Trying to Plan a Fishing Trip

[millartech]

Hello Everyone,

Some friends and I are trying to plan our yearly fishing trip. Last year we travelled to Kootenay Lake and caught some of the infamous Gerard Rainbows and some Dolly's (Bull Trout). It was a great trip and we would like to head into BC again this year.

This year though money is a little more of a concern than other years as my bother just had a baby girl and I am in the middle of planning and saving for a wedding.

We had the thought of heading out camping in the backcountry in BC and fishing a bunch of rivers and streams. Now some of the people that come do not have fly fishing gear and only spin fish.

I was hoping to draw on the experience on this forum to come up with ideas for our trip.

Would doing a backcountry camping and fishing trip into BC work for people who do not fly fish? Would spin fishing with small spinners, rapalas, etc. be worth while?

What would be an area in BC to go to? Should we stick with the Kootenay's? I have read about people fishing the Elk river and catching good Bull Trout, which would work for the spin fishers with the aggressive nature of the Bulls.

Any rivers or streams that would be worth checking out? Should we head further in, maybe the Columbia River or something. Basically any help would be greatly appreciated. We would not be planning on heading out for some time (kind of a summer all guys trip, sorry ladies).

I understand the restricted rivers and licensing for BC. We will all make sure we have the appropriate licenses for anywhere we would fish. Also, we would not be keeping many. Maybe the odd one or 2 to have with a meal (if it is legal in whichever body of water we would fish). We are more about C&R, it's all about the fight not the feast.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. We would probably be going for anywhere from 5 to 7 days. I do have one of the back country map books for the Kootenay's that I got WSS, which should help as well, but with the vast amount of knowledge and experience on this forum I thought it would be a good idea to try and draw on that.

Thanks for any help that may be provided.

Cheers,

Millar

[Guitarplayingfish]

Hello Everyone,

Some friends and I are trying to plan our yearly fishing trip. Last year we travelled to Kootenay Lake and caught some of the infamous Gerard Rainbows and some Dolly's (Bull Trout). It was a great trip and we would like to head into BC again this year.

This year though money is a little more of a concern than other years as my bother just had a baby girl and I am in the middle of planning and saving for a wedding.

We had the thought of heading out camping in the backcountry in BC and fishing a bunch of rivers and streams. Now some of the people that come do not have fly fishing gear and only spin fish.

I was hoping to draw on the experience on this forum to come up with ideas for our trip.

Would doing a backcountry camping and fishing trip into BC work for people who do not fly fish? Would spin fishing with small spinners, rapalas, etc. be worth while?

What would be an area in BC to go to? Should we stick with the Kootenay's? I have read about people fishing the Elk river and catching good Bull Trout, which would work for the spin fishers with the aggressive nature of the Bulls.

Any rivers or streams that would be worth checking out? Should we head further in, maybe the Columbia River or something. Basically any help would be greatly appreciated. We would not be planning on heading out for some time (kind of a summer all guys trip, sorry ladies).

I understand the restricted rivers and licensing for BC. We will all make sure we have the appropriate licenses for anywhere we would fish. Also, we would not be keeping many. Maybe the odd one or 2 to have with a meal (if it is legal in whichever body of water we would fish). We are more about C&R, it's all about the fight not the feast.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. We would probably be going for anywhere from 5 to 7 days. I do have one of the back country map books for the Kootenay's that I got WSS, which should help as well, but with the vast amount of knowledge and experience on this forum I thought it would be a good idea to try and draw on that.

Thanks for any help that may be provided.

Cheers,

Millar

I can't offer a ton of information... but I will tell you the Elk is about 20$ per day to fish. I hear it is a trophy bull/dolly fishery.

Columbia river is a great option, but you would probably want a boat.. I used to shore fish it when I worked in castlegar, and it was a blast catching rainbows... with a boat you could target the big guys and some walleye.

[GregT]

we did a little fishing in the invermere area a couple summers ago. we stopped and talked to the F&W (or equivalent). they were pretty helpful

[tacklerunner]

Columbia is tough to fish but if you want to go there go to the fly shop in Castlegar and get as much info as possible.

Elk river is great!!! Same thing. Go to one of the fly shops in Fernie. They're gonna wanna guide you though.

Stop at the Crowsnest for a day. Awesome river too. Go to the Crowsnest Angler.

It's possible to fish the creek mouths of Kootenay Lake from shore in Kaslo and Woodbury. Also can catch Kokanee of the wall below Ainsworth.

From Kaslo drive up the road to New Denver (Slocan Lake). Along the way there are creeks to fish as well you will pass Fish Lake and Bear Lake. You can fish a bobber and worm or maggots at those lakes and catch panfry-18" rainbows.

Once in New Denver and Silverton on Slocan lake you can fish the creek mouths in each town. Every year someone catches a 20 lb rainbow and a 20 lb dolly from shore. Beautiful camping and swimming lake. At night you can toss a worm on the bottom and catch big burbs which are referred to as ling out there.

Continue along the road South along Slocan lake until you get to the South Slocan junction. From there you can turn left to Nelson (Kootenay lake) or Castlegar (Arrow Lake and the Columbia). Lots of creek mouths to fish from shore on arrow lake too.

You can't do it all in 5 - 7 days but whatever route you take in whatever order, there's tons of great shore fishing along the way.

Have a few fish frys and enjoy the beautiful country. You can't go wrong heading West. Only problem is choosing where to go.

Been fishing the area for 40 years. :) Grew up there.

Cheers

[fish gunner]

Fishing in the summer is a tough go . As stated creek mouths on the big lakes produce best . Get a set of BC regs and scour Google earth . The area near nelson/ kaslo has tons of little gems for a motivated angler. Pm if you need some more help.

[millartech]

Thanks for all your help guys. This will help make this years trip one of the best yet. I am sure I will come across some questions as I get further into planning this years trip. If this thread is still alive when I come across questions I will post some here or maybe even send a pm or 2 if you guys don't mind.

Thanks again. Love this forum.

Cheers,

Millar