Kootenay Lake

[deanna]

Rented a cabin on West Arm of Kootenay lake last 2 weeks in June. Never fished there. Heard a couple rumors there is wallye there as well as rainbows anyone hear this and any advice would be greatly appreciated

[The Fisherman Guy]

There is walleye in the Columbia river, which the Kootenay river flows into, which flows out of Kootenay lake. Trouble is the Brilliant Dam on the Kootenay river just upstream of Castlegar is in the way. Don't think too many walleye will make it past there. If you want to catch walleye, you will have to fish below the Brilliant dam. I would focus your attention in the slower moving parts of the Columbia river, upstream of the Kootenay River confluence, below Keenlyside Dam in Castlegar.

The trout fishing can be fantastic in Kootenay Lake, there are monster Gerrard Rainbow trout in the Koot, the largest natural strain of rainbow trout in the world. There are also monster bull trout in Kootenay lake.

Lyman Lures are one of the go to lures for both species of large trout in Kootenay Lake. Strong early summer colors are Blue Herring #123, Lucy #10, Kokanee #98, Shazam #69, & Dill Pickle #80. Try trolling them 2.5-3.5mph. Casting also works with Lyman plugs. Keep a copy of the regulations handy, as the regulations change depending on where you fish on the lake, or if you are fishing any of the tributaries. Stop in at the Gill & Gift in Balfour for advice if you are travelling through that direction. They will also point you in the right direction of what is working, and where.

Hope this helps, it's a gorgeous area - a great place for a vacation.

[The Reel Deal]

x2 with The Fisherman Guy.
Ive stayed in the west arm about 10 km downstream of the narrows. Lots of rainbows on the west side of the narrows - troll a williams gold and silver whitefish spoon (the smallest size) and you will catch lots of em, no riggers req. - just 100' back from the boat.
Gerrards will be in the main lake. Caught my gerrard at the mouth in 60' with a lyman. Going south on the lake ive caught some dolly's on the dill pickle lyman at the 80' mark - this was last July.

Good luck!

[Fishslayer99]

x2 with The Fisherman Guy.
Ive stayed in the west arm about 10 km downstream of the narrows. Lots of rainbows on the west side of the narrows - troll a williams gold and silver whitefish spoon (the smallest size) and you will catch lots of em, no riggers req. - just 100' back from the boat.
Gerrards will be in the main lake. Caught my gerrard at the mouth in 60' with a lyman. Going south on the lake ive caught some dolly's on the dill pickle lyman at the 80' mark - this was last July.

Good luck!

Reel Deal,

Do you have any pictures of the fish? I have never been to Kootenay lake but have heard there are some nice fish. I think I may give it a try in the spring, just would like to see what I can expect to catch...hopefully!

[The Reel Deal]

Reel Deal,

Do you have any pictures of the fish? I have never been to Kootenay lake but have heard there are some nice fish. I think I may give it a try in the spring, just would like to see what I can expect to catch...hopefully!

My 9# gerrard isn't anything to boast about! My brother lost one 15-20# according to one that has more experience than I.

Heard there was a virus of some sort that killed off a bunch of kokanee which has really affected the sizes and numbers of gerrards. I was gonna go back this winter but not after that report.

[trouty]

My 9# gerrard isn't anything to boast about! My brother lost one 15-20# according to one that has more experience than I.

Heard there was a virus of some sort that killed off a bunch of kokanee which has really affected the sizes and numbers of gerrards. I was gonna go back this winter but not after that report.

Has to be some truth to that the guides sites are not showing many big fish this fall and winter. Going to be some years before it recovers.

[The Reel Deal]

just looked for myself and the guides arent pulling in anything bigger than 10# on average. Even the fall derby winners haven't hit the 20# range.

Regardless, Kootenay is a beautiful place and I wouldn't let the fishing reports discourage you.

[Fishslayer99]

That certainly is too bad the Kokanee population took a dive, obviously the main food source for the big girls. Regardless a 10 pound trout is still a great catch in my books. Thanks for the info, it won't discourage me a bit.

