May 28
Fish Langford Lake early. Catch only 3 small fish.
Sort out gear and load car. Leave John McI's at 10 AM. Visit C's and then head across to the mainland n 3 PM ferry.
There is something in Allison Pass that should not be there this time of year - snow.
There is a ranch here where they make their fences out of old tires.
I drive almost to Osoyoos before getting tired. Sleep in car near Nighthawk.
May 29
Sleep in late cuz it is very windy. Too windy to fish. On the way into Osoyoos there are depressions that do not drain out to anywhere, so they become shallow ponds or small lakes in winter. The soil is alkaline, so as the ponds dry up they leave salt deposits behind. Over many years the salt deposits acquire an almost geometric quality to them. This lake is drying out.
And you can see many years of salt deposits coming to the surface.
But when I get to Osoyoos Lake at 8 AM it is fairly calm. Cloudy & breezy.I only know of one free boat launch in town, and they are tering everything apart here and rebuilding it as a new marina.
They have the old lagoon sealed off, with big pumps on shore so they can pump out of the lagoon.
I fish onlyl the city lagoon. It is slow but I catch 6 fish before leaving at noon. No big fish. Mostly little SMs up to 1.5 lbs. One nice LM about 2.5 lbs from N shore of main lagoon. There is little action in the channel at the end. The lake is very high.
In the afternoon I head up to Pentiction. Vaaseaux Lake is very high, cold and muddy.
Never seen it like this at this time of year. A couple boats are fishing, but it does not interest me.
I head down a side road to get a look at Skaha Lake. The big reef looks outstanding, as usual.
In Penticton I buy a rollup keyboard for my mini computer, then find the boat ramp at the N end of Skaha Lake. It is a weekend, and a party day on Skaha. This corner of the lake is calm.
The water looked clear at the S end, but it is stained here. I launch and head across to the NW corner, where I saw same gravel bars in Goggle Earth. But it is windy on the other side, can't find the gravel bars, only get one follow along shore, no bites.
The water looked clear at the S end, but it is stained here. I launch and head across to the NW corner, where I saw same gravel bars in Goggle Earth. But it is windy on the other side, can't find the gravel bars, only get one follow along shore, no bites.
Had planned to fish the evening bite at Osoyoos Lake, but it is windy and drizzly, with a storm brewing at the top end where I want to fish.
So I head up the wicked switchbacks on Anarchist Mountain. 2nd time this Bullship has been up this hill.
I bid farewell to this big challenging lake. Glad I did not try to fish here tonite.
I head on to the W and sleep in the car near Castlegar.
So I head up the wicked switchbacks on Anarchist Mountain. 2nd time this Bullship has been up this hill.
I bid farewell to this big challenging lake. Glad I did not try to fish here tonite.
I head on to the W and sleep in the car near Castlegar.
May 30
Leave at 6 AM, get cas and coffee in Castlegar, and soon I am heading up the Salmo-Creston Skyway. At the start of the big grade there is a Rocky Mountain sheep standing in the middle of the hwy, licking salt off the centerline. As I get closer it calmly walks over to the edge of the road and poses for a pic.
I have never seen a wild one this close before.
Last June there was a bit of snow at the summit of the skyway, but this year it is ridiculous. The snow is piled as high as the pontoon boat on top of my car. Only 3 weeks from the summer solstice!
This is why they hwy used to take a ferry across Kootenay Lake - so you did not have to climb over this godawful mouontain. On the way down the E side of the big grade a cinnamon colored black bear is eating grass and weeds beside the hwy.
Bears love to eat grass in the spring.
arrive in Creston at 8 AM. Go directly to a motel where I work on an application for a GIS job with the Nature Conservancy and on the blog all day. It is a beautiful spring day. No wind, warm, with hazy hi cloud. Everybody says it is the finest day of the year. I do not leave my motel room except to get a slurpy.
May 31
Stay in hotel & finish resume. Leave at 11 AM. Go to Kootenay Employment Center, log in to system, want tofax resume to Nature Conservancy, but I call first. The job is in N Vancouver. The only place in BC I do not want to live. Why did I waste half a day prepping an application for this job?
