Don’t Pass on Pass Lake BC

Ahhhh Pass lake, a gorgeous little gem of a lake located only 20 minutes from Kamloops heading north up the Lac Du Bois Rd.

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Pass is a trophy fly fishing only lake that is well know among locals and visitors alike. Unfortunately, the lake suffered a kill a few years back, but thanks to our excellent stocking program it is already back on track to regaining it’s high quality fishery status. And for that reason it was on the top of our list for some early spring 2011 fly fishing.
Off to a late start we didn’t arrive at the lake until 11:00 AM; no matter as the ice had just come off a few days back and we were quite certain that the fish would do their part if we did ours. We quickly unloaded the boat, loaded up the gear and began a tour of the lake. About 20 minutes later our expedition ended in a quiet bay where based on the lack of any hatches or fish activity we concluded that we would start with meat and potato patterns in about 16 feet of water. Peeler started with his go to leech pattern while I went with a more unorthodox bloodworm/leech prototype pattern that I had been working on (AKA the “bleech”).
Fast forward an hour or so, and many depth changes and retrieve techniques later, and Peeler stuck first with a feisty Pennask!

A Silver Bullet Pass Lake Pennask Rainbow

Semi dialed in now we spent the next hour or so picking up fat little clones but couldn’t seem to get into any of the hog Fraser Valley rainbows that we knew were stocked in the lake as catchables a few years ago. So although we were having a blast it was time for plan B – relocate!

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Moving from a spot that you are catching fish in is not an easy task, and probably one of the biggest hurdles for novice fly fishers to overcome in their pursuit of trophy rainbow trout. You can have the perfect imitation and present it flawlessly but if the fish you are targeting are not there it will not do you any good. So, with that in mind, off we went.

Now it doesn’t always pan out the way it did for us this day. Sometimes you move only to get into more of the same, less of the same, or even nothing at all … in which case you need to move again or, sometimes in desperation, head back to where you were. But sometimes the move does pay off and that was the case for us today.

Destination number two was just a bit farther out and deeper than our original location and was inspired by a few risers we noticed while fishing spot number one. Almost instantly upon arriving our efforts were rewarded with good actions on rainbows to the the size that we were expecting.

A beauty Pass Lake Fraser Valley Rainbow Trout

Interestingly, all of our Pennasks were caught on black leeches and chironomid pupae, while the Fraser Valleys seemed only interested in the more flashy “Bleech” bloodworm/leech combo that we were test driving. Oh well, that was good enough to ensure the “Bleech’s” fate as a permanent member of our fly boxes … stay tuned for the recipe coming soon! 😉

So that’s it folks. Another day and another great Kamloops area BC Interior fly fishing lake! If you’ve been waiting for the “right time” to get out and do some fly fishing this is it. And if your looking for something close to home and with the potential for some trophy bows … don’t pass on Pass lake!

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*** for more of the best in BC fly fishing hot spots please hit up & review our BC Fishing Vacation & Holiday Destinations category here!

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