… Official flyguys.net Northern British Columbia, BC Interior, Kamloops Area Lakes & Rivers Ice Off 2014 Fishing Reports post!
… and hopefully we don’t have to add a winter kill section this year! 😯
As before, please use the comments/reply section at the bottom of this post to share and discuss your 2014 fishing & ice off reports.
Please try to include:
- the name of the lake or the general area 😉 (NOT Mandatory)
- what worked, what didn’t work, & as many other details as you care to share.
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And last, but definitely not least … a BIG thank you to Surplus Herby’s for stepping up yet again to sponsor our 2014 fishing reports post! Be sure to stop in for all your fishing & outdoor gear needs before hitting the water this year!
That’s it folks … tight lines & good times to all! 😀
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Hi Guys,
I’m heading to Roche next Tuesday to Sunday. There are reports of 5000 dead fish from winter kill? Is this correct? Am I wasting my time going to Roche? There have not been many reports and I am just a bit nervous as I only get a few fishing trips each year. I’m thinking too that if they are holding the Fly Fishing Championships there in late May it must not be to bad?
Thanks for any reports 😆
Steve41
Hey Steve41, read this article to help clarify the rumours a bit…
http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/roche-lake-hit-hard-by-winterkill/
I think the numbers in that article are a bit wonky …
“…Maricle said early estimates place winterkill between 1,000 and 1,500 rainbow trout. …leading to speculation 10 to 15 per cent of its stocks were hit.”
Roche lake is stocked with about 24,000 rainbow trout per year. 1500 fish would only be about 6% of one years stocking. Having said that it’s all estimation anyway. More important to me will be the fishing reports over the next couple weeks as Roche should be prime for chronies sometime in that window … would luv to see a good report put the rumors to bed!
Thanks for all the info. I will post a report when we get back on the 20th.
Give it a go…the worst that can happen is you put in a day on Roche and get nothing or only a few fish. You can easily move to Peter Hope, Glimpse, Stump, Black, etc. if it seems like there aren’t many fish around at Roche.
Typically Roche would be experiencing some pretty good chiro fishing by now so if it is dead then it will be a pretty clear indication that the winterkill may have been larger than previously estimated.
Roche Lake Resort just posted that they are seeing lots of fish rising and anglers are catching fish. They have a report of a 2.5# today and a 4# a few days back. They usually post on our Facebook page if you want to follow there …
Does anyone have any info on Warren Lake in the Hyas area ,I know it is rough access as I fished it many years ago. Just wondering how the fishing is lately. Planning a trip in that area soon. Any info will help . Thanks
Still frozen as of today.
…For a lake that supposedly winter killed, there sure is an incredible amount of fish rising up at Mcglashan and no sign of dead fish 😉
Nice. Those O2 samples are indicators based on the levels where and when they test. They are usually fairly reliable but this year it looks like a few lakes have beat the odds. Logan is another lake doing well despite the predictions. Let’s hope there are even more.
Brookies also have a slightly lower oxygen requirement than rainbows so they have a better chance at surviving under low oxygen conditions.
Hey everyone,I was wondering if anyone has been fishing watch lake and also heffley lake.any info about both of these lakes would be great.the wife and I are heading to one of them after the May long weekend .just wondering about turnover and fishing reports.thanks to all.
Island …….
Does anyone know if Duffy Lake (below Dairy) has iced off yet? I assume it has, but was hoping to get a definitive answer. If not, a best guess of the likelihood would be greatly appreciated.
Tight Lines
DC
100% chance that Duffy is ice-free and probably has been for over a week.
Thanks Art. When you only have so many opportunities to get out, you don’t want to waste valuable time on the water by finding out your target lake is still iced over. Much appreciated.
Dairy Lake is also ice off now, probably in the last few days. It’s just below the snow line right now, and the little pond just up the hill still had ice on it.
Ok LML her looking for a small lake full of small pennask biters to take two daughters (13 & 15) fishing who enjoy fishing when catching is fairly constant but solving the riddle of the day is not an acceptable part of the activity yet! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
Chataway, Face, Paska in the Merritt area. Maybe Davis in the Voght Valley? Actually, if you’re not intent on Pennasks and you want to stay closer to home, you should hit Trout Lake in Sasquatch Provincial Park near Harrison. It is absolutely full of 8-10? cutties. Lots of fun for the kids.
Walloper is good like that as well (between Merritt and Kamloops).
