BIGFISHsmallhook

Welcome to BIGFISHsmallhook, Best-in-British Columbia's Online Fishing Journal for rainbow trout fishing the Best Fly Fishing Lakes in BC. Our main focus is the trophy producing lakes of the Kamloops Area / Okanagan Area / Cariboo Area / Kootenay Area Regions.

In time we will cover lakes from other regions lakes, streams and other related outdoor activities and tourism information. We are also building a selection of articles and pages covering some of the notable Ducks Unlimited Projects built in the interior.

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Tight Lines!!

Jun 21, 2008, Campbell Lake and Scuitto Lake

Campbell Lake and Scuitto Lake are two of the most productive Kamloops flyfishing lakes. Some publications link them to the Roche Area Lakes because they are accessed differently than the Roche Area

Jun 11, 2008, Hatheume Lake - Fly Fishing Vacation

Enjoy a peaceful fly fishing vacation at one of our best flyfishing lakes in BC. Hatheume Lake sits atop of the Thompson Plateau virtually half way between Merritt and Kelowna via hwy 97C

Jun 4, 2008, Dry Lines and Long Leaders - Kamloops Fishing at it's Best

All higher elevation lakes (4000'+)have also thawed, turned and are ready for some serious hatches. It's time for some dry line and long leader action.

This past 10 days I have visited Community Lake twice and did very well on black/silver and brown/gold white bead head chironomid. Community Lake is one of those lakes that seems to embrace the solunar feeding periods and the second time I was out, it was like clockwork. Tha first time that I went (less than a week after ice off) it was just a continuous hatch and feed all day. I love those kind of days!

This past weekend my friend KJ and I ended up at Hyas Lake on Saturday. We were into a lot of smaller fish although I did catch a couple of 3lb spawners on my first 2 casts. They were schooling onto the shoals and were quite hungry for a short spell.

Hyas Lake is nice family lake with a resort and a forestry campsite. Beautiful water and structure make it a flyfishing treat. The fish grow to a fair size (4 lbs) and the wildlife viewing can be eventful. We were lucky enough to see a very large moose walking the east shore of the lake at about 3pm.

This is probably one of the best weekends of the year at any elevation to get fish. Flyfisherman with do well on chironomids. Look at the size of the casings on the water so you can match the size. Watch where they are hatching, even if it's in the middle of the lake (observe the swallows and other birds when they are feeding, this will give you a good indication of where the fish are. Lower elevation lakes will probably start to see some mayflies, damsels and dragons starting to appear. This evolution of the season will occur at the higher lakes by the middle of the month.

PS... Oh yes, unless you have a reason to be at Red Lake (north-west of Kamloops), forget about the fishing. The lake traditionally grows large fish, both rainbows and brookies, but I'm afraid that the fish population this year isn't very good and it's a waste of time and gas. I went out last Friday night and hardly saw a fish, either in the water or on my fish finder. Beautiful lake but certainly on the downslide of quality fishing.

Jun 2, 2008, Community Lake: Best Fly Fishing Lakes in BC

Community lake is one of those Kamloops area lakes that has been a popular and productive for a long time. Those who swear by it say that Community Lake, located in the Knouff Lake area, NE of Kamloop

Jun 2, 2008, Fly Fishing for Bass

Hey Bass Fishermen, here'a a great opportunity to get some expert knowledge on fly fishing for Bass. My good friend Roger Maves from Internet Radio - Fly Fishing is hosting expert Ken Hanley.

This is the invitation he sent me. If you are interested, check out the link and sign up for the broadcast this Wed. night, June 4. Even if you can't make it Wed. night you can also access the archives and catch it later.

May 25, 2008, Kamloops Area Lakes Yield Plenty of Small Fish

Large Fish Elusive on May long weekend

Most local lakes in the Kamloops Area were producing but for most, large fish were hard to come by. I wonder if the "full moon" had anything to do with that.

I started my long weekend on Thursday with a quick late afternoon / evening fish at Bleeker Lake, just north and outside of the Roche Lake Provincial Park. I decided to explore the lake a little more than I have in the past and I ventured along the north shore to the east end of the lake and anchored along the weedbeds. I was trying to position myself in 10'-12'of water and fish 3' to 9' deep. It didn't take long before I started hitting smaller fish (14" and under). It wasn't until the last hour before the sun dipped behind the mountain that larger fish started to move in. I missed 2-20" fish as one spit my barbless fly and the other broke me off at weak spot in my leader. Too bad but that's fishing. This was a good night all around and it gave me hope for the weekend. Oh ya... black and red (tinsel-not wire) #14 - #16 white bead head chironomids were the winners, hands down!

On Saturday, it was quite warm (32C) and I wandered up to Pass Lake. Mistake. It was a Gong Show. Pass Lake has always been a special place to toss a fly but now it gets overcrowded in the campground and at the boat launch. People take their gas motors in and stir up the marl bottom by travelling much too fast. Long story short... it wasn't fishing well at all. I talked to a group of guys from the lower mainland and they hadn't heard of much being caught. I decided that I didn't want to dodge the dogs and the water rats at the boat launch for the privelege of getting skunked so I just left. I thought about going elsewhere but thought better of it and went home and had a BBQ with the princess... sorry... The Princess.

