We are back from the west coast! And what a fantastic season it was.
A lot more fish around this year. Still not the abundance of giant chinooks, but lots of 15 to 20 pound fish, and a few in the 30s.
Coho were everywhere also. They disappeared for a few weeks out on the banks, but then a new batch showed up in full force for the remainder of our season. Most coho salmon were between 6 and 10 pounds. Although the big northerns showed up later in August and we were rewarded with some 12 to 16-pound coho to round out our season.
Also abundant this year were halibut. Seemed to be a lot of them available out on the banks. Lots of chicken-size hali’s between 15 to 30 pounds. But we still hooked into some bigger ones up to 60 pounds, and even a couple that were too big according to the new regulations, and we released them.
Most of our good fishing took place on the offshore banks. So, as long as the weather cooperated, we were able to get out there and have some crazy days of fishing. Average days offshore would have us hooking into well over 50 fish each day.
And when the weather didn’t allow us to head out, we still found refuge inside the sound. Fishing was hit and miss while inside the islands, but some days produced some good fish and some of our biggest coho.
All in all, it was a great season on the coast and I’d like to thank everyone who joined us this year.
And now back to Kootenay Lake.
Our team was still fishing Kootenay Lake on a regular basis throughout the summer. Even on the hot summer days, they managed to catch a few fish. Mostly on the downriggers due to the warm water conditions.
Bull trout of smaller sizes were consistently caught each day. And a few rainbows mixed in.
And when the warm water finally caught up to us, we started fishing for kokanee to help keep the interest. Well, that turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Some late summer kokanee up to 18 inches made for a few exciting trips.
And now we’re slowly getting ready to transition into our favorite fall fishery.
Some decent rainbows have been caught in the past week or two. Nothing huge, but still some good fish in the low teens. That’s a good start considering the water is still very warm.
Looking forward to the next few months of fishing on Kootenay.
What are they biting on?
It’s still a mixed bag. The weather is still warm and so is the water. So, most fish are biting on the deep lines. However, there have been a few good ones caught on the surface.
September is usually best fished with downriggers. Common depths of 80 to 120 feet seem to work best.
The usual flasher and hoochie combo has been successful. And some of the latest experiments have found a flasher and Bucktail fly to be catching fish also. These combinations fished on the rigger around 100 feet seems to be working.
Bucktails on the surface will be working also as the fish become more aggressive.
Look forward to more detailed reports as we spend more and more time on the lake over the next few weeks.
Tight lines......
Kerry Reed operates Nelson’s Reel Adventures. He can be reached at 250-505-4963. For more information head to reeladventuresfishing.com