[thumper]

From 'The Nelson Daily' :


Fish virus found in Kootenay Lake Kokanee calls for action
by Suzy Hamilton on 26 Jan 2014

A fatal fish virus has been detected in the Kootenay Lake Kokanee raised in the Meadow Creek and Redfish spawning channels.

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNv) was found in 80 percent of spawning Kokanee in a routine check of the fish coming from the Meadow Creek spawning channel last fall.

The virus has also been detected in spawners in the Redfish Creek spawning channel.

“It turned up for the first time this fall,” said senior fisheries biologist Jeff Burrows with the Ministry of Forest Lands and Resource Operations (FLNRO). “It’s not a problem in the wild, but it can spread where there’s a high density of fish such as spawning channels.”

Fry and spawners are most vulnerable to the virus because their immune systems are weaker than adult fish, said Burrows. As fish mature, they become resistant to the disease until they become spawners.

So far, the virus is isolated to Kootenay Lake.

Believed to be spread by coming in contact with other infected fish or their feces, in this case the virus is “transmitted horizontally,” said Burrows, which means it is not passed on from parent to offspring, but rather spawner touching spawner.

It is thought the virus gains entry at the base of the fins and gills, and affects the internal organs so that it is not discernable in most fish.

IHNv is commonly found in Pacific Coast salmonids, affecting salmon, trout and sturgeon as well. The first reported epidemics of IHNv occurred in the United States at the Washington and the Oregon fish hatcheries during the 1950s.

This outbreak may also have an effect on the Gerrard Rainbow, who feed solely on Kokanee. Burrows said it appears that the predator/prey relationship between the two is already out of balance.

“We have had an abundant predator population, while the Kokanee run was low at Meadow Creek this year,” Burrows said.

“This is a food web dynamic,” he added. “The Gerrard may have eaten themselves out of house and home.”

In fact, size is down among the Gerrard, said Kerry Reed with Reel Adventure Charters.

“Basically they don’t have enough food. We’re not getting the big fish at 18-24 pounds that we used to get. This year a big fish was 13-15 pounds.”

This was the first time Reed had heard of the virus, but he had suspected something was going on.

“The fish are skinny,” he said.

Kokanee spawners in Meadow Creek fell from roughly 760,000 in 2012, to 200,000, in 2013, but numbers rose in Redfish and Kokanee Creeks from 4,000 to 19,000 and 13,000 to 20,000 respectively.

Gerrard spawners, on the other hand, were above normal in 2013 at roughly 2,300 fish.

The trout are potentially at risk, Burrows said. “We don’t know if any are infected, but we plan to test them this spring, when the spawners are at Gerrard. We will capture some to collect ovarian fluid samples for testing.

“And the fact remains, the virus can kill immune system depressed fish, but may not actually be killing fish. For example, the Meadow Kokanee spawners spawned quite successfully before dying, which they do anyways after spawning, sick or not.”

At this point there is no explanation as to why the virus showed up at Meadow Creek. It is believed to be recently introduced since it has not shown up before, Burrows said.

FLNRO is taking immediate steps to prevent the spread of the virus. This calls for draining the channels as drying kills the virus, flushing the channels with more water to clean the gravel, and removing any carcasses, Burrows said.

The virus does not affect humans or other mammals feeding on the fish.

[Duramaximos]

Interesting. We had a good summer in 2014 as far as Gerrards go, for that time of year. However we did find the Bull trout to be very thin. In fact we spotted several long skinny belley-up Bulls in July.

[man of steel]

The kokanee numbers have crashed in Kootenay lake and as such so have the Rainbow and Bull Trout numbers and sizes. The local outdoor association has just announced an open meeting with the Ministry responsible to find out what, if anything, they are doing or proposing to do about the situation. One of the main Kokanee spawning channels had a return of 40,000 last fall when the normal return is 500,000 to 1,000,000. They are going to be asked about possible drastic reg. changes etc. I don't think the fishery here is going to be the same for many years, if ever.

[BPman]

Just returned from 4 days trolling on Kootenay with a friend who lives on the lake and we have fished it since 2000 so have some experience. He was skunked and I caught a 14" rainbow. Not worth the boat gas! Water temp was only 41 F but I don't think that was the only reason we did so poorly, We agree that something has changed there for the worse. Saw only 3 other boats out fishing during our outings.