I head up to Duck Lake - aka the Pig Farm. The road into the top end is gated & locked. I will not be camping here. There are a few Sara's orangetip butterflies hanging around here. Beautiful creatures, common in early spring in BC and Oregon. Theyusually keep fluttering around and almost never land.So they are hard to get a picture of. But here they are landing on one particular flower only.
Wonder if this is what their caterpillars feed on? This is the closest I have ever been able to get to take a pic of one.
Instead I find a road across from Sirdar pub. The sign says you need a permit from Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, who control all the wetlands around here. Costs $25 per year to leave a boat on the lake. Otherwise, there is no access from this side,and this is a big lake where no motors of any kind are allowed.
A local from across the highway comes along walking his dog. Says the fishing is lousy nowadays, cuz the lake has been fished out by ice fishermen in winter. This is one of the few lakes in the world where there is a significant ice fishery for LM bass. The lake is so shallow - seldon over 6 ft - that the bass are easy to find in winter, I guess. He says all the big ones have been fished out in winter.
I head up to Duck Lake - aka the Pig Farm. The road into the top end is gated & locked. I will not be camping here. There are a few Sara's orangetip butterflies hanging around here. Beautiful creatures, common in early spring in BC and Oregon. Theyusually keep fluttering around and almost never land.So they are hard to get a picture of. But here they are landing on one particular flower only.
Wonder if this is what their caterpillars feed on? This is the closest I have ever been able to get to take a pic of one.
Instead I find a road across from Sirdar pub. The sign says you need a permit from Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, who control all the wetlands around here. Costs $25 per year to leave a boat on the lake. Otherwise, there is no access from this side,and this is a big lake where no motors of any kind are allowed.
A local from across the highway comes along walking his dog. Says the fishing is lousy nowadays, cuz the lake has been fished out by ice fishermen in winter. This is one of the few lakes in the world where there is a significant ice fishery for LM bass. The lake is so shallow - seldon over 6 ft - that the bass are easy to find in winter, I guess. He says all the big ones have been fished out in winter.
There is a trail to the lake. Must be 20 aluminum & fiberglass skiffs on the shore here, all flipped upside down and cabled to trees. I go back up and pack the pontoon boat down, about a 5 minute hike. Then go back up for rods, oars, etc. Now ready to head out. It is glassy calm.The wasy it seldom is at this lake.
There are some litle blule butterlies sipping water from the sand at the lake edge. Spring azures?
Takes about ½ hour to catch the first fish.
Then I get caught in a rain squall, go back in, and hike up to the car to get the anchor and air pump
There are some litle blule butterlies sipping water from the sand at the lake edge. Spring azures?
Takes about ½ hour to catch the first fish.
Then I get caught in a rain squall, go back in, and hike up to the car to get the anchor and air pump
When I go back out I start getting into fish.
Lots of them.
Bigger fish.
Pre-spawn. Not on beds yet.
I head N towards the lake outlet, where I also see some rockfaces on shore. Its gets windier, and a dark overcast makes me think of trying topwatesr in the middle of the afternoon. I get a flurry of good hits on a zara spook, but they all miss. Not to worry, since I find that I can catch every one of these fish by throwing a yim worm back to the spot where they hit the spook.
Lots of them.
Bigger fish.
Pre-spawn. Not on beds yet.
I head N towards the lake outlet, where I also see some rockfaces on shore. Its gets windier, and a dark overcast makes me think of trying topwatesr in the middle of the afternoon. I get a flurry of good hits on a zara spook, but they all miss. Not to worry, since I find that I can catch every one of these fish by throwing a yim worm back to the spot where they hit the spook.
This lake is much more complicated than I thought. Many different types of weeds. Some are only a foot tall off the bottom, but I get into patches that are already emerging from 5 ft of water good fishing around these deep weeds. I break off an enormous bass along this deep weed edge. Then ans other. Cannot handle the fish in this lake with only 10 lb line and a crappy Mitchell 300 drag.
Most of the fish are coming from weeds far offshore. But I see a beaver dam.
