Pass Lake Rejuvenated
by Mr BFSH
(Kamloops)
Pass Lake - Producing in November
I had heard from a reliable source that Pass Lake was again producing reasonable fish so I decided to try it myself. Pass Lake was until recently, a legendary trophy fishery in the Kamloops Area Lakes had reportedly winter killed last year and the lake was re-stocked this past summer with some decent catchables. Other than that, I have not heard of any success stories this year about Pass Lake until now.
I don't know why, but Pass Lake always gives me that feeling of promise and opportunity. As I drove up through the Batchelor Hills, I dreamed of previously productive days and the dozens of days that I came home skunked.
When I arrived at the lake (around 10am) there was one boat on the lake and it appeared to one of the fellows (Ted) that accompanied my source to Pass Lake last weekend. I figured if he was there then there must be some truth the the story of fish being caught last weekend. Snow lay on the ground surrounding the lake and the frost had penetrated the soil, making the loading area very slippery. The lake was still open, the water temperature was 39F-40F and very clear. While I was unloading, 2 more vehicles showed up, looking for the elusive action that Pass Lake is known for.
Armed with 2 sinking lines and a floater, I headed across to the north shore of the lake where Teddy had been cruising. I spotted some fish at about 9'-10'deep at a drop-off on the shoal directly across from the boat launch. I started out with one sinking line and a booby and the other sinker had a damsel. I drifted along the shoal going toward the Research Station end. As I passed Ted, he told me that he had been into one nice fish and a few small ones.
As I reached the NW corner of the lake I started to pick up more fish on the fish finder so I anchored in about 16' of water and started casting 2 lines... the sinker with a holo-red booby fly and a floater with a long leader and a dragon fly nymph. It was a little much to try and work both lines the way they were so I added a strike indicator to the dry line and turned to a blood worm.
Although I was picking up fish on the fish finder, I was having trouble getting the fish to bite. It was around 12:30pm and the sun was shining warmly on us fishermen. More people had arrived at the lake and this boat with 3 guys went by twice, both times one guy was reeling in fish. I decided to pull up anchor and try to drift troll for awhile. As soon as my wet line straightened out I got my first strike. It was a lovely fish, about 18.5" long but shaped like a football, easily over 3 lbs. Within 10 more minutes I had another tug and sure enough, I got my 2nd fish to the boat. As I was pulling it in I looked back down the lake and saw 3 other boats into fish at the same time. It seemed like the bite was on!I checked the time... it was 1pm.
And then it stopped... just like that... it stopped. 20-30 minutes of action and it stopped. My friend KJ showed up about 1:30pm and asked how it was going. I told him that the bite seemed to have just ended and fished the rest of the day with only one strike. There were a few more fish caught by others but they were few and far between.
On my way in, about 4:30pm, as the air quickly cooled, I landed one more fish. It was about 14" but again, built like a football. As I approached the boat launch, a younger man was fishing the shallow shoals just beside the launch fishing the shallow water and drop off. He said that he had a half dozen fish on between 3:30 and 4:30. We got to talking a little later and it ended up being a kid I coached in hockey years ago... it seems to happen quite often these days.
The final result was 3 fish. That's more than my last 4 outings to Pass Lake. With a healthy population of new fish in the lake, it promises to be a solid fishery once again and regain it's place as on of the Best Fly Fishing Lakes in BC
