Bass fishing in the Kootenays
 

Hey guys!

Looking for some info on some bass fishing in the Kootenays. My 6 year old has been bugging me to get out and try our luck for some bass. I’ve never been before, so I’m just looking for some tips on when abouts ice off maybe on lakes like surveyors, Baynes, Suzanne. I’ll be doing some fly fishing but I might get some gear for my kid. Was thinking maybe set up with a drop shot set up? Any kind of info or advice would be great guys, thanks. Pm if you’d like.

Very limited experience here, but I took my float tube out to Surveyors a couple years ago in July. The lake is extremely warm and clear. You can see bass everywhere and they will follow just about any streamer thrown their way. Getting them to commit is another story. I finally caught a few on a brown rubber legged wooly bugger with a full sink line casting and stripping toward the fallen logs. From what I hear it can be hit or miss. Fun lake regardless. Good luck!

Shore fishing? Boat? Float tube?

For a 6 year old - that probably needs action rather than size - I'd go to Jim Smith Lake bear Cranbrook, or Baynes Lk.

Awesome thanks for the reply! I think he’d be happy to even see them swimming around, that’s always kinda cool. I’ve read theirs turtles in this lake as well?

I’ll be taking my drift boat down with me. Yeah, he won’t care so much for size, seen them on tv and sees the explosive strikes and has been obsessed with seeing one and catching one!

Windermere Lake south of Radium has largemouth bass as well as rainbow, cutthroat, char, kokanee, mountain whitefish, northern pikeminnow, burbot and pumpkinseed. I think the south end of the lake is where the bass fishermen go. On the BC Ifish app there are a couple comments of where.

Pretty83.

I’ve fished bass in all of those lakes with flies. Bass like warmer water. Mid to lake May is a better bet.
Barnes have a pile
I have used sliders, poppers, buggers and lately pumpkinheads. Most of the fish are <12” with a rare one 15”.
Fish shallow. Shade is good.

Don

Duck Lake just north of Creston has largemouth bass. A boat would be an asset.

There are also Osoyoos and Skaha lakes in the Okanagan. I go every year (grew up in that area). Love fishing Poppers and sliders.

I've only fished Surveyors lake when we camped there. Very nice place. Lots of fish and some big ones. I fished mainly out of a kayak.

Fly fishing for bass
 

I honestly don't remember the lake but it was somewhere around Kickamen Creek campground.

The lake was crystal clear. I was using my float tube and parked just outside of a heavy weed line. I cast out over the weeds with a rather large ( I think a size 10) GRHE nymph and slowly brought the fly up to and then past the weed line. When the fly was past this spot I let it slowly sink into the depths.

For well over an hour I caught a healthy bass on every single cast! It was one of my most memorable moments when fishing for a non- trout species. Ive always wanted to get back there but unfortunately never have.

When you find a lake that has them give this method a try.
Good luck!

Thanks for all the feedback!

Duck Lake near Creston is the most popular for largemouth (and larger) bass. But you need a boat, there's no real launch, it quickly chokes up with weeds, and you're supposed to buy a permit from the Creston Wildlife Authority - so while still worthwhile for locals, it's no longer a 'destination' for the visiting angler. Nice bass though!
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5628/...59f52b6a_k.jpgP7261173 by Andrew Whittick, on Flickr

Vaseux Lake just south of Skaha apparently has some really large bass in it. There has been talk of the Canadian record coming out of there. It is a "no motor" lake. My son and I went there a number of years ago and we caught a few on spinning gear out of our two person kayak. All of ours were small. There were some massive carp swimming around in there as well.

SS

Depends on where you are going to be in the Kootenays. I have fished Wasa, and Jim Smith for Largey's (on the small side), and Duck Lake outside of Creston (which holds a lot bigger fish). I caught a 5lber out of Duck, just rememeber if you go there you are supposed to buy the Creston Valley wetlands license for an extra $15 I think. Duck Lake is also full of good sized Perch that can be caught with worm and bobber if the young one gets bored. Duck lake is also non motorized, so I go out in my 13' fishcat. If you head towards Salmo and go over the pass there is Erie Lake that has Large mouth and last year for the first time my son and I hooked up the electric trolling motor to the fishcat and went on the Pend Oreille River. Access at Salmo River right by the border, we must have caught 30 Smallmouth Bass between us ranging from 1/2lb to the largest at about 2lb. Super fun day

Sounds like great fun Deeman. Were you fly-fishing on the Pen d'Orieille River?