There are always fish around beaver dams. I throw the worm into a stickpile the beavers have made next to the entrance of their lodge. Only 2 ft deep here, but I get a big swirl right away. Another fat sow from the pig farm.
By evening I make it to the rockface. Still not deep here. Nothing deeper than 6 ft anywhere I have been today. On the way back I try topwater with the spook again. Late in the evening there is another flurry of topwater hits, and this time I catch all 4 before the lake goes dead.
Fantastic and unique bass fishery here. Tough place to fish. Big lake,wide open, no coves, no shelter. If the wind blows you are screwed. Most of the lake seems to have few or no fish at this time of year. But there are still lots of bass in here. Not shy about biting either if you can find them.
Most of the fish are coming from weeds far offshore. But I see a beaver dam.
There are always fish around beaver dams. I throw the worm into a stickpile the beavers have made next to the entrance of their lodge. Only 2 ft deep here, but I get a big swirl right away. Another fat sow from the pig farm.
By evening I make it to the rockface. Still not deep here. Nothing deeper than 6 ft anywhere I have been today. On the way back I try topwater with the spook again. Late in the evening there is another flurry of topwater hits, and this time I catch all 4 before the lake goes dead.
Fantastic and unique bass fishery here. Tough place to fish. Big lake,wide open, no coves, no shelter. If the wind blows you are screwed. Most of the lake seems to have few or no fish at this time of year. But there are still lots of bass in here. Not shy about biting either if you can find them.
As I get back to the trail where all the boats are stored there are about 15 people all standing in a crowd, laughing and fishing for bass. I guess that is how they do it around here. They don't seem to be accomplishing much besides tangling each others lines.
June 1
I wake early but am too lazy to go out fishing for an hour or so. It gets lite before 4 AM here now. Much windier this morn. But the spook works good in a chop, and I start getting surface hits. Nothing like last spring when I was here and huge fish were crashing the spook. Mostly smaller fish this year. Again, most of them just blow up on the spook and miss, but I catch every one on the next cast throwing a worm at the same spot.
I break off 2 more big bass. I can fish in Oregon all year and maybe break off one fish, but here I am breaking fish off every hour or 2. Should not fish this lake with 10 lb line. Must have at least 15, better with 20. The big fish are all coming on the black yum worm.
20" LM, Duck Lake
A hook a fat pig, have it within 20 ft of the boat when it shakes off. Must have been at least 7 lbs. 2nd biggest bass I have ever seen clearly on the other end of my line. There are some real toads in this lake. I am driven back in to shore by wind and rain. In a flash I lite off a few pine needles with my bic liter, toss a few more needles on, then some twigs and branches, and wait out the cold squall under a big dry pine near the radiant comfort of a nice fire.
Then back to fishing. Still getting fish, but it is getting windier, and I finally give up.
World class fishing on a piece of crap day. 2 days ago it was glassy calm with high overcast – perfect day for bass fishing. And I spent the whole day sitting in a dark motel room typing on a computer. Now that I go out fishing the weather is rank.
I load out, and meet the same guy in the parking lot. Is he checking me out on behalf of the rods & Game Club? If so he does not say anything. I don't even know if I have permission to launch my boat here. I head back into Creston to blog for a few hours at a cafe. Then at 5 PM it is time for Hockey Nite in Canada! Vancouver Canucks vs Boston Bruins, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup. Seems like it has been centuries since a Canadian team won. The Canucks have been the best team in the league all year. Now they need to win 4 more games.
I find a pub and have a beer, plus steak & pasta ($10 – good deal!). Takes 45 minutes of hype and BS before they finally start playing hockey, but it turns out to be a great game. By the start of the 3rd period it is still scoreless and I need to order another big mug of beer. 5 minutes left, still scoreless. 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute. This game is going into overtime, scoreless. 30 seconds left, and I am about to signal for another beer when Raffi Torres slaps in a great pass HE SCORES! Canucks win 1-0.