AirBC,
I agree with both Deesee and Christian, these are all excellent suggestions,
I have taken kids to these lakes as well and they are all steady producers but as Tom was saying below that Paska may not be iced off in time(I’m surprised to hear myself). Hicks and Deer lake (sasquatch)are closer for you, I used to spend a weekend every summer there when I lived in the LML, But I don’t know of any lake anywhere that you can have better odds at for kids than Walloper…all wild trout as far as I know and very similar to Pennasks, they are quite small but tend to fight hard for their size and jump alot. Your average fish will be maybe 1/2 lb, there are some 1lb and always the possibility hooking one of the elusive 1.5-2lb’ers. Another one I know of from friends but have never fished myself is Tranquille Lake it is also loaded with small rainbows as well as kokanee, I believe if i’m not mistaken also has a daily catch limit of 10 fish per person because there is so many. Hope the girls have an awesome trip wherever you end up taking them, I never see enough kids out on the lakes, always great to see! Cheers
Yep. I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter already have Walloper blocked in as my pilot lake to get her addicted to fishing. Honestly, I think you could tie a piece of yarn on a bare hook and catch fish. When the wife needs a break, playground or fishing?? Walloper is definitely the place.
Thanks again Guys will hit all of them soon with the kids and will wait a little longer! This site is great and a pleasure to keep up with thanks to all!! Kids these days are so plugged in literally that you don’t get a lot of chances and being a bit selfish went for size instead of quantity a few times on previous trips and that back fired!
Any last minute reports of Roche?
One of my buddies fished it today … it’s alive … he had a good day, lots of fish! 🙂
GREAT to hear…… Yahoooo with the warm weather forecast for this week I hope the chronies will be happening. 😆
Finally heading to Roche tomorrow morning for 5 days. I will post a report when I get back!
Checked Paska Lake today, Sunday, Mothers Day, and I would be surprised it is ice off before the ling weekend. If I this changes, I will post here, but I am sceptical this will be the case.
LOL – make that the long weekend !
Ling weekend would be sweet though….when all of the burbot come out to feed…make for great barbecues.
Checked out Warren Lake today ,still ice on, but very close with warm weather this week should be fine for this weekend.
Has anyone tried fishing heffley lake lately ?
Heffley is rocking and rolling!!
Thanks Wayne .
Any suggestions on flys to use?
Can’t go wrong fishing chironomids at this time of year. Start with a size 14 chromie and then match the hatch as necessary if that doesn’t produce.
Has anyone been up to Badger or little Badger? I’m thinking of heading up there for the weekend.
Who knows if dragon strain are more piscivorous or strictly insectivores? I would assume they are more similar to blackwaters in behaviour as opposed to pennasks???? anyone?
Dragon is used as a brood stock lake for Blackwater strain rainbow trout. In other words there is no such thing as “Dragon strain” trout, they are Blackwaters. Yes, they can be more piscivorous than Pennasks but this all depends on the lake they are stocked into (i.e. if it doesn’t have baitfish, they will happily eat insects).
Always appreciate your input Art, but this just doesn’t make sense to me, what I understand is Blackwaters originated from the Blackwater river and Dragon strain are native to Dragon Lake, both different. If you read the stocking charts you will be able find lakes that claim to stock both strains for example…x amount of BW and x amount of dragon, there must be a difference otherwise why would the ffsbc distinguish the two as separate if they are infact the same strain??? and you will also find them under their own category when searching for specific stocked strains. As per ffsbc, these are the strains that are stocked locally here in BC…pennasks, Fraser Valley, Blackwater, Gerrard, Tzenzacuit, Dragon, Carp, Premier, Tunkwa and fish all of which are different.
Apologies…I realize this is not a fishing report but as the forum is still down I thought to ask everyone here as I will be fishing in lakes this year that claim to stock them, one in particular this weekend that stocks dragons,blackwaters and pennasks.
And how does Tunkwa have it’s own strain if it’s stocked with diploid bw and pennasks???? oh the confusion!
Maybe move this over to your strains blog Rob!
Dragon Lake was historically full of coarse fish species and was treated with toxaphene (or some other poisonous substance back in the 1960’s). The lake was then re-stocked with a mix of Pennasks, and other strains from hatcheries in Washington state. Starting in 1988, Blackwaters have been predominantly stocked into the lake. Thus, any “native” Dragon Lake fish are genetically a mix of those strains with Blackwater being the predominant stocked species over the past 25 years I would expect the naturally spawning Dragon Lake fish to exhibit most of the traits of the Blackwater strain.
As for Tunkwa, it is essentially the same situation. A native “Tunkwa” fish is merely the offspring of whatever strains of rainbow have been historically stocked.
Hopefully this clears up the issue.
I thank you for all information provided Art, very much appreciated!
Has anyone been up to watch lake in 70 mile.i am trying to decide on which lake I should go to this coming long weekend.its either heffley or watch.any info would be great.fish on!!!!!!
Hi All –
I just talked to the lady who looks after the Paska Lake rec site. As of Wednesday the 14th the lake was full Ice Off. – – – Boy was my guestimate off! Six units in the campsite and they are fishing! Might have to join them – –