Sunday was a little cooler and KJ and I went to Leighton Lake near Tunkwa Lake (he also showed up to Bleeker on Thursday). Leighton is a notoriously good chironomid fishing lake, pretty much all through the season. We fished the north end bay as well as the small bay at the recreation site. Fish were jumping all over the lake but again, only the small ones were biting. For me, the black and red, black and silver, gray and red and brown and gold chironomids were all doing well but hook size #16's and smaller were the order of the day. Fish were most active from 11:30am until about 2pm. We left around 4:30pm as the wind, which had been off and on all day, had reached a steady howl.

May 20, 2008, The Perfect Hatch: Chironomids

The Perfect Hatch... fishing for rainbow trout with chironomids in the Roche Lake area in late spring can be exotic. This is an account of one of those days.

May 15, 2008, Kamloops Area Lakes all open for Victoria Day Weekend

Finally the weather has started to break and summer is just around the corner. The majority of lakes in the area were ice free by May 10. The Victoria Day Weekend is promising to be warm and sunny which will have people flocking to their favorite fishing holes. The last week saw a considerable amount of rain in the Kamloops Area with the barometer bouncing like a lacrosse ball. Fishing was spotty in places like Bleeker, Roche Lake, Paul Lake and Pass Lake. Morgan was a bit slow but Six Mile lake seemed to be producing lots of smaller fish up to 3 lbs. Apparently their bellies were full of grey-red ribbed chironomids. Bleeker was also producing smaller fish on black and red "bomber" chironomids.

Well, this is the best time of the year for chironomids so keep an eye open for hatches. If you can't see them hatching, look at the birds. If they are feeding they will lead you right where you want to be. Because the spring has been so late coming, be prepared to find lakes near or in the turning stage. It could adversely affect the bite. Fish will hang around closer to shore for the time being until the deeper parts of the lakes warm up. Until then the chironomid hatches will be spotty.

Leeches and micro-leeches have also been producing. There have been a growing number of fishermen using dry lines with a strike indicator and a micro-leech and having very good success. Jacko Lake and Roche have proven productive with this technique.

A few mayflies have been coming off but again, it will be a couple of weeks before they really start to hatch.

May 15, 2008, Cold Spring Keeps Kamloops Area Lakes Frozen

A record cold April has kept many Kamloops Area Lakes frozen over for the May 1st opening. It's like a ritual... May 1st... all the lakes are legally open. But this year mother nature has taken charge are traditional May 1st favorites like Pass Lake, Roche Lake, Tunkwa and Leighton still have ice as of May 5, 2008. Look for most of the lakes to 4000' to be open in the next week.

Apr 13, 2008, Kamloops Area - Early Spring Fly Fishing

Hi and welcome back to another great season on fly fishing the Kamloops Area for trophy Rainbow Trout. It's still early in the season and only a handful of lakes are open as of April 12.

I have been lucky enough to get out 3 times in the last 7 days, all spent at Morgan Lake, just above the new Tobiano Resort along Kamloops Lake. Morgan Lake is my favorite early and late season lake as it offers large fish on a catch and release basis. This is my 3rd season fishing the lake I feel like I know it pretty well.

Windy spring conditions are always a challenge in the Kamloops Area and this last week was no different, particularly on April 12 when the temperature soared to the mid-20's. The east wind blew right down the gut at both Morgan Lake and Six Mile Lake.

It was an "Aluminum Hatch" at Six Mile as I passed by on my way to Morgan. The wind was creating a light chop on the water but certainly the conditions were fishable. When I got to the west end of Morgan it was obvious that the breeze was going to be something to be reckoned with.

There were only a few boats on Morgan which was a good thing as shelter was hard to find. The north shoreline at the west end offered some shelter in fishable areas while the breeze shifted often enough to steal your spot at any given time. As the morning progressed to afternoon the breeze became a wind and it was getting consistently harder to stay anchored.

Not much was being caught this day although I did land 2 fish, both on a hanging micro-leech (10' below the indicator). One other fellow got one fish and another got 3 fish earlier, between 7am and 9am. One of my fish was a fat 20" rainbow that didn't run or jump alot but refused to come to the net. He circled my boat 3 times before I got him in the net only to release him for another day.

Fishing was slow earlier in the week too but I did manage to land a few each time including a 20-incher each time. I caught them on the Kamloops Booby and the Kissing Leech. There have only been some sporatic chironomid hatches, showing up as #16 to #18's. I tried but lost interest as I knew the fish were mostly on leeches.

As things warm up the other lakes should also start to open. I suspect Jacko won't be long. I haven't heard but expect that Stump and White Lakes should also be open. I'll be keeping my ear to the rail and giving weekly updates on where we've been and what we've heard.

