British Columbia ( Kootenays fishing heaven?)

[Scotty Chaos]

Hey guys,

Its been awhile since Ive posted here, with good reason. I moved to BC this past summer, and am living in the west kootenays along the Columbia River. This river is amazing. The amount of fish that you see jumping on it on a daily basis, is mind blowing. Now in saying that, Im having a major problem catching these fish. There are tons of Gerrard Rainbows, and Kokanee salmon, along with bull trout, Dolly Varden, walleye, and rocky mountain whitefish. As plentiful as this river is, they seem to know that im from out of province, and will not bite a thing I throw at them. I've caught a handfull of decent sized RM whitefish, but none of the trout or salmon species which are so plentiful.

So I need help from old friends! Apparently the Ontario methods for catching trout doesnt apply here. Spoons, spinners, flat fish etc!
All the fishing along this river is done from shore either casting or wadding. Ive taken up fly fishing since Ive gotten here, and have actually gotten pretty good at it. The only thing im kinda sketchy on is the retreavel method used while using wet flies such as leeches and wolley buggers and also how long the leader should be. I need some techniques for both spin casting and fly fishing which may possibly help me catch some of these fish. Anyone who may have info who possibly fished out this way before would be great, or even if you have a few pointers which I may not know off, would be greatly appreciated as well.

P.S. Im going out today, and will keep you posted on the news.

Scotty

[Salar]

The Kootenays is an awesome place to be living. You've got some great fishing on your doorstep. If you get a chance to head east, you should check out the Elk River. Some of the best dry fly fishing I've ever had.

When I lived out in B.C., I would use a 9ft leader that tapered to 3x (6lb) for streamers for trout. One method of retrieval is to cast your streamer (bugger, etc.) perpendicular to the current and strip the fly across the current. Another method is to cast your fly at a 45 degree angle downstream and let the fly swing till it's parallel with the current. At the end of the swing strip the fly in a few strips.

For steelhead I used 5ft of 10lb Maxima Ultragreen attached to a sink tip line. I would then cast the fly at a 45 degree angle downstream and let the fly swing till it's parallel to the current. Keep your rod tip low and follow the fly with the tip.

Salar.

[Scotty Chaos]

Update!

I went out this morning, and fished for about 2 hours along the banks of the Columbia. I opted out bringing my fly rod, so I just went with the small Zebco outfit. I was working my way up the bank casting in faster parts letting a silver williams spoon slowly drift into the calm pools. Pretty much everytime I did this, I saw little rocky mountian whitefish following it back in. I tried that out for about an hour or so, and then switched it up to a small red panther martin spinner and made my way back slowly. 2nd cast on the way back, I get a really nice tug. I kinda sat there for second being like " Is that a snag or something, when suddenly my rod began to bounce. Right away I knew it couldnt be a whitefish, because they really dont tend to take line out.

After a really nice fight with lots of jumps and runs, I landed a nice 17inch Rainbow. It was awesome finally nailing my first one out here.


Pics

http://www.fish-hawk.net/photogallery/d ... um=7&pos=0




http://www.fish-hawk.net/photogallery/d ... &pos=-7453

[Moosebunk]

They tell you to pinch your barbs out there.......... don't. But, you didn't get that from me.


No expert, but, I tried fishing pinks with a fly rod for a few hours this past summer on the Fraser River. A river like the Campbell which is big like the Fraser really moves. And even if it's shallow, with your fly rod it's about putting the fly right in front of them. I had a hard time with this for awhile but my guide did it expertly. It was the MEND. The upstream cast, then mend, mend, let out line, mend... as it was the only way to get that fly to the right depth at the right point on the swing. Takes work and practice. But even with those pinks running pretty thick at my feet, there were some details that needed tweaking in order to get a hook up. A days end I got 16 hookups but not one landed. That goes back to the barbs and the soft mouths of them wily pinks.

Don't cheat either and start lining them. But I didn't say anything about barbs. Seriously.

