Looking to beat the summer doldrum ... get high!
Mid August and off the wife and I went on our annual Soak up the Sun Summer tour. As usual we headed for Kamloops and Vernon. They were calling for temperatures in the 30’s C and that was just fine with us as we don’t have to deal with that kind of hot weather living up north. I have a theory that you need a full day of plus for every week of to we get in the winter just to thaw out your bone marrow! The downside is most of the lakes in the area are in serious duldrums. There are a few tools in the ol” tackle box for these conditions. What comes to mind is full super sink lines, fishing at night and CIL products. Just kidding about the CIL. The only thing left is to get high … and by that I mean elevation. 😉
It’s become a bit of a ritual now to hook up with buds in Vernon and head up into the Monashee’s mountains. We target lakes over 5000 feet in elevation. These lakes have short ice free seasons and with cooler water temperatures the trout remain aggressive all summer. With the above average snowfall and late spring the boys figured that the lake we ended up on was inaccessible until well into July!
Breakfast attire at 5000 feet!
Now when fishing lakes like this you have to adjust your mindset right off the hop. There isn’t going to be 6-7 lbers lurking in the depths. There might be an odd 5 lber but I haven’t seen or touched one in the last 15 years. With your expectations in check you now can enjoy the many 8-14 inch rainbows. This fishing trip with Rick and Don is usually an over nighter and with two days of fishing I believe ” the fish” of the trip was Rick’s 18 inch bow.
Rick's "fish of the trip"!
There were small chironomids coming off but what caught our eye was the small tan Caddis skittering across the lake every now and then. The surface water temperature was around 60 degrees and the fly of the trip was a Brian Chan caddis pupae, sizes #10 and #12 fished on full sink and intermediate lines.
So when the temps are scorching and you’re wondering about fishing, look up …. look waayyyy up and I’ll call Rusty. 🙂
Gord FGND
Like our stuff? Subscribe by 
Feed or 
Email .jpg)