I quickly head back to Duck Lake. Will camp in my car on the dike road. Maybe get there in time to get the last of the topwater bite. There is about 5 miles of bad pothole road out to the W shore of the lake. I can walk faster than I can tow a boat over this road. Never ever gets graded. But this is why most of the public never come out here to experience this superb bass fishery and spectacular bird sanctuary. I make a few casts into the sunset with the spook -no bites.
Tonite I will sleep next to the car on my foamy. But I am right on the shore of the lake, and a cold N wind begins to blow. It feels good at first, but gets colder and colder. The side of me that is facing into the wind cannot get warm. It is June, and still so cold I have to retreat into the car to stay warm.
June 2
The pontoon is rigged and ready for the dawn bite, but the weather does not cooperate. A screaming N wind is pounding right onto my shore. No way I am going out in this. The wind is unpredictable here. A big dark storm cloud will build up over the mountains and a cold wind will pour in all directions out from it .Look for the darkest part of the sky and that is where the wind will be coming from. I sleep late and then blog for a couple hours in my car when suddenly I look out and see the wind has stopped. I head out across the lake, heading to the spot where I caught so many last spring, stopping every 50 oar strokes to cast the worm out as a test to locate fish. Nothing, nothing, nothing. This is a big lake, and much of it does not seem to contain any bass at all. I fish for a mile and a half, hook only 1 fish, before I get near my honey hole from last year. I am getting bites now, but from small fish. Finally I ciatch one. It is a perch, another introduced non-native species. I did not know there were perch in this lake. This is what the bass eat, and why they get so big. Finally I am back where I did well last year, and I get into a good fish right away.
By the time I release it the wind has come up again, from the opposite direction. Now I will have to row back thru it to get to my car. I begin to catch some fish again, tho it is very slow here compared to last year. Soon I need to anchor in order to hold myself in the wind. I catch a few while anchored into the wind, just to prove I could do it. Then I give up. This is just too hard. Not fun fishing. Time for the long row back across the lake.
These pontoon boats are great in whitewater, OK to row across calm water, horrid to row back into a wind and chop. It takes me almost 2 hours of brutal rowing to make it back to my car. Can't stop for a moment, cuz I would blow down to the other end of the lake 3 miles away in 15 minutes. When I finally get back to the car my right hand is cramped and twisted for the next 2 hours. I head back to a cafe in Creston and blog until 9 PM, then drive back out to the lake and sleep in the car at a pullout beside the highway.
June 3
I head down to the Sirdar launch site at first lite. It is unseasonable cold today. Pack my pontoon and gear down to the water. It is blowing offshore, so there is a calm spot near the launch site. I head out, throwing the spook around. It gets a hits but nothing big. I switch to the worm and hook a big fish on the first cast that breaks off. It has been many years – if ever - since I have broken off this many fish. Now the wind switches 180 degrees, bigger waves blowing right into my spot now. Must hike back up to the car to get my anchor. I am wearing a T shirt, heavy cotton shirt and heavy sweater. It is June, but so cold I must flash up a little fire to warm up enough to get motivated to head back out. This time I rig the big 7 ft rod with the heavier line up with one of my genius creations. I have welded two 5” yum worms together with a bic liter, to make one giant 10” worm. I start catching fish on both rods and worms, but it is getting windier again. I catch a nice bass, start pulling the hook out with my needlenose pliers. What is this? The fish has 2 black yum worms stuck in its mouth!
Now I am the only person within 100 miles of here fishing with black yum worms. Only one explanation: This is one of the fish that broke off here 2 days ago. I pull out 1 worm...
Then pull out the other.
Stupid fish – how many times are you gonna fall for the phony rubber worm trick?
Later I try throwing the giant worm out in one direction, let it sit on the bottom, and throw the 5” worm with the other rod, which gets bit right away. But as I am reeling in the big rod starts bending over. Oh no – doubleheader in the pontoon boat in the wind.
As I am reaching in to get the pliers I carelessly drop them overboard. Should not be catching this many fish without having pliers handy to help with a quick release, and it is getting really windy. Time to bail on this windy lake and head into Creston for breakfast and blogging. At the restaurant I meet a local who tells me that Invermere Lake, about 2 hours drive from here, is now loaded with bass.
