Well that was an awesome year but it’s time close off 2012 and move on to 2013! Thanks to everyone that contributed reports, stories & pictures last year and we’re really hoping to see even more of you on our … 2013 Fishing Reports post!
Tight lines & good times in 2013!
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Earlier mentioned Knouff is clear, anyone fshed heffley lk to know ice off or turn?
Hallsy, given the elevation of Knouff, I highly doubt it is ice off. I believe the earlier posting was in reference to the ice fishing on Knouff. Heffley, at 945 m in elevation, will not be ice-off until April sometime (usually).
I was up at Edith yesterday still lots of ice 20″ at least! No water anywhere in sight up there, took a couple bows and a brookie home.
Cheers for the clarification Daryl. I think I’m just way too eager!
Took a drive to 6 Mile on Sunday. Puddles in the middle but ice on the edges. 2011 I was fishing on April 01st. Soon and very soon.
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woohoo! 😆
Oh man i can’t wait!
i cant handle the fishing bugs anymore, my mind is so itching, LOL.
Ken, Thank you for posting the picture. Come Wednesday things are supposed to heat up around here, so that will be good for the melt. Comparing the temperatures thus far for this year with 2011 and 2010, I am guessing we are some where in the middle. I know some lakes that I fish did not open until the end of April / start of May in 2011, but were ice-off in 2010 at the start of April. My guess this year for ice off is lakes 600 – 650 m (mid / late March), 650- 750 m (late March), 750 – 850 m (early / mid April), 850 – 950 m (mid April) 950 – 1050 m (late April), 1050 – 1150 m (early / mid May), 1150 – 1300 m (mid May). These are only guesses, and major changes to the weather can throw everything back or forward by 2 or more weeks at times (as we saw in 2011). If anyone else has a better idea of the timing of ice off on certain lakes, your post(s) would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!!
I think you are bang on. Last year around Easter I was finding open water for 30ft off the shore at Scuitto, by mid April there will be lots of open water and with the recently introduced regs which allow people to use common sense when to bring an auger and when to bring a boat. I know I need to buck up and start filing my fly box.
Thanks for the summary, of dates and elevations. It will help allot of people in their planning fishing trips. Nice job.
OK ALL … ice fishing is kind of over, so like move on. NOT meant as a insalt. Whats wrong with fly fishin for white fish. Yes its a bit far but at least you catch fish. The Adam River is good for that. And for the new flyfisher person, the egg & I is a good start. AND yes the White Fish meat is boney , but whats wrong with catch and release. Its all fishing. And for the one that doesnt fly fish a spining rod works too, a split shot and the fly works. Remember you are trying to copy the hatch , And the hatch is the small salmon fry . Myself Ive done good up there, Besides its fishing and For every day you fish you get to live an extra day is sweet enough for myself. And for the meat fisher person , smoke the fish & can it up. But dont forget a teaspoon of vinigar and a teaspoon of oil to each jar will soften the bones and moisten the meat SO like FISH ON and good luck
Outlaw
Adams is CLOSED,check the regs.
adams river BELOW i see no closure in the reg’s I do see Rainbow trout and char release, bait ban , no power boats. dont tell me whitefish are from the char family cause there not from the rainbow trout family
To outlawdot,check page 30,General Restrictions,the first item.All streams in Region 3 closed as of January1 till June.It says to check for exemptions.The Adams is not exempt,south thompson is as is north thompson,both close by with lots of whitefish and trout and char.
thats weird…i was fishing shuswap lake and saw about 8 people fishing the mouth of the adams this weekend, all fly fishing…that legal?
Yes, fishing the lake at the mouth of the Adams is open to catch and release until March 15.lake
Yes, Nick. Fishing the mouth of the Adams River (which is technically Shuswap Lake) with a single barbless and unbaited hook is catch and release only but completely legal except for the area closure from March 15 to May 31. This differs from the stream itself which is subject to the spring closure.
Read and obey the fishing regulations unless you want to literally be an outlaw. All streams are closed to fishing in Region 3 from Jan 1 to June 30 unless specifically listed as an exception.
Guess it better to ice fish still than fish illegally
Oulawdot: The river is closed to all fishing from Jan. 1 to June 30th. There is no exemption listed for the Adam’s River. The listing in the regs instead states that there is a Rainbow trout and char release, bait ban , no power boats, which applies to when the river is open. In other words, no fishing of any kind from Jan. 1 to June 30th and from July 1 to Dec 31 you can not use bait while you fish and you need to release any rainbow trout or char that you catch and you cannot use power boats. I hope this clarifies things
ok
at the lake feeding the river its not frozen and its legal Just call 250-371-6281
and ask for the CO sorry for the confussion , guess I need to explan it better.
but your to check or ask an offical or just go up there and see why would we be fishin if were not allowed too
outlawdot
better obey the regs, dude. don’t try doing that unless ur absolutely sure it’s legal. 😐
question about the bait ban? and im just curious, but does bait ban include artificail baits such as power bait? or is it just a live bait ban (dew worms, minnows, roe). From what I have heard its only live bait that is banned, but again im not too sure….i really couldnt see artificial baits being banned…under that logic, a fly or spinner would be considered an artificial bait… Can anyone clear this up for me?
Read the Regs.
“Bait” is any foodstuff or natural substance used to attract fish, other than wood,
cotton, wool, hair, fur or feathers. It does not include fin fish, other than roe. It includes roe, worms and other edible substances, as well as scents and flavourings containing natural substances or nutrients.
