Bountiful Batstone Lake

by Mr BFSH
(Kamloops, BC)

Batstone Lake Rainbow

Going back to Batstone Lake on the 7 Half Diamond Guest Ranch was on my schedule for awhile. Last year, my Ducks Unlimited friend KJ and I fished the lake with modest success as a low pressure system moved in and the fishing slowed substantially.

This year I was joined by my longest fishing partner, Wayne M. from Penticton. Wayne and I have been fishing buddies since the late 1970's when we lived in Cranbrook, BC where we regularly hit a small number of lakes. We were not fly fishermen back then but we did have the bug.

We arrived at the ranch just before 9am and payed a visit to Jim and Heather O'Connor, the owners of the ranch. We asked Jim what was working and he said that bead head chironomids were working well and don't forget to work the shallows.

We took our time gearing up. Wayne hit the water first and was slightly interested in the rises near the aerators in front of the dock. Not much happened as he passed by, he was more interested in reading his fish finder, tracking the bottom profile and the depth of cruising fish. There was a light breeze and it was apparent that fishing the south end of the lake was going to be the most comfortable. I followed shortly and anchored in the SW corner, right on the edge of the shoal to cast to 20 ft of water. Wayne was drifting around, trying to find the best place to anchor and again, exploring the bottom profile.

Let me make a note here... the solunar tables on my site said that the major feed period was from 11am to 1pm. Later in the day, 7pm to 8pm was going to be a minor feed period. Even though it's readily available, I don't always check the tables... but I should because more often than not, they are relatively accurate.

About 10:45am I hit my first fish, a nice fat 4.5lb rainbow on my dry line, 15ft below my strike indicator... black chironomid, red rib, white bead head. I was preparing my naked dry line after a few casts with my wet line and a booby of which there was no action, when that fish hit. Otherwise, it was slow.

Just after 11am we started to see some movement in the shallows... like in 3'to 5' of water. I tried a few casts from where I was but I wasn't getting to the area that I wanted so I pulled up anchor and started a drift through the shoal. On my first pass, I had a tremendous strike that I had on for about 2 seconds when it snapped me off (I was using my customary 6lb fluorocarbon tippet) on my naked line. While I was re-tying my leader, I had another violent strike on the indicator line and again, the monster broke me off. At this point I was still crediting the break-offs with the fish taking me to the weed bottom.

Looking at the surface of the water there were a lot of small midges hatching, a few medium sized chironomids and an increasing number of mayflies emerging. I changed up my lines. On the naked line I added the mayfly and on the strike indicator line I put on a weightless chironomid. The adjustment was well timed. As I stood and overlooked the shoal, I could see literally dozens of hungry fish cruising through.

After drifting downwind while I was re-tying my leaders, I started slowly cruising back, the breeze was definitely limiting my speed. Again, another hit, this time on the indicator line. I was on it right away and managed to land a nice 3lb fish. Wayne was drifting around trying to find his sweet spot and had a few strikes but nothing to call his own.

Now, about 45 minutes into the major feed period, things were just hopping. I stuck to the drift thing and I was getting strikes every time I put either line out. Then, a fisherman's dream, I hit the double header. First it was my naked line. It looked like about 7lbs when it smashed my mayfly and immediately went airborne. Just as I picked up the rod and brought in the slack, another fish his the indicator line. I was in trouble... not anchored, I was fighting the breeze and two rather hulking fish. The first fish, the real big one, came off after about 15 seconds, I just couldn't hold him in the weed and broke me off. The second fish, still on, gave me a run for my money and it too shook the hook. That was it. Enough drifting, I thought that I had better anchor or just go to one rod... I liked the anchoring idea best and found a spot. It was money in the bank.

I worked the area through the feed period. Wayne also started having some success although he took had some challenges keeping the fish on while they dove through the weeds. I can't say how many fish I managed to land. I still had a couple of more break-offs, even though I went to an 8lb tippet. The mayfly patterns were hot and the un-weighted chironomids were warm. With all the break-offs, I was running low on weightless patterns. As the feed period ended, so did the frenzy... both Wayne and I noticed how the fish had slowed down and dispersed to only a few in the shallows just after 1pm. It was near the end of the feed period that I landed my biggest fish of the day... a 7lb male spawner that gave me all that he was worth in his detrimental state.

We spent the afternoon moving around... I kinda hung around the SW shoal while Wayne was a little more adventuresome as he roamed to different parts of the small lake. We were still hitting fish but the strikes were not as intense and few fish were being actually hooked.

As the afternoon faded, the clouds got a little thicker. Around 6 pm we started making our way to the central, north end of the lake to work the bullrushes and weed bed near the aerators. Wayne was the first to get into fish there but they were small ones. The minor feed period was coming on and the fish were starting to move again. I saw a large fish roll so close to the rushes that I was tempted not to cast there but in my better judgment, I took the risk and was rewarded handsomely. This time it was a lovely 3lb fish.

I hadn't anchored, so I drifted to the farthest end of the weeds and started drift along side them when I immediately got into another nice fish. It ended up being a clean female that came in just over 4lbs. As I landed the fish, Wayne went cruising through the same area and sure enough, he connected and had one of his best fights of the day.

It was about 8:30pm that we decided to work our way in. I cast to a few rises as I drifted through the shallow bay near our launch point and managed to hook and lose 2 more fish. What a day!

A number of years ago I spent time in the Yukon and had this kind of action with lake trout on the fly. I did not expect to repeat (although I was hoping) and was thrilled to experience it again.

Thanks Jim and Heather... and did I mention... It was Wayne's 60th birthday... I couldn't have been better.

More Batstone Lake

Free Solunar Tables
Fly Fishing Strategies for BC Lakes Fishing