After lunch I haul the Bullship over to the boat launch on the Kootenay River. Last year I went up a side channel and caught a bass way up at the other end. Looks like there should be good bass fishing in here, but hard to tell at this time of year when the river is so high. All the back channels are filled with cold floodwater. This year I will head up the other direction. Looks like I should be able to run about 6 miles up this channel and get back into the river at the other end. Never know until you explore.
Just like last year there is a big logjam under the bridge where the side channels connect to the river. Takes me a while but I manage to plow thru. It will be harder to get back out when I return. Up the channel I come upon a couple of pretty little inlets. One is the mouth of Corn Creek. Super looking bass habitat, but I do not even bother to make a cast today. Water is too high and cold. About 2 miles up I come upon another bigger log jam. Could get thru with a lot of work, but I give up and turn around instead. Must get back in here some other time, in August or September when the water is warm.
At the bridge I must fight my way back thru the logjam to get out. Tough sledding, and a local guy on a bike is watching from above. Says he sees lots of canoers and kayaks in here, but never speedboats here before. Says they catch big bass up this channel in summer.
Sun is trying to come out now, and I hike up the Balancing Rock Trail to get a look at Leech Lake. There are butterflies coming out, and I take some pics. Then head back to Duck Lake.
It is still windy from the S, but much less so. I have breen wanting to explore the outlet channels from the lake, which look good for bass. Never made it that far yet, so I will let the wind blow me up there while I fish. I try a white spinnerbait for a while – no bites. Then I throw out a black yum tworm and get a fish first cast. I am drifting thru the deep emergent weeds, and there are bass around the edges. I catch a dozen or so – all small, nothing over 1 ½ lbs. Where have the big ones gone? When the deep weeds end so do the bass. I get no more bites except from perch. Finally get to the mouth of the outlet channel. I catch 3 small bass in a row right inside the entrance. This whole complex of channels will be hot! But it is not. I do not get another bite all the way up to the outlet dam. There is a crossing channel here, and a guy fishing at the top end. He comes down to the dam when I get there. I ask him how the fishing is and he says great! He has caught 3, and 2 were big ones. He is using a rubber frog.
This is the poorest fishing I have ever had on this side of the lake. How can this local yokel be catching more than me on his rubber frog? How could there be a lure that outfishes the black yum worm? I toss my worm into the top end of the side channel and hook a huge pig instantly. It takes me into the weeds and gets off. Next cast I get a fat 3 lber. I paddle in to shore with the fish and get him to take my pic before releasing it. Then I catch another bass on the next cast, and the next, and the next. Hey, what kind of worm are yuo using? And another bass on the next cast, and the next, and the next. The guy is rumaging thru his tackle box, looking for something that resembles a black yum worm. He is fishing too, but not getting bites. I catch 8 bass on my first 8 casts before I finally make a cast that does not get bit. Where do you get those worms?
I continue down to the end of the channel, which is maybe 100 meters long and 10 tmeters wide. This little spot is swarming with bass. The guy is stupefied watching me catch them one after another. He is ransacking his tackle box, trying every lure he can think of. Hey – how much does one of those pontoon boats cost?
This is the hottest bass fishing I have ever seen. Seldom takes more than 3-4 seconds after my worm hits the water for it to get bit. The guy is desperately trying to buy a yum worm from me.
We are in an unspoken competition. An hour later we meet up at the the end of the channel. Final score:
Him: 1 fish
Me: 27 fish
I give him a yum worm and show him how to rig it. He drives off into the sunset, vowing to buy a pontoon boat from
The only downside is that I want to get a pic of the last fish I catch – a 4 lb toad, right in front of him. I paddle in to the shore, but it is too steep and deep for my gumboots. Holding the fish in one hand, and passing him my oar so he can pull me in, and my camera slips off my lap into the lake. 3 days of pics gone. Some super images there – the fish I caught with 2 yum worms, the doubleheader in the pontoon boat. The pic I snapped off after the eagle caught the osprey's bass in midair. All gone except in my memory. Thank god my brain is inside my skull, or I would drop that overboard too.
