West Coast Tactics on Kootenay Lake

[Buckwheat]

Just curious if anyone has ever tried trolling a teaser head/anchovy or cut plug hearing behind a flasher on Kootenay lake? These Gerrards are notoriously hard to catch. I've used the standard lures (bucktails, lyman plugs, Apex's, billys, hootchies) and some luck but was thinking these fish are chasing Kokanee so I might give it a try. Never heard of any locals fishing this way.

[marty1]

what time of year are you going and where?makes a world of a difference,i fished it for 3 years before seeing a rainbow and now we have landed two over twenty and always break the ten pound mark each year.i don't think u can even use bait.

[Buckwheat]

Fished the main lake anywhere between Lockhart and Kootenay Bay. Heading out again in a couple of weeks but have fished most every month out there. Caught a few in the teens and a few nice bulls. I know the trolling speeds pick up as the water temp comes up and once the temp is above 55f the big ones go deep. The regs say that there is a bait ban in the upper West Arm from June -Aug but nothing mentioned on the main body of the lake.

[lippy]

Just curious if anyone has ever tried trolling a teaser head/anchovy or cut plug hearing behind a flasher on Kootenay lake? These Gerrards are notoriously hard to catch. I've used the standard lures (bucktails, lyman plugs, Apex's, billys, hootchies) and some luck but was thinking these fish are chasing Kokanee so I might give it a try. Never heard of any locals fishing this way.

I have not tried bait but had good fishing around the Kaslo area trolling a glow in the dark hootchie behind a ford fender rig with a 2 oz weight-25 line pulls behind the boat . Caught bulls and bows using this setup - nothing huge though..but was fishing in summer.Best times for the bigger 'bows are early spring and fall.

[fishpro]

I would not recommend it as you are not allowed to use any sort of fish for bait (other than roe) on the lake, as well as almost every other waterbody in the province.

[Buckwheat]

I would not recommend it as you are not allowed to use any sort of fish for bait (other than roe) on the lake, as well as almost every other waterbody in the province.


Thanks. I see that now under the definition of bait in the regs.

[chubbdarter]

i have fished the Koot for 40 years heres some things ive learned

prime times are the months of May, Oct to Jan
May is the best time if your looking for alot of strikes. Pulling hair on choppy days and hockey sticks on calm days. Planer boards greatly increase your strikes. Speeds up to 4mph. All my big fish come on 2 color patterns in hair, a blue yellow and a brown top-gray body-white belly with red flash slash. In a hockey stick its a black and white narrow, you can pull a narrow much faster.Also remember a great number of fish are up in the no fish zone

In the heat of the summer they become more difficult to catch, only because the days are long and its very hard to pinpoint their feeding times. I find last light is best, down 80 to 130 with a green back yellow belly lyman. Flasher and hootchie works at times, so does a kelp cutter and peacock sword fly. Remember run short leads 24-28 inches, get a fast kick going.

Oct is hair time again with, baby puke green flies on sunny days and deep purples on dark days.

Usually by Dec. its billy and dog time and slow is the key. tune your billies and dogs to kick, they should swim in a tight wiggle and then kick off to the side 12-18 inches and then glide back to center. Rough water is a bonus, when conditions are really rough only troll with the waves, use only enough engine to keep you straight. The boards should stall in the bellies and thrust ahead on the wave.

[chubbdarter]

oh ya....i know a few locals who actually cut plug kokanee with very low success

[tacklerunner]

When water warms up above 40 degrees it's time to start fishing the surface and trolling 3.5 - 4 MPH. This usually happens at the beginning of May. Was on Arrow lake last week and water temp was still about 38.5 degrees. Fish were still about 50 - 80 feet down and had success with Lyman plugs for Dollies and Rainbows trolling 2 MPH. Next trip will be dragging hair on the surface with 200 - 300 feet of line out.

To add to Chubb's post I like the green and white apex hockey sticks and not the wider slow troll ones either; the skinnier ones like he said.

Darker lures on darker days, lighter on sunny days. Lots of rainbows under 10 lbs on the surface in May. Seemed to be a lot in the 15 - 18 lb range this winter too.

[chubbdarter]

ya i forgot th blue yellow stick works good in may too....tough to find but a jiffy fixes that problem.
p.s. Jan is my favorite month and mid Feb. to the end of Mar my least favorite times

[tacklerunner]

And I forgot to mention J-Plugs work year round for rainbows, bulls and dollies. Silver with a green back and silver with a purple back. The purple one is hot right now. _Plain silver is good too. By the way, size #4 on the Lyman plugs (4 inch).

[tacklerunner]

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=82738

[Buckwheat]

Thanks for the tips there CD and TR. I missed that post of that big colorful bad boy. Looks like you were on the Splitshot boat. Well done!

[tacklerunner]

Thanks for the tips there CD and TR. I missed that post of that big colorful bad boy. Looks like you were on the Splitshot boat. Well done!

Yeah that was my friend actually. Too much involved to haul the boat out there in the dead of winter so bunch of guys get together with Splitshot now and then. They're locals so it's easy for them to get out for half a day. I used to be a local. :cry::cry: