… Official flyguys.net Northern British Columbia, BC Interior, Kamloops Area Lakes & Rivers Ice Off 2017 Fishing Reports post!
As before, please use the comments/reply section at the bottom of this post to share and discuss your 2017 fishing reports, ice off reports, and even (but hopefully not) winter kill reports. Where did you go (not mandatory)? What worked? What didn’t work? General or specific questions about a fly, a technique, or whatever … feel free to ask it here and we’ll try our best to get you an answer! Oh, and a picture is worth a thousand words so please feel free to include one if you can!
Stay up to date by utilizing the subscribe options below the comments section to be notified of any followup comments & posts via e-mail … you don’t even have to comment to subscribe & your email will be kept private!
For those that would like to share a little more than just 2017 fishing reports we encourage you to submit your story (along with images/video links/etc) & we’ll write it up in a stand alone post for ya!
And new for this year our …….
Historic (& Live for 2017) BC Interior Ice Off Chart
Keep providing ice off info in the comments below and we will update the 2017 column! Big thanks to Lando, Tom & Darryl! 😀
-=> PLEASE REFER TO OUR CURRENT YEAR ICE OFF POST <=-
That’s it folks … tight lines & good times to all! 😀
Like our stuff? Subscribe by 
Feed or 
Email .jpg)
Hello Anyone have
info on Philips lake in the turtle valley ?
I hear the ice is off.. can be a tough lake. Picky buggers but nice fish in there
Courtney is fishable as of today. It is about 1/3 off currently, and I expect that the rest will break up tomorrow.
The Kane Valley lakes are all still solid to the edges, but most are starting to show some darker spots.
Thanks for the info! Have you fished it yet? Planning on heading up on Thursday. It’ll be my first time fishing Courtney, any tips?
pic uploader is down?
Ya, and unfortunately I have not been able to figure out what’s wrong with it yet. In the meantime if you paste the URL of a pic you have stored somewhere else (photobucket/fliker/etc) it will show here. Another option is to post it on the FB Page and then grab the embed code and paste it here. And finally you can email pics to [email protected] and I will add them to your post. PITA but it’s time to fish not play with code lol 😀
Find a dropoff with a favourable wind direction and anchor just off the top (in like 5′ of water). Hang a balanced leech (olive worked for me) over the edge of the dropoff 8′ or so under an indicator. Change dropoffs and reposition when the swirling wind shifts (every ten miniutes). Stare at the indicator for hours. Set the hook when it mercifully goes under (or look away momentarily and miss it). Simple! 🙂
Damn … you nailed it! 😉
Salmon lake opened two days ago. I’m guessing the other lakes on the ranch are also open. Heard it’s been quit windy though. What else is new.
I was up there Friday morning. It was like hurricane Winds all day. Calmed down enough Friday early evening to troll with a bucket behind my pontoon boat. Caught two on a burgundy balanced mini leech on the far side off the second bay. The first one was about 2.5 lbs but it was a boot. Didn’t fight at all. Just a gross rainbow. The second was not a spawner and much healthier. Jumped and ran a bunch. but only 2 lbs maybe. The weather got really nice most of Saturday, but the wind had already done its damage and just thrashed the lake. Like a premature power flip or something. I think it killed what could of been great fishing. It was super slow Saturday, but my brother caught a cpl 3 pounders on a brown mini leech with small pumpkin head . The average size is definitely up this year at salmon being it’s in its year 3. It will need a week or so for the lake to settle, that was some of the most wind I’ve seen on a lake in that region.
Hey guys
I’m coming up from the lower mainland on Friday. How close is red lake to icing off. Is it worth the drive out there? Or should I still be focusing on jacko, pat, and Morgan? Thanks for the help
Absolutely not. 2 older gentlemen tried ice fishing a number of days ago and lost their lives
Pass …
Tunkwa …
Spent the last 3 days at Dragon Lake. Very slow. Some people hooking up but didn’t look like anyone could really dial them in. Theyre just not feeding yet. Throat samples are mostly just zooplankton. Couple small 20 chironomids but other than that they aren’t showing a feeding behavior yet. Best fish was 24″… Just nice to be out again 😉
Hey,
I tried Dragon, Ten Mile and Bouchie which were all dead. Barely a bite on all three and just caught one at Bouchie. This was my first fishing just after ice off. Those I spoke too on the lakes said the fishing is usually better after turnover then after ice off.
Is ice off hit and miss at some lakes ? When I go to the cariboo in early June ( as I have the last three years the fishing had been good)
Ya tough fishing right now. I don’t know exactly when that lake turns over.. ive heard ppl say right when the ice comes off and others say it takes about a month. all depends on the wind though. There was some dead vegetation on top but the water clarity was great. Was thinking of trying again this weekend but I might leave it for another week till things warm up and hope for a decent chironomid hatch.
Fished Salmon lake yesterday and this morning. Tuff go. 4 fish yesterday on 4 different flies. One bite today!!! The lake seemed to be turning over. Weird. Still fun to wet the lines.
That wind on Friday was insane. I think it may have started an early flip and kinda killed what would have been fantastic fishing. But ya still a few good fish to be caught.
Large sections of Edith are ice free this morning. The way the wind is blowing today, I imagine a lot more will come off today.
Went back later today. Completely iced off other than that long bay stretching east. Rainbows were going pretty good after the olive pumpkin head on sink tip and slow retrieve.
Thanks for the update UD! How did the fish look … healthy (plump) or skinny? Were you getting any size?
Fish were healthy and had good fight. Caught one real nice one about 20″.
Mamit yesterday …
Hello All, First off I want to thank everyone involved in this 2017 ice off thread. Never better and the spreadsheet is great! I have a few updates below dug up from historical comments on Flyguys.net and the Roche lake FB page.
April 4, 2016 – Good morning! Woke up this morning to see that ICE IS OFF!
March 26, 2015 – The ice is off … except for Carl’s Flats … and fish are being caught!
April 18, 2014 – Ice is off as of April 18th
Posted on May 9, 2011 by krazy Roche Lake – Ice Off, Fish On
——————
Added missing elevations for below using google earth:
Lake Name (m) (ft)
Dragon 600 1969
Napier 732 2404
Ritchie 1427 4682
Shumway 694 2277
Trapp 985 3233
Sorry Hay-Ride
There may be more than one lake with the same name – but
these four are all one after another – so I have:
Ritchie 755 m.
Napier 755 m.
Trapp 730 m.
Shumway 695 m.
My mistake Tom, carry on. My wrong TRAPP lake is also spelled wrong for this TRAP lake.
Couple Scuitto pics from today …
does anyone know if Kentucky or Alleyne are ice free
thanks
Not even close yet
Chris,you said Kentucky still is frozen?
As of monday 100% frozen
I appreciate all of the updates guys! Can’t wait to get out there!
Cheers
Hi
I am planning to fish a lake in the caribou that from reports is likely icing off today.
I can fish it for a week starting either two weeks from today or I can push it back a week and fish it for a week starting three weeks from today.
When is the Fishing likely to be better?
Thanks
Mike
3 weeks.
After a week of ice off(approx) turnover will occur for 7-10 days. Then the fishing will be better. I have found that the later in May for many lakes in the Cariboo the fishing is better.