Now it is time for the long paddle back to the launch site. Almost glassy calm now. Perfect evening for a topwater bite, but I do not even make a cast. Want to get back to the launch before it is totally dark. I leave the pontoon on the beach, and head in to Creston to get a pizza. Then sleep in the car. Tomorrow is supposed to be hot and sunny. A perfect morn for bass fishing.
June 4
I wake up early. It is a perfect calm clear morn. But I am not into fishing. My gear is a train wreck after 3 days of carnage at Duck Lake. My fingers are torn and bleeding from hooks and the sandpaper teeth of bass. I have been fighting the wind, rain and cold ever since I got here. I walk down to the lake and it is perfectly calm. But I pack my pontoon and gear back up to the car. I have laid a stupendous beating on the wily bass here. Time to try another lake. After coffee and blogging in Creston I head N and E up Hwy 3. I will check out Windermere Lake.
The hwy follows the Goat River out of town. Everywhere across BC now there are signs out saying “Go Canucks Go!” But here, in the Goat River watershed, the signs say: “Goat Canucks Goat!”
Into the Moyie River watershed now. Moyie Lake was apparently planted with smallmouth bass long ago. When I first moved to BC the provincial hwy map listed Moyie Lake and River as smallmouth bass water. But they seem to be gone now. A fascinating occurrence. If this is true it is the only place on earth I am aware of where bass died off from natural causes. And even more odd because the lake is almost all rock shore. Should be prime SM habitat. A recent electrofishing survey by the province turned up juvenile LM bass. The A-hole bucket brigade in action again. I can see from the hwy that this is lousy LM habitat. The Canadian Pacific mainline runs beside the lake, and here they have the biggest conglomeration of railroad equipment I have ever seen.
On into Cranbrook, a big railroad city where I buy a new camera. With a 10X zoom. E of town I get back to the Kootenay River, which I left at Creston. It has made a huge loop S into the US. Flowing S here down the great Rocky Mountain Trench, which runs from the Northwest Territories to Colorado. Across the river and up a few miles is Wasa Lake, which the internet claims is a bass lake. The internet has never been known to he wrong, so I must head over to check it out.
I have looked at Wasa Lake in Google Earth. Looks like a really lousy bsss lake. Just a series of interconnected shallow pits, with a very unstable water level, surrounded by houses. Shoreline is all sll shallow beaches with zero structure. Many of the docks are do not even reach the water, at a time when other lakes are flooded.
My first thought as I putter out from the boat launch is that this lake sucks. I will probably never come here again. The water is very clear, 15 ft vis at least, no weeds, no steep dropoffs, nowhere for a fish to hide except under docks. I have left my new camera battery at a convenience store to charge, so I will explore the lake first. Then go back out and fish when I have the camera with me. I begin to see bass – a couple in deeper water, but also a few in shallow, hiding under docks. I resist the urge to cast to these fish. Wait till I have the camera.
The convenience store guy says last fall was the lowest the lake has ever been. Many docks are not even in the water, and the rest are barely in. Back at the lake a guy is testing the water with a thermometer. It is 7C he says. Pretty cold for bass spawning, but when you are high in the blue Canadian Rockies you gotta do what you gotta do. I hear 2 guys chatting at the other end of the parking lot.
The wind is blowing my way, and I can barely hear something about Tofino, which makes me listen cuz I used to live there. Do you know Harvey McGilvary? No. “Hey”, I yell, “I know Harvey McGilvary!” Used to be a geoduck diver who lived on his sailboat in Tofino. Turns out this guy, who is just launching a paddleboard, is his brother in law.
The wind is blowing my way, and I can barely hear something about Tofino, which makes me listen cuz I used to live there. Do you know Harvey McGilvary? No. “Hey”, I yell, “I know Harvey McGilvary!” Used to be a geoduck diver who lived on his sailboat in Tofino. Turns out this guy, who is just launching a paddleboard, is his brother in law.
Wasa is a party lake,and the public beach next to the boat launch is already a madhouse.
I head out and start throwing the worm in to docks. In terms of scenery, this lake is stupendous.
