[easywater]

Planning out the spring fishing season for BC lakes.

It has been cold here and it looks like the fishing season is going to be later than usual.

A fellow on one of the websites has a formula based on Jan/Feb temp as to when the ice is going to come of for a specific lake here (6 Mile). The lake is located between the Nicola (Merritt/Kamloops) and Cariboo regions.

The calculation puts ice-off for this lake at April 11th - normal ice-off is around March 25th.

Now I don't fish 6 Mile, but those calculations imply that all the other lakes will be equally late.
Roche normally ices-off around early- to mid-April - this delay puts it into early-May.
25 days after ice-off is when things get hot at Roche.

I have time off booked for May 21 to 27 for Roche - hope ice-off is early.

Here's my list of lakes for this spring:

Courtney – 3300 feet
Roche – 3700 feet
Tunkwa – 3750 feet
Hathume – 4600 feet

I had Batstone on the list but it is a private lake and has limited opportunities (4 boats only).

Courtney in late April or early May
Roche May 21 to 27
Tunkwa - may fit in it in the spring but there is also great fishing in August for bombers
Hathume probably mid- to late-June

Also doing Hihum from June 6 to 10 but it is with a larger group that tends to turn into a party instead of serious fishing.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

Courtney about 3rd week in June, Little Fort area lake to be be determined 4th week in June. From there to Jasper and Banff, probably not a lot of fishing with runoff conditions likely. Haven’t determined exit route back to Washington in early July; take Hwy 3 south to Nelson/Fernie or east on 97 and hit Tunkwa or other options. So many choices. Locked in with grandsons summer break schedule.

 

[Chris Johnson]

I will be @ Courtney the first week of May. I plan on camping @ Kentucky-Alleyne lakes.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

Thoughts on lakes 2nd week of July: Tunkwa or Roche? Thinking Roche is maybe prettier, a couple other lakes to fish close by, both about same elevations.
Any good red sided shiner patterns? Heard Courtney has them.

 

[easywater]

July is a tricky time to fish - too hot.
Tunkwa has a bit of different fishing patterns in that they get chironomids in mid-August that are productive to fish for/with.

Roche is typically in "algae bloom" that time of the year.
A choking layer of algae sits near the top of the water preventing chironomids from getting to the surface.

Courtney does have shiners - https://www.bcfishn.com/courtney-lake-the-thompson-nicola-best-kept-secret/
Blackwater rainbows have been introduced in many BC lakes to combat them.

Perhaps search stocking reports for Blackwaters if you want to target lakes with shiners.

http://www.gofishbc.com/Stocked-Fish.aspx#stocked-strains
http://www.gofishbc.com/Stocked-Fis...ic=BLACKWATER R&start=3/22/2008&end=3/22/2018

 

[tyeoneon]

I fished Bolean Lake in July, around Kamloops, and got snowed on! Neat little resort up there. They turn on the electricity between 7& 10 PM, but have wood stoves in all the cabins. Camping is also available. Here's a link! 2 other lakes nearby, Arthur and Spa. Elevation is about 5000 ft.
http://www.boleanlake.net/

 

[easywater]

5 to 10 feet of open water along the shore on 6 Mile so things may be a little earlier than expected.

This website has weather info for a lot of lakes in BC: http://www.storm247.com/#!/forecast/105866932

 

[Super Dave]

I will be @ Courtney the first week of May. I plan on camping @ Kentucky-Alleyne lakes.

There was 20 inches of ice on both Kentucky and Alleyne lakes last week. You may want to go the the FlyBC Forum at www.flybc.ca. You can view posts as a guest under the "Fly Fishing BC" section. There you will see an ICE OFF thread with members posting lots of updates. FYI .... Logan Lake has been winter killed this winter due to a malfunction with their aerator. There have been some reports of a couple of others, as well as some partial winter kills. It has been a long cold winter up here.

Six Mile Lake yesterday

Morgan Lake yesterday

Jacko Lake just outside of Kamloops yesterday

 

[Robert Engleheart]

Thanks for the update Dave and welcome to WFF.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

How deep does a lake need to be to avoid winter kill; or are other factors involved?

 

[Squamishpoacher]

There's a lot of things that factor into it and lake depth isn't necessarily something that can save a lake. Winterkill happens when decaying vegetation creates a biological oxygen demand. When a lake freezes it can freeze in different ways. A BOD can occur when thin cloudy ice gets covered with several inches of wet snow. The issue here is light penetration. Light passes through clear ice better than cloudy ice. It passes through dry snow better than wet snow. A hard winter with thick ice and a heavy snow cover can be tough. Another factor is circulation of water through the lake. It helps if water is flowing into the lake bringing in oxygen. Big fish are the first to go in most situations as they need more oxygen. And, as fish and vegetation die, the bacteria that feed on them increase in numbers creating a further BOD. The good news is that winterkill is a natural process. It rarely is complete and makes way for new growth.

 

[Super Dave]

Below is a link from FlyGuys.net up here in BC. It covers some very interesting information on lake turnover, Winter Kill .... and a lake's benefits from being winter killed.

https://flyguys.net/fishing-information/still-water-fly-fishing/roche-winter-kill-trophy-trout

 

[Buzzy]

There was 20 inches of ice on both Kentucky and Alleyne lakes last week. You may want to go the the FlyBC Forum at www.flybc.ca. You can view posts as a guest under the "Fly Fishing BC" section. There you will see an ICE OFF thread with members posting lots of updates. FYI .... Logan Lake has been winter killed this winter due to a malfunction with their aerator. There have been some reports of a couple of others, as well as some partial winter kills. It has been a long cold winter up here.

Six Mile Lake yesterday

Morgan Lake yesterday

Jacko Lake just outside of Kamloops yesterday

@Super Dave - thank you for sharing these pictures and some great information! Two lakes I really love to fish and one not yet on my "punch card". I haven't fished Logan Lake for several years, too bad about the winter kill.

Pat

 

[Robert Engleheart]

Below is a link from FlyGuys.net up here in BC. It covers some very interesting information on lake turnover, Winter Kill .... and a lake's benefits from being winter killed.

https://flyguys.net/fishing-information/still-water-fly-fishing/roche-winter-kill-trophy-trout

Nice link and explanation on that forum; sounds like some winterkill may not be bad in all circumstances.
I also read the blog on fishing boobies and dapnias; tried a booby for a very short while with no success but now see I was going about it all wrong, will have to try it again.

 

[rotato]

Thanks for all the info
I flew back from NYC last week and it seemed like all of Canada was iced over. Tough winter for sure.
Hoping to get my 13 footer built to bring up there this late spring

 

[easywater]

Courtney's ice is off or close to it.

Not sure of the timing of turn over on this lake but it sounds like it fishes well before turn over and should be great just after turn over.

Looking to hit the lake in early May (May 10).

Got a stretch of warm weather coming up in the Merritt/Kamloops area so the rest of the lakes should be looking good soon.

Expecting May 3rd or so ice off for Roche.

 

[McFly]

Anyone know if Peter Hope lake has had ice off yet?

 

[easywater]

April 30th or so predicted ice off date for Peterhope.

 

[Bowbonehead]

It will likely be late everywhere this year with the winter and snowpack we have had ....flooding will be a major concern

 

[Squamishpoacher]

I'm heading up this week on my annual trip. Hope to fish until early July and to south west Alberta.