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Fall fishing underway on Kootenay Lake

Here we go … our water has finally cooled down and our fall fishing has begun!
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Some fine fish are being caught this fall

Here we go … our water has finally cooled down and our fall fishing has begun!

While most people were a little bit frustrated with the weather for the last half of September, we as fishermen were excited to see a cooling trend. And now with some snow in the mountains, we can expect our lake to gradually cool down to the magic temperature for our fish.

During the hot summer, these fish become a bit lethargic and only seem to come up and feed once in a while. But when the water temperature hits that magic number, the fish begin to become very active and will be feeding on a regular basis. My favourite time of year is coming up.

We have been fishing fairly steady now for the past couple weeks and things are looking good.

Lately our days have consisted of five to 15 fish each day. Mostly smaller fish so far, but the big ones will follow soon. Our biggest Rainbow in the past week has been 13 lbs. but I did hear of one fish over 20 lbs. So, things are looking up.

What are they biting on?

Since the fish are still in the transition stage, we have been fishing both on the surface and down deep. So definitely still a mixed bag of lures.

A lot of smaller fish are being caught on the surface with our usual bucktail flies. We should be able to establish a pattern over the next few weeks, but lately we've been doing well on the Nos. 210, 214, and 233, colours being black/white, gray/white, and black/yellow.

Also apex lures and lyman plugs have been working. Blues, grays, black/silver, have all been working.
And on the downriggers, the same old stuff. Flasher/hoochie combo or lyman plugs at depths from 50 to 100 feet seem to be working best. We'll know more as the season progresses.

Definitely my favourite time of year!! So, let's get out there. .

It's Derby time again.

Here's a list of the upcoming fall fishing derbies:

October 12, 13, 14: Woodbury Thanksgiving Derby

October 19, 20: Nelson Police Derby (fundraiser)

November 8, 9, 10: Kaslo Rainbow Derby

Get out and enjoy our fall fishery. Tight lines …

Kerry Reed operates Nelson’s Reel Adventures. He can be reached at 250-505-4963. For more information head to reeladventuresfishing.com