Upper Arrow Lake BC

[FishermanFrank1976]

Hello everyone, I am new to this and would like some of your opinions. I am heading out to Upper Arrow Lake in less then 3 weeks for big gerrards and bull trout. This will be my first time out there. My boat is completely set up with downriggers, planer boards, separate trolling motors etc. I usually fish lake trout here at mostly Spray and Lake Minniwanka. My question is does anyone know the best trolling speeds for that lake and what type of lures should I be using and was size line etc. I have picked up an assortment of flashers, plugs, apex lures and bucktail flies as was recommended by friends who fish this lake regularly. I would really appreciate any feed back on anything to do with that lake Thanks so much

[EZM]

You are going to get lot's of good info on here from a few of us who spend some time our in BC - most of us over at Kootenay (which I'm assuming will be similar to Arrow). There are some great threads you should research - I would search under "Gerhard" or "Kootenay".

Trolling speed will be slightly faster compared to Lakers - I like starting in the mid to high 2 mph ranges ( 2.4 to 2.8 mph) and adjust slowly up from there. Often you will end up ranging high 2's to low/mid 3's.

Trolling with a Flasher/Hoochie or Flasher/Lyman or Flasher/Apex is common.

Dragging a rabbit hair fly at or near the surface when it's a little choppy is also very productive - this will be done at speeds of roughly 4 mph.

Lot's of good info on this forum ..... do a quick search any you will be rewarded.

[Lornce]

Perfect advice form EZM, I would add some Bucktails to the mix.

[Rdamours]

I'm looking at heading there eventually as well. Thanks for the info.

[EZM]

Also have great luck using 1.5" hot pink Apex for Kokanee ....... use a snubber and you can run a small dodger or willow leaf set up ........ can't keep them off.

Sometimes run a 1oz to 2oz mooching (banana type) sinker inline to get it down a little.

[FishermanFrank1976]

Thank's so much Hope to talk with you guys soon and hopefully I will post some nice pics from Arrow

[tacklerunner]

There's a large concentration of bulls in the Upper particulary in the Beaton Arm. The water is still cold so you might need to slow down a bit, even when dragging hair. You seem to have all of the gear so if it was me I'd start with:

A 4" lyman plug on the DR at 50'.
A flasher & hoochie on the other DR at 80'.
And bucktails on the planer boards.

You should pick up some dollies (bulls) on the DRs and maybe a bigger bow at 50'. Should be lots of action on the hair with smaller bows and you never know when the big girl is going to hit. A 12 lb bow won the derby on the Lower last week.

2.5 -2.8 MPH would be a good starting point but don't be surprised if you need to slow down a bit. 3 - 4 MPH is common but not till later in May.

Tips on the flies:

Let at least 150 - 250 feet of line out behind your planers. Bows are shy of your boat wake.
Make sure you know how to tune you flies to keep them running straight. Either by moving some hair from one side to the other or by moving the knot on your eye from one side to the other.
Dark sky, dark fly... light sky, light fly.

Let us know how it goes.

[FishermanFrank1976]

Thx tacklerunner

[The Fisherman Guy]

I have fished the Arrows for a number of years now, with mixed success. During the high water runoff in the spring, it can be a tough slog with very few fish caught. The water last year was very high and full of debris for many weeks, made trolling difficult and constant steering the boat while doing my best at dodging deadheads and large sticks and random garbage. I pulled my boat out there last spring for three separate trips, and was skunked three times!

It's a beauty lake, but the fishing can be hit and miss. Get out there and fish, you might have better luck than me.

[FishermanFrank1976]

The trip was a great success with a lot of Dollies. The biggest being just under 10lbs and lots in the 5-7lb range. The bite was not on but we managed to land a dozen or so fine fish. Will be heading out again in 2 weeks so hopefully it will pick up and land some in the double digits. He's a pick of my first fish 1 hour into fishing All fish were caught on Lyman and J-plugs and a monster was lost on a chrome and blue 5" J-plug Probably in the 15lb range

[Rabdo]

nice fish, that's a beautiful area of bc

[Nakoda boater]

Great catch!
We r heading out to Kootenay lake in 9 more sleeps!

