The West Kootenay Fishing Report is courtesy of Kerry Reed of Reel Adventures Fishing Charters.
Despite the weather the past month, Reel Adventures managed to get out on the water almost every day. I had good intentions of spending lots of time in the jetsled, however it was much more comfortable in the big boat with the furnace. So, the majority of the time was spent on the lake. Either way, at least we made it through the month and caught a lot of fish.
Kootenay Lake: It’s been a numbers game on Kootenay lately. Lots and lots of fish being caught. Same size as the last few months, but they seem to be getting fatter. Most of our trips have seen 10-15 fish coming to the boat, although we just had a crazy day last week with over 25 fish on throughout the day. At least it keeps people busy. The average sizes have been between two-to-five pounds, with a few fish up to 10 pounds. The bull trout have been the bigger of the two species lately.
Now that November is here, there has been a break in the weather and people are starting to get out on the water again. I’ve seen more boats in the past two days than I’ve seen all last month. Hopefully the weather is a bit more enjoyable for this month, and more people can get out and enjoy the active fishery.
November has always been my favourite month in the fall for fishing. So, stay tuned.
Columbia River: The river has produced some nice fish this past month. Although, we didn’t get out there as much as we usually do because of the weather. But, when we did, we managed to hook some good fish. Walleye fishing continued to be good throughout October with some nice fish up to six pounds being caught. I even saw a picture of a beautiful 14 pounder from last week. Nice to see there’s still some big ones in there.
The Rainbow fishery was also pretty good. Some healthy ‘bows up to five pounds coming in lately. Hopefully the weather will allow us to get out there a bit more this next month.
Kootenay River and tributaries: Bull-trout fishing was in full swing during October again, and, as usual, there were some big bulls pulled out from the rivers. Biggest bull I saw was 15 pounds, but lots of six-to-12 pounders were caught. It was nice to have a few different options this fall. A good change of scenery.
And now for the next couple months we will probably spend most days on the lake, but when the nice weather days show up, we will definitely want to hit the river a few more times.
Lures and Flies: The rainbows have finally started coming to the top, so we are catching a lot of fish on the usual bucktail flies. Lately my favourite colors have been lucky numbers: 214, 215, 221, and 234. Common colors of grey/white or black/white have been working best. Mostly with the green crystal.
We have also been catching a fair number of bull trout and rainbows on the downrigger. Magic depths have been from 100-to-135-feet, and my favorite lures have been the Highliner Flasher with a hoochie, or the Highliner Flasher with some of my new favorite spoons. Gibbs Delta G-Force spoons have been a great addition to my tackle box. Specifically the ‘Skinny G’ has been working best for me in the magic colors called ‘No Bananas’ or ‘Paddy Wagon.’ Check them out.
On the rivers, we have been catching rainbows on the fly and also on spinners tipped with a worm, or the bottom bouncer with worm has worked well also. Our big bull trout have been caught on some big streamer pattern flies, as well as spinning rod with Gibbs Crocodile spoons. But presentation is key - you just have to put it in front of their face.
Tight lines.
Contact Reel Adventure Charters at 250-505-4063.