… Official flyguys.net Northern British Columbia, BC Interior, Kamloops Area Lakes & Rivers Ice Off 2016 Fishing Reports post!
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Englishmen at Kane Valley and Kump at Pike Mountain today.
Guys were ice fishing at Edna.
Another month at least I’d say…
First pic is Englishman???? NO……I can’t wait another month!!! Grrrr…… 🙁
Ya. Sorry Dawn. No signs of thaw anywhere in Kane Valley or south of Aspen Grove. Except for Kidd since it’s aerated. We never ventured along the OK Connector at all, but it’s a good bet those lakes are still solid as well.
The boys ice fishing up at Edna said it’s still 6″ thick. No signs of thaw there yet either – not at the culvert or the farmer’s pond.
Warm weather in the forecast though!
Being from Chilliwack, we have had the luxury of fishing some lakes around Harrison since late January. No trophies , but lots of em. And Kawkawa in Hope is open for fishing already I hear.
Yeah, I don’t find our locals much of a challenge. Even though we’re always c and r, looking for bigger rewards than our locals offer. We like to take the wee trailer and run away for the weekend. Thanks for the info, NymphO!! lol (I’m also a Chilliwackian, we gotta help each other, right?) 🙂
Hey Dawn.
Apparently the gate key to Weaver is available. I heard he will only rent it for camping though and not day trips.
And also water access is open at Hicks for day use. Bows, Cutties, Kokanee and the odd large whitefish to be had there.
The boys from Chwk Dart & Tackle were up 2 weeks ago and chronnies were coming off. Had some pics of 2 & 3 lb bows.
Fishingwithrod posted some pics too.
Have you fished Weaver at all Dawn.
Or anybody on this forum?
I’ve been wanting to but once it’s open in May – too busy. Now would be the time. We tried last year but were stopped by a locked gate. Just found out about getting the key from the ‘gate-keeper’…
Wondering if it’s any better than Francis or Grace. Fish size wise I mean…
Fished it last fall. Nothing of any size. Hot spot seemed to be to the right of the island at the far end. 2 and 3 lbers in which lake? Hicks???
Ya. Hicks. It was a nice weather week just after Feb long wknd.
I’ve never fished it. Info I got on Hicks was from them…
You’ll catch a ton of fish at weaver but they’re all 12-14 inches max
Hey Nympho – I think we might go give Hicks a try tomorrow. Going to head to Chilli D and T today to renew my license and pick somebody’s brain there….might get some good intel on where to fish that lake. Only been there once. Thought about Weaver, but don’t know how to get the key….besides, would much rather catch a 2-3 lber than a bunch of tiddlers.
Pike Mountain.
Hi Guy’s/Gal’s, does anyone know how long until the ice will be off Stump and where to fish it when the ice does come off?
Thanks in advance
Fished it March 27 last year and things seem to be fairly close to the same for this year. As for where, Stump seems to be one of those lakes where finding the fish is key and they’re not always in the same place. Generally though i’d say stay shallow until after turnover.
Murray Lake March 13 … thanks Larry!
Murray Lake as in just off the Coq Murray Lake??? Exit 236??
Ooops, I mean Exit 338??? That seems like it’s at a much higher elevation than Englishman….have I got this all wrong???
That doesnt look like Coquhalla Murray. That shouldnt be off for at least another month. Another Murray perhaps?
You don’t think that looks like the far end past the cabins? Little island in the middle the pic takers point of view? I’m inclined to agree…seems far too early for that lake….I don’t know, I’ve only been there once for a day trip. Googled Murray Lake and that’s the only that came up….??
You could be right Dawn. I’ve fished Murray for years and years, but admittedly we never leave the south end so I don’t know the north as well. We’re heading up to the ‘loops Thursday, I’d be interested to see how the Coquihalla Lakes are. If they’re still solid, Murray definitely will be. If not, I see a Murray trip in the near future!
Hmmm…..never leave the south end, huh?? Interesting!! lol Will keep that in mind!! We had great luck at the other end around the island, but again, nothing of size. Since you seem to be well experienced there, have you caught any fish over 1.5 lbs? It’s a nice lake for a day trip.
There is the odd fish lareger, but they are all defintely in that 1.5 range.
Agree. I would think the Coquihalla Lakes would be a good gauge for Murray. And they are solid.
Sorry. Was thinking of Murphy…
Sorry Nymph, missed your post. You’re right tho’ if Coq lakes are solid Murray surely will be
Murray is a fair bit lower than Murphy and Coq Lakes though, so it might be fishable. That pic shows it is…
Missed that last post from tack243…
Sorry Folks….wrong name on this lake…LOL Phillips in Turtle Valley…..My Bad.
Ahhhh … now it all makes sense! Thanks Larry (I’m assuming)?