[iliketrout]

Originally Posted by FishermanFrank1976

The trip was a great success with a lot of Dollies. The biggest being just under 10lbs and lots in the 5-7lb range. The bite was not on but we managed to land a dozen or so fine fish. Will be heading out again in 2 weeks so hopefully it will pick up and land some in the double digits. He's a pick of my first fish 1 hour into fishing All fish were caught on Lyman and J-plugs and a monster was lost on a chrome and blue 5" J-plug Probably in the 15lb range

Congrats on your success! I caught my first dollies last October and I am now hooked. We also caught a few gerrards on the top water presentations.

Oh and the meat off the 5lb I caught was some of the best fresh water fish I ever tasted. Hope you kept one for the frying pan!

[FishermanFrank1976]

Yeah I kept a couple 6lbers they are great 4sure

[FishermanFrank1976]

Here is a link to one of my 10lbers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=owzHjZR30is

[jriad]

Nice work! I am heading up there tomorrow. The father-in-law has a piece of land around Whiskey point so I frequent the Beaton arm from April-Oct. Looks like the video was in the arm but hard to tell. Maybe we will see you up there. Supposed to pretty ****ty weather on Saturday but better than being anywhere else .

[tacklerunner]

Excellent results for your first trip Frank.

J.R. I think it's you. Weather's always crappy when you head out that way. Good Luck!

[FishermanFrank1976]

Thx Tacklerunner I got a pretty good grasp on that lake now. Did almost 48hrs of fishing in 4 dayslol I am heading back out there for 4 days on May.9-12 should be right in prime time. I think the last trip we were as week or two early as the water was still ICE cold and I was marking a lot of big fish in the 200-300fow range but we still did very well. And yes Jraid that was directly across from whiskey point. Most of our fish were caught on the south side of the arm directly across whiskey point to about a km or so west towards the main lake. We trolled that back and forth and it didn't disappoint Lost a monster just a little east of whiskey point on that side. There was a group of us on 3 different boats that went and we caught fish basically everywhere from 15km south of galena bay to fishing galena bay and the arm seemed best. Our last day my buddy landed a 14lb bow a few kms south of galena but we didn't catch any bows. If your out on the lake when we go 9-12th you can call me on channel 68 if you have a vhf radio. Anyways loved that lake and will be going back as often as I can Happy Fishing Everyone

[jriad]

Lol ya I think you are right TR! Amazingly enough we barely caught any rain up the Beaton arm this weekend. Very windy with some deep swell/wave combos but got around 12 hours of fishing in bringing 9 to the boat. Largest was a 6lb Dolly (ya not big but my best out there so far.....hey progress is good right). All mine were caught on the downrigger mostly around 60ft with one at 35 ft all on the #10 Lyman; Water was between 45-47 degrees.
Father in law likes quantity over quality so all his were caught on top with a husky jerk plug (4 rainbows and 1 dolly) all in the 2lb range. The Chromers were very feisty.

Hey FF, wont be up there at that time. Usually make 1 trip in each of the seasons and plan to be back up there around early August. GL, I am sure you are in for a great weekend at that time.

[ddddd05]

Anyone have any luck in the Beaton arm in July and August? I have had great success casting near the creek mouths in May, but I have also been skunked in the same areas in July and August. Does anyone have any tips? It tried downriggers with flasher and hockey sticks but still didn't catch anything.

[FishermanFrank1976]

I talked to my buddies that have been going there for 20 years and I guess it slows down quite a bit in the summer but you never know and that is the best time to catch the kokanee if you like those. I would use the same tackle in the summer as you would do in the fall and spring mostly plugs and bucktails on planer boards. One thing is if your using hockey sticks and flashers make sure that your lure is no farther away then 18-20inches from your flasher. Last weekend my buddies were there and in one day they landed 37 fish. No joke with a couple 18lbers and a lot in the 6-12lb range. He told me it didn't matter what lure they used they were hitting everything So it should be very interesting when I go back in 6 days. My best advice is to pick up a couple #98 Lyman size 4 plugs and you won't be disappointed Good luck and I will let you guys know how my trip went. Here is a pick of the average Bulls we were catching a month ago.