Campbell Lake 25Apr2010

by Mr BFSH
(Kamloops)

Campbell lake was the most productive lake that I visited last year so KJ and I decided to get an early start on it this year.

The drive up was interesting as snow had fallen on Saturday and much of it in the shaded areas was yet to disappear.

Scuitto Lake had a population of campers there, with a number of people on the lake but I did not stop to ask questions... I was too ticked at some twit hauling his boat on a trailer, that I followed for 8 km up the hill... can't figure out why he wouldn't let me pass him, there were plenty of turnouts. He ended up pulling in to Scuitto so I just high-tailed past them and went on to Campbell.

As I was crossing the creek between Campbell Lake and Scuitto Lake, there were about a dozen teenage types(high school grad age) pulling up camp right at the damsite. I stopped and asked if there was a problem with the campsite (it was an honest question) and they said no, they just chose to camp there. Geez... come on now... there are 2 campsites... Scuitto and Campbell and these kids have got to slash brush and otherwise create a mess where they shouldn't be. I talked to one of the campers at Campbell and he said it sounded like they were firing guns at night too. Perhaps a trip by a CO officer or the RCMP on a Friday or Saturday night would be in order. With that many kids, guns and probably a little alcohol, it's just an accident ready to happen.

Ok, off my soap box.

I shared my new booby fly with KJ just before I pushed off, headed for the other side of the lake... I mentioned as I left the launch, "Do you think that I will get a bite before I get across the lake?" and he answered... I hope so. Well, as soon as I got my line straightened out in the water it was a matter of 2 seconds before I hit and landed my first fish... on the new booby fly pattern (I'm going to have to do an article about this one and get it on the site).

There were a couple of guys anchored in the spot that we usually frequent. I anchored close by and caught one fish on a bright green wire blood worm (geez, another little personal fly pattern that needs some sharing on the site). KJ moved further to the west and anchored just off the point that we also frequent. He was into his first fish within a few minutes.

The fishing was spotty throughout the day. There was an incredible daphnia hatch pretty much most of the afternoon and the fish were gently rolling and taking them just under the surface. We tried a number of flies, many of them working occasionally. I had luck on the Booby Fly, bloodworm, water boatman, green micro-leech and tiny #20 holo-green chironomids (to match the daphnia... but the flies were still bigger than the bugs). I caught 3 fish under the strike indicator on that little #20 (I didn't tie it. I got a few of them when I visited Cabellos near Tacoma Washington last fall).

The wind came up substantially in the afternoon, with a bit of precipitation. My battery was running low around 4pm so we just took our time moseying back to the launch and were off the lake at around 5:00pm.

I caught over a dozen fish... 2 of them pulling the Booby Fly at full speed on my electric motor... this has never happened to me before. I was trying to overcome the wind and get to my destination. I had pulled my dry line and started motoring when I nailed 2 fish... one ended up being the biggest fish of the day.

KJ also caught quite a few but this trip yielded mostly small fish... the largest, as mentioned above, was just over 16". I had a couple in the 13"/14" range and the rest were under 12". I didn't hear of anyone else catching larger fish.

The water was very brown... like it had turned, the vegetation settled but the suspended solids were... still suspended. It's not the cleanest looking water at the best of times but it was unusually brown today. Visibility to about 60cm (2') was the limit.

Wildlife was quiet... the birds were not very active and we did not see any deer. There was a short period in the afternoon that the swallows were grouping and feasting on the hatching daphnia but that was it.

Water Temp - 48F to 49F... a good indication that the lake had turned.

When we left the lake I noticed that someone had opened the gate at the outlet of Campbell Lake (where the kids were camping). I hope for everyone's case that it was the landowner or authorized person who sent the water gushing down to Scuitto Lake.

Unfortunately, it was one of those days that I forgot my camera so no picture this time.

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