Pass Lake - Decent Again

by Mr BFSH
(Kamloops)

I was doing the jig at home, wondering where to go fishing. The weather was iffy and I was busy in the morning but I knew that there was a major solunar period sometime around 3:30pm.

I chose Pass Lake... it's close to home and has shown signs of productivity this year after the disastrous winter-kill last year. My only fear was that it was going to be packed, being the US Memorial Long Weekend. I arrived around 2pm and to my delight, it wasn't too packed. The limited parking area for local fishermen was full but the campers had dispersed.

I also noticed that my friend, Ted Elder was out on the water, just in front of the boat launch. As usual, I take my time gearing up and while I was diddling around I noticed Ted getting into fish. I was hoping that he wasn't going to catch them all.

While I was filling my boat with all my junk, a young couple came in. I asked how well they did and they were pleased with their day... "the fish are hungry" was the remark. I asked what they were using and they said "flatfish". Ugh... I showed them the the BC Fishing Regulations (I made sure that I got a copy of the book) and they were remorseful. I didn't see any fish so I left it at that. When they went back out on the water, they took their flies with them.

There was a light west breeze creating a "chironomid chop" on the water. I saw some mayflies on the water and came quite prepared to throw a dry line and long leader to do a mayfly wind drift. As it turns out, when I passed by Ted and asked them whether they were on mays or chironies and he said chironomids. Good enough for me.

On other side of Ted was a father and son combo, Lawrence and Derek. Derek was getting into to it pretty good and landed a beautiful 5.2lb rainbow. Just before that, Ted landed a 6 lb fish. It was time for me to get in on the action.

I decided to anchor upwind of Ted but I had to re-anchor a couple of times to get it right. I was catching small fish and Ted was getting some nice ones. When I finally settled in at the right spot, I swear the fish were feeding right below the boat. The chironies were hatching and the fish were active. It wasn't long before I was into fish... and they were getting bigger. Problem was, I was losing lots more than I was catching and I finally figured out that some of the flies I was using were lighter than others and they were taking a beating.

I finally got into the fish-of-the-day for me. As it turned out it was just 4.2 lbs but pound for pound, it was the strongest fish that I think I have ever fought. This guy battled me for over 10 minutes, making two runs into my backing. I had him close a few times in those 15 minutes and then it decided to run... and jump clear out of the water... twice. This new dance resulted in another 10 minutes before I finally landed it.

Although the fish had been active most of the day, it did appear that the intensity picked up right through the solunar major feed period. There was a drop in action for about an hour and then it picked up again until about 7pm. I ended my day with a double header (one on each rod). It was a great feeling of accomplishment when I was able to release both fish in fine shape. Not long after I packed it in and went home a happy fisherman.

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