May 10, 2007, Pass Lake - Best Fly Fishing Lakes in BC

In our opinion, Pass Lake has to be considered as one of the best fly fishing lakes in BC. Combining fish size, campsites and easy accessiblity, it's a no-brainer for your fly fishing vacation

May 10, 2007, Pass Lake - a tough days fishing

Armaddeus and I hit Pass Lake for the first time this season and the results were disheartening. It was a beautiful day with a light swirling wind but the fish were just not moving. I got onto a few shoals around the lake and never saw one cruiser. There was the odd riser in various spots but in general the lake was quiet. There was a lot of surface debris on the south side of the lake looking like it was starting to turn. I did end up with one fish, 45cm in length. It hit a black and red #14 chironomid but was full of glassworms and small, small shrimp. One other fella on the lake hit 3 fish but he started earlier in the day than our 9am start. Chromies. and Armaddeus... skunked again.

May 6, 2007, Favorite Float Tube Fishing Lakes

Experience float tube fishing at some of my favorite BC fishing lakes on your next fly fishing vacation. This is my personal list of favorite trout lakes in the British Columbia Interior especially su

May 5, 2007, More Roche Lake Area lakes ice free

As we were gassing up for our trip to Morgan on Friday we ran into another fellow who has been touring the Roche Lake Area this first week in May.

He was going back to Ernest Lake after fishing it and Bullman earlier in the week. He said the ice was just off and he was catching fish on silver steelhead streamers. The roads into both lakes were extremely rough and wet.

My friend Tex did well on 6 Mile lake earlier in the week. He fished chironomids in about 6 feet of water. The water has cleared up well from the turn and the inflow of irrigation water.

May 5, 2007, May 1 - All Kamloops Area Lakes are open

The bulk of the lakes are now legally open for fishing in the Kamloops area. The ice is off most lakes except perhaps the higher elevations (5000'+). My friend Tex did well on Jacko this week on chironomids.

Morgan was spotty on Friday as the wind was again, relentless. I caught 2 rainbow trout on 2 different boobies, the orange booby and the kamloops booby. My friend Steve was up visiting from Cranbrook and he caught 2 at Morgan on a dark green nymph.

Apr 24, 2007, Spring Fishing - Roche Lake Area

My friend Rob's curiosity was so peaked by his look and see visit to the Roche Lake Area that he decided to give 2 lakes a try this past weekend (Apr 22).

"I Fished BOG on Sunday and it was slow so My friend Leslie drove over to Horseshoe I hadn�t been there before and there was 9 boats in there, the report on the lake was a 4lb er was taken on flat fish not sure what colour, and another guys caught a couple of brook trout right in the bay of the boat launch to the right facing the lake., I also fished Horseshoe today and all I caught was a nice little sunburn on my neck. But I had fun anyways, there were 3 boats up there and the one guy I talked to caught 2 little ones."

Apr 24, 2007, More Ice Free Lakes

My friend Rob had a chance to get out to the Roche Lake Area on the past weekend. Here's what he had to say... "I went for a drive today and Bog lake and Roche Lake are ice free, Black Lake still had ice on it. The road into Bog is not as bad as many have led me to believe but it is still rough but I am after the elusive brook trout and will have to try that lake." Remember... Roche Lake cannot be fished until May 1st.

Apr 20, 2007, Edith Lake - Spring fishing

With cool air and even cooler water, Edith Lake was not much for action on Apr 18. Armmadeus and I went out for the afternoon fish and found a lake of high turbidity and devoid of any hatches showing. I caught my small rainbow on an Orange Booby. We tried chironomids, bloodworms and leechs too but to no avail. When I pumped the fish there was some orange debris and a couple of (#18)green shrimp.

One other boat on the lake caught fish, exactly where I caught mine, in the SW corner in 6' of water.

Apr 17, 2007, Morgan Lake - good for starters

I finally recovered enough to get out fishing so we chose the Six Mile Lake / Morgan Lake corridor. Six Mile was particularly windy so we went on to Morgan Lake which was not quite as bad and there were some spots where we could hide. The water was awful murky because of the Tunkwa watershed diversion and it really made the fishing slow. I probably only saw 3-4 fish rise in 5 hrs we fished. The Kamloops Booby was the big winner as it took 2 beauties, and the black/red chironomid took one. I also tried out my new electric motor and trolled an Apex (single hook - no barb) and netted a couple using it. Tally - 1-21", 1-20", 3-18". Not bad. My partner, Armmadeus, caught the first fish, a scrappy 12"er and only touched a couple of fish afterward. Next up... maybe Edith Lake... we'll keep in touch

Apr 13, 2007, Kamloops Area - Spring Fishing Report

Due to a minor surgery I haven't been able to get out yet but we have heard some reports. Yesterday I dropped by Jacko, which has only been open since the Easter weekend and only small fish were being taken on a variety of small chiromomids with strike indicators in shallow water. The other producer was the micro-leech, again in shallow water on a dry line and strike indicator. The wind came up in the afternoon and force most of the fishermen to shore.