… Official flyguys.net Northern British Columbia, BC Interior, Kamloops Area Lakes & Rivers Ice Off 2013 Fishing Reports post!
… and hopefully we don’t have to add a winter kill section this year! 😯
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That’s it folks! 2012 was great but 2013 is going to be spectacular! Tight lines & good times to all! 😀
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any more info on how stumps coming along.. will it be fishable by the long weekend?
Went up to six mile today and got a couple of hours of fishing in before the cold drove me off. Only a couple bites and the fishing seemed to be slow (didn’t see anyone else catching any). The ice is melted enough to get a boat in and fish around the outsides of the lake but the east end is still very iced over.
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Thanks for the update Ryan, much appreciated.
Shots of six mile from today from road above between the two launches. East end still mostly iced over as Ryan says. Overall, about 65% off I’d say, time to load the boat I’d say!!!!!
Tight lines everyone!!!!
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Nice day out at 6 miles today. Little bit cold and windy, but not that bad, cause sun is gorgeous!!! 😉
Still some of moving ice as Todd has described.
Fished across the boat launch and caught a beauty around 45cm on a black leech.
My chironomids did not work well and there are not that many bites and jumpings, is it because it’s still too cold? Or is it because it’s a little bit too soon for the fish to wake up from the long winter?
Anyone has any ideas?
Thanks, tight line 🙂
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how is stump and jacko looking?
Jacko is a winter wonderland with fresh snow covering the ice that is almost shore to shore.
Hasn’t changed much from when I walked in last week other than the fresh snow on top.
Stump … closer but still no cigar! 🙁
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The Ice-Off Simulator I am working on says that Complete Ice-Off should be happening at 6 Mile today. If anyone can confirm that, that would would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Darryl
Looking at the photo from Saturday I would assume that full ice-off happened yesterday afternoon. Of course, I can’t confirm that.
I understand that the model has it’s limitations but I always consider “ice-off” to be as soon as the lake has fishable water (i.e. 25% of the ice is gone). From that point I have seen the remainder of the ice go off in a few hours…other years it takes several days. What I am saying is that most anglers probably prefer to know when they can launch a boat as opposed to when they can fish a 100% ice-free lake. This is just a suggestion/conversation point. You have come up with a pretty neat idea! Nice work.
Hi Art,
You make a very valid point and one that I am struggling with. The simulator is only for complete ice off. At which point a lake is fishable is open to interpretation. I was at Red last April 23rd. There was some open water so I fished it. Other guys came and left becuase they thought it was not open enough. They were probably right since I did get trapped by shifting ice for over an hour. That being said, I did catch a really nice Brook trout that day, so no regrets. IFrom my experience, I would say you can probably get on the water at least 2 or 3 days before Complete Ice-Off, so it can be used as a guide. And no I don’t expect it to get the right date everytime, but if it can get Complete Ice-Off to within plus or minus 3 days or so a fews weeks out it could be used as a pretty good planning tool. Models are never perfect, but sometimes they can be useful. Simulator says Morgan Thursday and Stump next Wednesday, which could mean “fishable water” on Morgan today and on Stump over the weekend. By the way, good to know about the new regulations for Stump.
Cheers,
Darryl
Art,
Hi there. Are you sure full ice-off at ^ Mile happened yesterday? Much of the east end of that lake was pretty iced in on Friday and Saturday, and the average temperature there yesterday was only 2 degrees. Just want to know if you saw it ice-off or is this a well educated guess. Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Darryl
Just a guess. Warm afternoon with a breeze, but I don’t know for certain if all ice was off by the end of the day.
Hey Darryl,
Fished 6 mile today and it was 100% ice off when I arrived at 9:30 am.
Thanks Shea,
That is great news!! I am glad to see this simulator came so close. Even if the ice did come off yesterday it was only off by one day and if came off over night or very early this morning then it was right on. Either way it gives me a little confidence in what it will give us for other lakes. Morgan on Thursday…I wonder.
Cheers,
Darryl
how did you make out?