Sounds like great fun Deeman. Were you fly-fishing on the Pen d'Orieille River?

Thumper I will be honest and tell you there was a little more conventional going on then fly fishing, as I was casting streamers because my son was catching them on a fire tiger crankbait. So I was trying to match the hatch as they say, but he was pulling them in and trash talking me so I caved. The great thing about the Pen d'Orielle is there are multiple fish species although we were primarily targeting the Smallmouth, there is Pike, Walleye, Brown, Bull, Cuts, Rainbow, lakers, and Black Crappie. I want to get a 4hp to put on my Fishcat 13' and motor up then drift back down again this year.

Thanks for reply. I’ll be heading somehwhere in the Jaffray area.

Pretty83, I have not fished them myself but have heard from multiple people and checked the ifish app that Baynes and Tie lake both have Largemouth Bass and right in that area. Good luck

Baynes has perch as well due to the bucket brigade (Alberta chapter)

Baynes and surveyor I fished last summer caught bass in both. Nice clear lakes, surveyors is a little more fisherman friendly as Baynes has quite a few cabins around it and not much room for a back cast but lots of fish albeit on the small size. Windermere is my next lake to hit. Tie lake is more of a recreational lake with lots of water skiing and stuff going on in a relatively small lake. If you can get there before school is out for summer it is nice and quiet. Elk river is right there too and full of trouts. I fished that area June 1st to 7th and did very well.

As the resident Ontarian (close to 1/4 million warm water lakes :) ), I feel compelled to comment here. lol First-off, in most of our lakes bass season doesn't open until the last Saturday in June. Bass spawn in the spring...so our season is set-up to protect them at this vulnerable time. Not sure about AB, especially if they're considered non-native. Not sure. Here in Ontario, smallmouth bass get a little more attention because of their considerable strength (for their size) and tendency to jump. They also tend to like cooler/deeper/more rocky environments than largemouth bass. Some of the biggest LM bass I've caught have been in less than 2 feet of soupy-warm water.

Anyhow, all bass are part of the sunfish family of course...and they share allot of the same behaviors. Namely, curiosity. They're curious, so give them no reason to feel threatened...and they'll want to taste almost anything they don't think will try to kill them. I don't consider them (or any fish) to be "smart", but on the other hand...they're smart enough to sense danger, allot of which comes from above. Shadows (you, your boat, your fly line) can be enough to spook them. Fish to where they should be, don't attempt to sight-fish unless the smaller...risk-taking fish are your targets. :)

As for what flies~poppers can be good for the hottest, most still days (here in Ontario) but if you had to survive on eating bass...poppers would be about the worst choice of fly/lure to pick day-in/day-out. It's also true that saying "dark day, dark lure...light day, light lure" when it comes to bass. Bright colours can trump all else on bright sunny days...dark ones on dark days, etc. I've had WAY more luck with buggers (brown, black) than any other fly, because I think in a bass' world, they imitate the widest variety of food items. Leeches, crayfish, gobies, hellgrammites, etc. The ones I tie are basically identical to the ones you see in fly shops, crystal chenille bodies (matching hackle) with a lateral line of krystal flash that extends into the tail. Easy. From what I've seen fishing bass for over 40 years, smallmouth tend to move around looking for targets...largemouth (big ones at least) are ambush predators. They'll back into a hole in a weed line, hang around structure etc. waiting for something to fall ON the water, or swim past. If approaching weed bed for instance, assume the LM bass will be on the edges looking out. Position yourself to have your fly/lure travel along the edge of the weed line and hold on. :)

I'll also add that when pressured, or in very clear water...you need to downsize your flies~just like trout fishing. I always bring my trout flies with me, and have cracked the mystery of lock-jaw-bass with a size 10 beadheaded prince nymph lots of times. lol Olive or natural brown hare's ears tied large (#8, #6) can be good too, and carp will gobble them up as well. Were I asked what fly I'd pick if I could only have one for bass fishing here? Brown Krystal Flash Bugger (as described above) I've also done very well with a bugger pattern of my own too, a black bugger tied with red dumbell eyes, a dubbed black angora goat body (dubbed thick/picked-out) and a black marabou tail.

