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The moment we’ve been waiting for: the weather has warmed up, and the water has warmed up, and so, the great spring fishing begins.
Here’s the latest …
Kootenay Lake
April was one for the record books.
Usually the fishing doesn’t pick up until the end of April, but this year, for some reason the fishing has been fantastic since the end of March.
Record numbers of rainbow trout have been caught in the past month and conditions are just getting better and better.
Our latest trips have seen up to 30 fish per day, which can be exhausting, but it keeps everyone entertained. Rainbows still average two-to-three pounds, however, some fish up to 10 lbs have been caught lately.
Bull trout, on the other hand, have been fewer and far between, but are still getting the odd one up to 10 lbs. The biggest bull trout in the Easter derby was just under 12 lbs, so there’s still the odd one out there.
Either way, this has been one of the best springs on record as far as the fishing goes, and we only expect it to get better.
Black ant hatch
Also, the magic moment we have been waiting for has recently happened: the black ant hatch is on.
With a few days of hot weather last week, we started to see some flying ants on the water. And this past weekend, all the fish that were caught were stuffed full. So, that’s the beginning of the frenzy.
All fish are now looking up, heading to the surface to get in on the frenzy. It’s that time of year.
Columbia River
The river is fishing fantastic now.
The rainbow trout have put the feedbags on and are aggressively chomping. Word must be out, as we have been seeing more and more boats on the water and a lot of shore fishermen and women.
Some fat rainbow trout up to five pounds have been caught lately, as well as the usual Columbia River clones (as we call them). There have been lots of 16″ to 24″ fish in the back eddies lately.
There have also been lots of days with 15 to 20 fish to the boat, with the odd “hot day” with up to 40 fish coming in. That’s prime Columbia River fishing.
Looking forward to what the rest of May will bring.
What are they biting on?
On the lake it’s been surface, surface, surface.
With the latest black ant hatch, the fish are all looking up. So, our favourite Lux flies have been killing it. Lucky numbers: 207, 210, 221, 222 and 226 have been our best lately, as well as the black ant pattern.
And, just to mix it up, we have been running our favourite Gibbs crocs on the surface as well. It seems that the bucktails will work for a couple hours and then when they turn off, the Gibbs crocs take over. Our favourite brass/fire stripe and the herring aid patterns have worked best lately.
And for the odd bull trout, we have been getting them on the surface on the crocs, or on the downrigger on the STS flasher followed by the green pistachio hoochie.
On the river, it’s been a mix of nymphs and streamers. In the tailouts it seems best to throw a sinking line with the Columbia River bugger or the “bulldog.” And in the eddies we are having best luck with the nymphs and indicators. Purple prince is magic.
Hope this helps with your next adventure.
Tight lines …
— Captain Kerry Reed
