The fun is beginning!:sHa_shakeshout: