Happy New Year everybody.
Looking forward to what 2014 has to offer.
Kootenay Lake:
December saw similar fishing to the previous months. However, the last couple of weeks have produced some big fish for us. So, hopefully the winter feeding will continue.
We had some slower days with only a couple of fish coming to the boat. However, on a few of those slow days the couple of fish we caught just happened to be the biggest fish of the week. So, we were rewarded for our patience.
We did have some great days with over 10 fish to the boat. It just seems like the fish put on their “feed bags” every once in a while. So, you just have to be out there.
Rainbows up to 17 lbs and Bull Trout up to 12 lbs have been caught lately. Even a few bigger fish have been hooked, but seem to break the line or spit the hook.
Looking forward to January’s fishing, as this is usually the month of our biggest fish of the year.
We’re also preparing for the Family Day weekend fishing derby coming up in February. Lots of great prizes this year ($30,000 worth). It should be a fun weekend on February 8 to 10. Visit www.ctrcanadaderby.com for details.
We do still have a boat available for that derby if anyone is interested.
What are they biting on?
The bite has been inconsistent, so we have been going through the tackle box each day.
But, when the bite has been on, we have been catching on bucktail flies — favourite colours are lucky numbers 201, 210, 214, 215, and 228.
Also, Lyman plugs have been working both on the surface and on the downriggers. Lucky Lymans have been numbers 10, 16, 55, 69, and 100.
Bill Norman lures have also been dragged lately. Time to slow down your presentation with these lures, but sometimes that’s what the fish want.
This is important as the water temperature gets colder.
And lastly, the good old flasher/hoochie combo has been catching mostly Bull Trout, but still manages a few Rainbows on these also. Favourite depths have been 75-feet, 100-feet and 120-feet.
That pretty much covers the tackle box, you just have to put your time in.
Tight lines!