I catch a few. Nice bass but not big.
I know there is one hiding under the walkway of this dock, cuz I saw it hiding there an hour ago. I make a long cast that drops right into the spot, and the fish is on the worm instantly, then jumps over the anchor chain and dives back under the dock. I must ease my way in with the electric motor, while the fish is jumping and thrashing under the dock. Amazing C&R.
I head out and start throwing the worm in to docks. In terms of scenery, this lake is stupendous.
I catch a few. Nice bass but not big.
I know there is one hiding under the walkway of this dock, cuz I saw it hiding there an hour ago. I make a long cast that drops right into the spot, and the fish is on the worm instantly, then jumps over the anchor chain and dives back under the dock. I must ease my way in with the electric motor, while the fish is jumping and thrashing under the dock. Amazing C&R.
Bass resting in the bw. Blue Canadian Rockies in the background.
A pair of deer come down to drink
Don't seem to mind the locals partying on the beach across the pond.
This lake is crystal clear. Probably 20 - 30 ft vis. So the fish are a very bright and bold color pattern. But becaue of the clear water they are also very spooky. Takes long pinpoint casts to drop the worm in on them without scaring them first.I catch a couple on a 9" yum worm worm.
Small fish on a big worm
I hook one under a dock in deep water. It jumps over the corner of the dock, and the line gets caught in a sliver. Another amzing C&R.
A bigger fish would have broken off 10 line. But I was able to release this one.
I end up catching 8 and losing 3. A really boring lake to fish. Wasa is a party lake. Great place for swimming, water skiing, paddleboarding, jet skiing. Piece o' crap for bass fishing. If the lake had another 5 or 10 feet of water it would be way better.
When I launched the parking lot was full and the beach was packed. All afternoon the lake has been noisy, wit. h kids splashing and playing. Suddenly everything has gone quiet. When I get back to the boat launch at 4:45 the parking lot is empty, and there is not a soul on the beach. It is still hot out. What is going on?
Simple answer. It is Hockey Nite in Canada! And the game starts at 5 PM. Everybody is inside watching CBC. I load out quickly, drive out to the hwy and find a pub. Sit down at a table and order a beer. Other people are streaming in to watch the game. Again, there is endless BS and commercials before the game starts. A couple sit down next to me and we start talking. About my age. Turns out they are ocean kayakers, have often paddled around Clayoquot Sound, where I used to live. Always stay at Vargas Island Lodge. Do I happen to know Neil aBuckle? Well, I helped build the Vargas Island Lodge. Spent years there. Neil is a great guy, and an old buddy from way back in time.
The Canucks jump out to a 1-0 lead, but the Bruins tie and then go ahead 2-1. Looking bad into the 3rd period, when the Canucks score to tie it. Will they score another goal with 19 seconds left to win, so I do not have to buy another beer? No, but I have faith. I nurse my last inch of beer all the way thru intermission, talking with the locals about fishing and Tofino. Must get up to Windermere Lake before dark, and I know the Canucks will score quickly in overtime to accommodate me.
Overtime starts and everybody is so busy talking and drinking that I am the only one watching TV. It takes about 9 seconds and the Canucks score. Game over!. Canucks are now a lock. Will return the Stanley Cup to its rightful home in Canada for the first time since the past ice age. I quickly say goodbye and go to pay my bill, only to find that one of my mugs of beer has already been paid for by my new found friends.
Heading up the Kootenay now. This Rocky Mtn Trench is truly impressive country. Looking E you see the spine of the Rockies, still covered in snow.
The Kootenay River comes baarreling out of the Rockies and enters the trench from the E., around a huge bluff.
Also filling the trench immediately to the N is Columbia Lake, about 15 km long, the source of the Columbia River.
The Columbia will flow N thru the trench for 300 km, and then a huge loop back to the S. The Kootenay will flow S down the trench, and then make a loop back to the N. The 2 rivers join at Castlegar.
The Kootenay River comes baarreling out of the Rockies and enters the trench from the E., around a huge bluff.
Also filling the trench immediately to the N is Columbia Lake, about 15 km long, the source of the Columbia River.
