Lake Okonagan, BC

[kostianych]

he guys, going to the Okonagan Lake in June, on the West side....
never been fishing that place...

what fish and what to use :)

any advice is welcome.... (don`t have a boat, will try from the shore)
regards
K

[dss44]

It's beautiful...you will love it....beaches and everything are just amazing. Always used to go up to Penticton in the summer but too busy with fishing charters on Van Island now. Without a boat, may be pretty damn hard. But I know there is a decent bass population up there, as well as trout up the yang. used to be good trout fishing but as of 2005 clients of ours said it was downhill big time.

[Rob Miskosky]

I grew up on Okanagan Lake and my family still lives there. Fishing is best in the fall when you can bucktail but trout can be caught year round, including some huge trout over 20-pounds. The world record kokanee (9lbs 6 oz) was caught in Okanagan Lake as well and is hanging in the Vernon Yacht Club, although I don't think you're allowed to keep a kokanee anymore. I may be wrong but I think that several years ago they introduced a shrimp (mysis) to help feed the kokanee but the shrimp outcompeted the kokanee fingerlings for the same food source and the kokanee population crashed. At any rate there is also bass, yellow perch, burbot, some lake trout, huge carp and suckers as well as sea monsters. Not sure how much luck you'll have from shore but the lake is beautiful nonetheless. Have fun!

[dss44]

Maybe you'll catch the Ogopogo!?!?!?!

[kostianych]

I don`t want to catch it...atleast to take a picture :)

[jimbo79]

I grew up in the Okanagan aswell, I have fished the big lake often. From shore I have had luck with worms and a bobber, and spoons. Try fishing near Peachland, And if your on the westside you say try the log jams off of westside road just be careful. You can get worms at the tackle shop in westbank.

[kostianych]

thanks a lot, guys :)

2 years ago I was on the East side camping (near Vernon) and got some fish that was not in the regs....tried to ask guys around but nobody could even provide its type.....any ideas?

[marlin1]

what did the fish look like? I have had luck in the canal at the south end by Penticton . If you fish there read the regs about fishing by a weir . There is some different laws in BC , I caught a couple of nice rainbows down there and you could see the carp in there . At least I think they were Carp.

[Rob Miskosky]

thanks a lot, guys :)

2 years ago I was on the East side camping (near Vernon) and got some fish that was not in the regs....tried to ask guys around but nobody could even provide its type.....any ideas?


More than likely carp or sucker. There used to be a Father's Day Fishing Derby there and one of the prizes was for the most pounds of carp and sucker.

[kostianych]

that was not a carp or sucker ( I know both of them)....

it looked like a Walleye, but not a walleye....it had teeth and a Park guy told me not to put my finger in its mouth :)))))

[marlin1]

may have been a sqawfish . I caught those in the outlet canal as well. They look similar to a walleye

[Okotokian]

I grew up on Okanagan Lake and my family still lives there. Fishing is best in the fall when you can bucktail but trout can be caught year round, including some huge trout over 20-pounds. The world record kokanee (9lbs 6 oz) was caught in Okanagan Lake as well and is hanging in the Vernon Yacht Club, although I don't think you're allowed to keep a kokanee anymore. I may be wrong but I think that several years ago they introduced a shrimp (mysis) to help feed the kokanee but the shrimp outcompeted the kokanee fingerlings for the same food source and the kokanee population crashed. At any rate there is also bass, yellow perch, burbot, some lake trout, huge carp and suckers as well as sea monsters. Not sure how much luck you'll have from shore but the lake is beautiful nonetheless. Have fun!

I heard the same thing about the kokanee depletion so haven't bothered fishing Okanogan. I usually go just north of Kelowna to Wood or Kalamalka lakes and have had great success trolling for kokanees. Lovely tasty fish.

[kostianych]

may have been a sqawfish . I caught those in the outlet canal as well. They look similar to a walleye

maybe.....will check it at the lake :)

thanks a lot

[raggmann]

Another x-Kelowna guy here.
If you're camping near Bear Creek park at all,try Bear Creek itself.The fish used to be a little on the small side but the volume of them made up for it.
If you don't mind driving a bit,there's all kinds of mountain lakes.Beaver,Dee chain,Postill,there's hundreds.Most will rent you a boat for a decent price too.

[Rob Miskosky]

may have been a sqawfish . I caught those in the outlet canal as well. They look similar to a walleye

Wow! I completely forgot about the sqawfish in Okanagan Lake. You would be correct. When I was a kid we used to catch them in Vernon Creek where it entered the lake at Kin Beach. We were encouraged to bonk them and chuck them. We killed hundreds of them. I remember once getting into trouble for chucking them up on to the road where cars would run them over, that was until the road got so slick from dead sqawfish it became quite dangerous...

It was a good place to grow up. :)

[Sartorius]

I've caught "squawfish" in other BC lakes. They're aggressive and actually quite fun to catch.

However, in the name of political correctness they're actually now called "Northern Pikeminnows." Huh.