Ok….so a bait ban does include power bait and other artificials? What about the power bait grubs/soft plastics that are scented? Also banned? Seems a little hokey to me. Esspecially because a fly that’s an exact replica of a bait is legal.
Not hokey to me. Any artificial scent provides unfair advantage. Imitating insect lifecycles is as natural as it gets.
…If you don’t like the regs don’t fish there
It was simply a question… not ment to offend you sam. I fish Shuswap Lake all the time, never with bait, always with apex and downriggers/ bucktails. In fact I could probably give you some really good information on the fishing in the lake most times of the year. I work at a Marina on the lake, and have been asked this same question many times. It was simply something that I wanted clarification on, because I was unsure. Considering this is a fishing blog, I would expect someone to possibly be able to inform me, possibly even politely, although that may be too much to ask. This is the one thing ive noticed about this site, you ask a question about fishing locations/ tips, hardly get any response, ask a question about regs, and everyones ready to jump down your throat about it.
Nick you are correct that this is a fishing blog but this specific post is for 2012 ice off & fishing reports. If you would like to start another topic just use the submit your story link in the menu or just email us with the info and I will post it for you. I’m thinking about adding a forum so that people can ask questions and discuss topics so stay tuned but in the meantime that’s all that is available.
PS … use the search feature, there is a lot of fishing information and “tips” (including locations) provided on the site 😉
UPDATE … check out the new forum!
Holy cow, Sam, take a muscle relaxant buddy. An inquiring mind isn’t always a sign of a perpetrator.
Interesting topic just not the place for it ….. moved it here for further discussion ……. 😉
stick to ice off reports – I can’t read through all this stuff 🙂
Thank you Mark. Let’s get back on topic please …..
Today is supposed to be a warm one in the Kamloops region. I’d love to see another pic of 6 Mile after today.
OK guys & gals I just brought a new forum online and created a separate 2012 Ice Off thread and a 2012 Reports thread. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. Not sure how successful it will be so I’ll leave this post open to comments as well for now. 🙂
UPDATE: I think it was too confusing to change locations for the ice of and fishing reports this far in so I’ve deleted those topics in the form so we can continue here for the rest of this year. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused. 🙁
Ventured up Lac deBois way and was a little suprised at the Lake. Ya I know it is only March and I knoiw I say this every year but the lakes in that area are pretty solid. This is Lac de Bois, Sunday afternoon. Good thing Pass dosen’t open till May 01st.
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Lac Du Bois is at 874 m in elevation, so I am not surprised it is still solid. Probably another month before it will be clear (depending on the weather). I drove by Monte Lake (686 m elevation) yesterday and it was still frozen with a few folks out ice fishing. Still a while yet, I am afraid. I also spoke to someone who would know given their job, that both Bleeker and Pass may be winter-killed this year. I also see nothing in the regulations about Pass not being open until May 1st. Ken, can you direct me to where it says this?
Cheers,
Darryl
I’ve also heard that Bleeker winter-killed from reports of ice-fishermen who saw dead fish on the bottom and no signs of life. It will be sad if Pass kills again. The fish were just getting back to trophy size after the kill a few years ago.
Does the lack of luck on getting fish through the ice relate to winter kill, Ron? If so, it would be pretty sad this year cause many people have been saying ice fishing is not that good compare the previous years. 😐
Darryl
My bad, for the longest time I seem to remember it to be May 01 start. You are right and there is simply no ice fishing. I remember being on the water I think it was three years ago and there wasn’t a fish to be had. It had winter killed. Last year I saw 7-8lbs caught. It is a resilient lake and even if it is killed I know it will come back. Here’s hoping.
Ken
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This is Morgan Lake on Sunday march 11.2012 at 10:45 am still stiff a little melting on the other end, but not much at all. Also took a drive by Heffley Lake ice fishing was doing good but along ways away from ice off ( Come on SUN SHINE )
Posted on our facebook page yesterday by Lance ….
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3477928153303&set=o.131791113530479&type=2&theater
I’m thinking it’s the west end of six mile?
Anyone know how Sawmill (Burnell) Lake is looking? I have a trip planned for April 5 to 9.
Hey Benny not sure if you’re a member of our facebook page but FYI Darryl responded to your question there …
flyguys.net facebook page
PS … I’ve figured out how to get these post comments to appear on facebook but not how to get the facebook comments to appear here … if anyone has any idea please let me know 😉
Thanks
Went to Monte Lake this morning (March 14). There were a couple other ice fishermen on the lake but the shacks have been removed. No one caught anything. My friend marked a few fish on his fish finder and I had one nibble. The ice is still 8 inches thick and feels solid, although it is turning darker. There is a very thin strip of ice getting soft around the shore but with the cold wind it didn’t melt at all today.
Headed up to Pat lake on March 11th. Some parts of the ice were paper thin around the shore and about 15 feet out. Took a quick boot up to Morgan as well and about the same as Pat. Tail is wagging very soon, very soon ice will be off!
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Jeremy, thank you for the pic. Looks like Pat and Morgan will be ice off soon. Keep us posted if you go up that way again. Thanks for the update.
Cheers,
Darryl
Any one know what will be the first lake open and aprox when?
Around Kamloops the low elevation lakes include Deep, Forest, Pat / 6 Mile, and Morgan. I am sure there are others towards the Okanagan and the coast that are already open, but the ones I listed (and I am sure there are a few more) in the Kamloops area are typically the first to be ice-off. My guess is that they will be within the next couple of weeks at most (see Jeremy’s post for example). Stump, Monte, and Paul typically follow one or two weeks after the lakes listed above.
Cheers,
Darryl