[Lunker Larry]

Lived on the Queen Charlottes for 5 years in the early 70s. Back then, when fishing the rivers, we used 1/4 ounce crocodiles or rooster tail spinners for salmon, cutthroat and dolly vardans. When the steelhead ran it was small "steelhead" hooks (circle hooks) with salted salmon or steelhead roe packed around it. a few split shot a foot or so up the line and that was it. Others also had success using spin n'glows (I think thats what they were called) with roe. We kept it pretty simple and had great success. I really miss those days. Unbelievable fishing opportunities: Coho, pink and spring salmon, cutthroat and dolly vardan trout, halibut, red snapper and dungeness crab, abalone and razor clams, or walk down to the warf and get a green garbage bag full of shrimp for $5.
Good luck.

[Scotty Chaos]

Well thanks for the info guys. It seems like just as I ask for help, I start catching fish. I went out this morning, until about 1:00pm, and was having all kinds of action. It was rainey cold and windy out today, but that didnt scare me away from trying of few different spot. I went to the same spot as yesterday where I caught a nice one, and after about a half hour or so with relatively no action, I headed out to a spot which I just recently heard was apparently one of the best spots to fish for trout in BC
(where the columbia and kootenay rivers meet). The best thing about this spot, is that it is only a 5 minute drive from my house!

Anyways after picking out a nice looking spot for myself, I tied that same Panther Martin red and yellow spinner on, and began to cast it out into the current waiting to start reeling it in as soon as it drifted into a calm pool. Within 20mins of my first my cast, I get a really nice Rainbow. A little smaller then my 17 yesterday, but I still loved the battle outta this guy equally.



Now happy that the day was already producing, I decided to slowly and methodically, work my way down the river banks, stopping about 30ft away from every slow pool, and again casting into the current, and letting my line drift into the calm pools. After travelling slowly down the bank and actually not to far away from my first fish. I get a massive hit. The fish immiadiately pulls drag out into the fast current and starts doing the most graceful set of jumps Ive ever seen. He's leaping a good 2ft, strainght as an arrow, up river. Im pulling he's pulling, and this continues for a bit. Finally he seem to wear out, so I start bringing him quickly, where he reponds to pull a little, after about every 2ft I get him in. Finally I get him with reach, and make the biggest ROOKIE mistake ever. I grab the about 1ft away from him and the hook, and drag him onto the rocks.
SNAP! My line of course breaks, and now here he is a FAT, FAT 18-20" Rainbow trout lying no more than a foot away from the water with my lucky hook in his mouth. He flops back in before I even get a hand near him.

Lesson of the story, BUY A NET, and never lift them by the line! ( I know better)

Anyways after that, I decided that was it for me, so cold, wet, and laughing at myself, I headed out.

P.S. And yes I did pick up another Red Panther, 8 to be exact. Haha

[scuro]

I was on that trip with the bunkster..here is what I learned about trout/salmon fishing spinning gear. They can be and are in very shallow water. Look for seams in the water, the edge between slower and fast, it can be as shallow as a foot or two. If you can avoid stepping into the water near this location do so, you may actually be stepping right where they are and chasing them into to deeper water. Small spoons work, you throw above your target area and swing it out, right past where you assume their nose to be. The occasional micro-jerks in the retrieve adds to higher percentages and generally I would retrieve it just fast enough to avoid snags.

[Fishboy]

They tell you to pinch your barbs out there.......... don't. But, you didn't get that from me.

Fishing barbless is the law in BC. Also, in some rivers, fishing with single hooks is mandatory - no trebles, stingers, or droppers. Unlike in Eastern Ontario, fishing laws are enforced in BC so if you are stopped by a CO with barbed hooks, kiss your $$$ good-bye.

[Salar]

I was stopped by a CO in BC on a dirt logging road 80km from the nearest highway and another 40km to the nearest town. You'll get stopped out there when you least expect it.

Salar.

[SALMON]

For the bigger salmon and bank casting we used spin and glows. Rod holders in the bank with a heavy dropper weight and then the spin and glow sitting in the current. As much as it looked like it wouldn't work..it did.