The last pattern I'll suggest has caught me lots of panfish, a good number of bass, and probably one of the biggest brown trout I've ever caught, a simple variation of the KFB. White marabou tail, white/pearl Krystal Flash body wound tightly (Stroking back fibers with each wrap) and a shiny gold bead head. Tie those around as size #6, not huge. Some have said that white buggers imitate regurgitated food from a struggling bass (and they do that) but oddly enough...they work well. I'm more inclined to tie one on and dead drift it with a few twitches (moving water) than to cast/retrieve in open water. But only this white variation.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

one more thing... :)

When I'm fishing warm water lakes from my kayak, I always have spinning and fly gear with me. I prefer the fly gear, but hey...the wind picks-up sometimes...and I'm not always after a struggle. :) Anyhow, what I've also seen work well (me, my buddies) is if a bright color like pink/chartreuse is doing it (single-tail grubs, Mister Twister, etc.) we might opt to simply tie a bare hook onto your fly leader and fling some rubber around. I've done it, but prefer not to. The only advantage with it is how neutrally bouyant those ALMOST are. Why does that matter? Fishing around lily pads in super shallow water with a heavy-wire nymph-style hook...they sink painfully slow. JUST quick enough to put a little motion in the tail...and just irritating enough to induce a strike sometimes. :) For whatever reason, bright yellow seems to p*** them off most using this technique.

hey folks -- sorry to necro-post, but I'm interested in doing some bass fishing in BC next spring. For those that have been to Windermere, will my 14-foot Lund Rebel (it's pretty heavy for a 14ft) be okay on Windermere, or is it a really big lake with really big waves? (it looks long and narrow, but not sure how rough it gets out there)

Anyhow, just thought I'd ask...thanks a bunch!! Hoping to get some good topwater action going next May!

plenty big enough.

windermere lake!
 

windermere lake for bass and pikeminnow/sqawfish just lil bass tho, email me at ethan.nem@gmail.com for lures and locations

Pretty much any bushy dry fly worked for us and skitter it across the surface! Got boring really quickly! Perfect for kids! :sHa_shakeshout:

X2 for Jim smith lake, went out on a canoe with the fly rod last September and have never found so many bass, not much of size but non stop throughout the afternoon. Saw a couple perch that had to be 8-9 inches too...

Duck lake near creston


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Make sure the lake is specifically listed in the regs as open for bass! For instance Surveyors is not. This is copied from the regs:

NOTICE TO ANGLERS
It is illegal to fish for bass, perch, pike or
walleye in the Kootenay Region, with the
exception of certain waters, as listed in
the Water-Specific Tables. This measure
is part of B.C.’s management approach to
illegal fish introductions. For details, see below:

The problem
• Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) threaten native fish, their ecosystems and
the recreational fishing opportunities they support - this means fish like
trout and char are at risk!
• Uninformed people intentionally or accidentally moving AIS fish from one
waterbody to another is the main cause for the spread of invasive fish in
B.C. - this is ILLEGAL!

B.C.’s response
• New introductions of AIS fish will not be tolerated
• All waterbodies with new detections will immediately be closed to fishing
for that species
• Some waterbodies with high-risk introductions may be closed indefinitely
to ALL fishing
• Where feasible high risk AIS will be eradicated from watersheds
• Where eradication is not immediately feasible, measures to manage
risk and prevent AIS spreading such as special regulations will be
implemented
• For a restricted list of lakes, AIS may be managed as a regulated fishery
which could be terminated should risks of AIS increase