Spent 6 hours on Phillips today along with 14 other boats, not one fish as far as I could see was taken out of the lake,water temp was 43 degrees, bit cold still me thinks.
Cheers
Edith today…will be a little longer?
Shoot…how do I rotate?
Fixed … thanks for the report!
Sunday, when I looked, the forecast for Merritt this coming weekend was High of 15; Low of 3. Now it is saying the opposite… High of 3; Low of -14. I wouldn’t expect ice-off on any lakes around there until end of April.
The good thing about fly-fishing is that it instills patience… a virtue I’m still working on…
So I’m considering a trip to Kamloops in the next couple of weeks. Morgan is a lake I’ve been wanting to fish for awhile now. We’d be over-nighting. Are there campsites at Morgan or any other fishable lakes nearby?
Any suggestions are much appreciated.
Camping at Morgan or six mile is not allowed but you might be able to stay near tunkwa or leighton but I’m not sure if those campsites would be open yet. I’ve been fishing morgan a lot and not catching a ton of fish throughout the day only 6-7 between a buddy and I. But I’m going to check out six mile today and see if its fishing any better. I checked out stump 2 nights ago and its clearly breaking up and will probably be iced off within 2 weeks so that could be an option when you come.
Sounds good danfly. Thanks. I look forward to hearing how you make out.
What about Pass lake? Fishable yet?
We sleep in our trucks so can pretty much park anywhere. But a fire is is nice to have…
Sorry NM, but not a chance Pass is anywhere even close to fishable yet
Nymph I was only out for 2 hours yesterday but landed 9 fish at six mile, although I only saw one other person hook into a fish in the time I was there. There were tiny chronies hatching but i didn’t get any takes fishing with them under an indicator also pumped a fish and only found daphnia. I got all my fish on a boobie and in less then 12 feet of water. Hope this helps.
Nice Danfly!
Ya, it seems when they are gorging on zooplankton, you have to use some piss-em-off bugs.
Though I’d think dragging a gumphus or other over-winter bug along the bottom should work now.
Did you get surface water temp? I understand the magic number is 4 degrees C (water is densest at that temp and starts to sink) to trigger turn-over.
Just might see you on the water next decent weekend when I have nothing else I gotta do.
We’ve hit fish on gomphus in both morgan and 6 mile but I’ve found the fish to be suspended in 6 mile lake and they won’t touch that fly that high in the water column. The water temp was 46 on thursday on 6 mile and 44 on morgan.
Use the environment canada forecasts: everything else is utter crap for this area. Weekend is looking like mid-teens around Kamloops so Merritt shouldn’t be much different. As for the late April Merritt area ice-off prediction there is pretty much no chance of that happening unless we get a long stretch of cold weather. I have a feeling there is going to be more than a little bit of open water around here come mid April (i.e. most lakes under the 4,000 ft elevation).
Yes, thanks Art. The difference between enviro canada (which I was checking Sunday via the drivebc app on my phone) and the farmzone weather on my computer at home is just what i mentioned above. I realize they can vary, but that’s nuts. Must have been a mistake…
Bleeker today (courtesy Wayne)
……. no open water 🙁
Horseshoe today (courtesy Wayne )
……. no open water 🙁
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good to know. Thanks
A friend of mine was fishing pass lake April 10 last year and the ice came off the day before. But he figures it won’t be off till closer to the third week of April this year or possibly latter . Weather dependant of course
I just thought I would add to this for those that are interested in recording ice-off dates. I fished Pass last year on April 5th and it was at least 90% ice-off. My guess is that it came off the day before during a pretty strong wind event. That is the earliest that I have ever seen the ice off at Pass. While not at a high elevation, it is in a bit of a valley that is relatively shaded and protected from the wind to some extent. It tends to ice-0ff around the same time as the Roche area lakes, or even a bit later.
Just drove by stump for a quick look
It’s going to be a while yet.
White Lake report anyone?
Should be coming on now one would think…
Another very informative and timely article by our very own Benny S! 😎
https://flyguys.net/fishing-information/still-water-fly-fishing/pre-chironomid-season-early-spring-fly-fishing-strategies
Rode my KLR over the Douglas Lake Rd from Westwold to Quilchena. Stopped beside Chapperon Lake. How is the fishing on this one?
Stopped again at Philips Point on Douglas Lake. Just some very light ice near the shore from last nights frost. Rode past Stump Lake and it is really breaking up nicely, there is more and more open water at the Kamloops end of the lake. Big difference from just a week ago.
The photo is at Douglas Lake.
Thanks Glenn! Did you happen to get a picture of Stump? Do you think there’s enough open water to launch a boat and fish the North (Kamloops) end?
It appeared to me that you had room to fish on the side of the lake across from the highway at the North end. I didn’t take any photo’s but I was impressed with how fast it is changing.