Yah that’s really cool Darryl I’m very impressed! It was not a bad day got 4 fish all between 1-2 lbs. Was using a small black marabou micro leech and pumpkin head leech. Was quite cold and windy, saw some bloodworms on the surface which I found interesting so I tried fishing one at different depths with no success. Was really nice to be back on the water finally after a long winter.
Shea, glad to hear you did well on the water. I am jealous!! Looks like I won’t be out there until Monday. I plan to fish Morgan. Hard to beat those micro leeches this time of year, although I did see some guys slaying them first week of open water using size 6 wolly buggers last year there.
Cheers,
Darryl
Does the simulator tell us when stump will be fishable?
Hoping to give it a go on Friday.
Full Ice Off expected Tuesday, but fishable water is anyones guess. I will guess – not based on simulator – but experience, is that you can be on the water by Saturday. Note the new regulations for Stump in the fish regs book.
Cheers,
Darryl
don’t have the book yet
what are the new regs for stump – can i get the quick and dirty explanation?
Hi Mark,
Here is a link to the regs:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/regulations/docs/1315/fishing_synopsis_2013-15_region3.pdf
Says for Stump:
Closed all year northeast of fishing boundary signs located on each shoreline in the vacinity of Stump Lake Creek
Hope that helps
hopefully heading to stump friday/saturday. if there are any updates during the week it would be appreciated.
which lake is more productive at ice off. morgan or sixmile?
I’ve seen both be good on various years. Can depend on pH and O2 levels in each lake. Generally, I’d say Morgan has been a bit more reliable in recent years, although the stocking has been bumped up at 6mile and there is a greater proportion of Blackwater to Fraser Valley rainbows. I have definitely noted the Fraser Valleys at Morgan to be sluggish at ice off.
I found this very interesting and helpful and link, I thought to re-post for others like myself, who are still scratching their heads about the different strains! 😉 Cheers! https://flyguys.net/blog/fishing-information/still-water-fly-fishing/rainbow-trout-strains-of-british-columbia
… great topic Evan … I’ve moved the conversation here and added a link to some more great info by BC interior fly fishing expert Ron Newman! Check it out!
Any info on how far a long Courtneay lake is? Thanks.
Anyone been into Beaton lately?
More open water at stump, some areas have reached over 50ft…
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The remain ice looks very thin, I can hear lots of cracking noise…
Looks like it’s coming close to ice off :):smile:
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think it will be ready for fri?
Hold tight Mark … should have another report tonight …
Has to be ready for Friday. If it is already showing water up to 50 ft off shore, it should go really fast given how warm it is outside.
hmm, just got back from checking it out and unless there is a BIG change tomorrow it will be close but I’m not sure it will be fishable by Friday. The ice is very black and rocks are easily breaking through but there’s still more of it than I thought there would be 🙁
Will post some pics soon …..
Simulator now says Tuesday for complete ice-off for Stump. It is usually fishable 2 or 3 days bfore though, so I would guess Saturday or Sunday. Friday would be a long shot, but man was it nice today and tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer. Maybe Friday, just maybe.
Cheers,
Darryl
Wednsday 03/27 …
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Has anyone seen the stump lake bountery signs? Guessing that cuts off from the island across for spawning fishing near the creak?.
Just got back from checking it out … looked for the signs but could not find them.
Does any one know which lakes are now fish-able by boat??
White, 6 Mile and Morgan are now fishable by boat. Studmp should be over the weekend.
Does anyone know if there are coarse fish in the lakes before Stump (Trapp, Ritchie, Napier)? I saw a large congregation of eagles on the ice just as it was breaking up and it looked like they were ice fishing.
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Yeah Ron, there are peamouth chub and suckers in all of those lakes. I have seen that exact same raptor congregation sitting on the ice up there many times over the years. One year I counted over 50 birds at one time.
I’m going to try Stump tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I’m going to be staying at a cabin at Nicola anyway, so I’ll just head there if Stump isn’t fishable. If I can get internet access, I’ll post a report tomorrow evening.
Good luck Christian! 😀