Leighton Lake.Heat and Thunder Pushes Fish Down

by Mr BFSH
(Kamloops, BC)

---

July 26, 2010

My niece's husband Jon and I decided to go for an evening fish at Leighton Lake on just about the hottest day of the season so far (+37C). We didn't get there until almost 6pm and the thunderheads seemed to be moving in from the south. The wind picked up and so did the thunder as the system edged it's way (the system was moving really slow). We hummed and hawed and decided that it was too dangerous to go out so we killed some time until about 7:30pm when the thunder subsided and the system seemed to move to the north and out of harms way.

The local report was that it was "good yesterday" and not bad in the morning but as the weather changed and the barometer was dropping, so was the likelihood of success.
So, off we ventured to the north-east bay. There were fish jumping but not as many as when I was there a week ago. We looked at the water and saw only a few chironomids and some small adult caddis.

Jon had a chironomid and I put on a damsel to start with... we drifted with the light breeze to the north end of the lake. Our luck was dismal... only a couple of light touches from some small fish. Jon hammered a scrappy 8" rainbow and was almost embarrassed about it... but how could he be?... he caught the first fish.

We eventually hit a few more fish as the sun set, all on the drift with floating lines and strike indicators. The fish were hitting the chironomids, but ever so lightly. Both Jon and I ended up with 2 fish to the boat, his 14"er being the biggest of the evening. We brought home 2 fish to smoke and let the others go. I caught the last fish in the near dark and it crossed our lines, making such a mess that we called it a night at about 9:45pm.


It's gotta be soon that the "Bomber Hatch" starts at both Tunkwa and Leighton... perhaps this long-weekend.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE:

THERE IS A TOTAL FIRE BAN ON IN THE KAMLOOPS FIRE REGION... even in the provincial parks and private campgrounds. Penalties are harsh if you get caught and astronomic if you cause a forest fire (up to $1M and/or paying for the fire service to put the blaze out.

The good news is... if you like to camp and don't need a campfire, you will find most of the smaller fishing lakes quite accommodating, they won't be that busy.

---

---

Tobiano Golf-Fish Packages

British Columbia's interior region is home to some of North America's finest golf and fly fishing adventures. These unique packages offer you a chance to play golf at Tobiano, "BC's Best Public" and "Best Conditioned" golf course as rated by ScoreGolf Magazine 2009 and be professionally guided on some of the best fly fishing lakes this country has to offer by world renowned guides.