The Columbia will flow N thru the trench for 300 km, and then a huge loop back to the S. The Kootenay will flow S down the trench, and then make a loop back to the N. The 2 rivers join at Castlegar.
I am almost out of gas, running on fumes, will not make it to Windermere, when I get to a gas station. Just after I fill up they shut the lites off. Just made it. As I pay my bill I ask about a boat launch into Windermere Lake. The lady says there is a fishing tackle store a few miles up the road. The guy might still be there, even tho it is after 9 PM. I find the place, and the guy is in his truck ready to leave when I stop him. Talk about serendipity. He says Windermere Lake is full of big bass. Fish the docks and lily pads.
Unlike Tennessee or Georgia, BC has pullouts and rest stops all along the hwys. I find a nice rest stop with free washroom and toilets. This is a place where they respect the rights of itinerant blogging bass fishermen.
June 5
Head N at first lite. I immediately cross a bridge.
This is the headwater of one of the great rivers of the world – the mighty Columbia. Begins its life as the outflow from Columbia Lake just upstream, and then flows about 10 km into Windermere Lake, where I want to fish. I drive thru the town of Windermere without knowing it, and end up in Invermere at the N end of the lake. Lo and behold, in the middle of this stupendous wilderness, I find the epitome of human cultural development – a Tim Hortons donut shop. I get coffee and donut and blog for an hour.
Looking S from the outlet of Lake Windermere down the Rocky Mountain Trench, one of the great geological feaatures on earth. The towering Canadian Rockies are on the left, and the mighty Pucell Range (not visible) to the right.
Then I find a boat launch below Windermere and head out.. The majestic Peaks loom over the W shore. An unlikely spot for LM bass, warmwater fish native to the Mississippi watershed.
This is a big lake, over 25 km long and up to 2 km wide. The wind is blowing from the S. Not a good day to explore a new lake. The water is clear – probably 15 ft vis - and surprisingly warm. Lots of big gravel flats and bars. Looks like a good SM lake. The SW shore and S end of the lake are built up. Lots of boat docks for bass to hide under. I head up (S) a mile or so to a huge reed bed. Reminds me of Davis Lake in Oregon. I try fishing the edges of the reeds. Great looking stuff here, but no bites. Hard to fish in this wind, which is getting stronger. The osprey is scouting for bass in the thickest part of the reed bed, where I cannot possibly fish. There is a sand and gravel bluff along shore, with a million swallow nest holes in it.
I finally give up fighting the wind and head back to the launch, scouting the shoreline. There is a cove with some fine looking docks. My theory is that this weather, and the bass that must adapt to it, is going to be much like Davis Lake. The wind will die down as the sun gets higher. And the bass will move in to the shallows as the day warms.
I go back in for coffee, and soon the wind starts to die down. Going to be a sunny, warm day. I head N up the shore this time. There is an island with an eagle nest.
The whole island is a nature preserve, but not the surrounding waters.
Inside the island I catch my first fish. A pretty 16” LM.
Rival bass fisherman
The whole island is a nature preserve, but not the surrounding waters.
Inside the island I catch my first fish. A pretty 16” LM.
The fish are moving in like I expected. Now I start targeting the docks. Sure enough there are bass hiding under them.
Rocky Mountain bass
I catch a nice one, and a pack of LMs follow it around as I play it out next to the Bullship. Fascinating to see clusters of large fish milling around in this crystal clear water.
I let the fish go and toss the yum worm at one of the fish I can see right in front of me. It swims over lazily and chomps on the worm. Nice 17 incher. These fish are really bold. Obviously do not get fished much.
I catch a nice one, and a pack of LMs follow it around as I play it out next to the Bullship. Fascinating to see clusters of large fish milling around in this crystal clear water.
I let the fish go and toss the yum worm at one of the fish I can see right in front of me. It swims over lazily and chomps on the worm. Nice 17 incher. These fish are really bold. Obviously do not get fished much.
Soon I am catching bass under almost every dock, and watching herds of them following the hooked fish in to my boat. The biggest one I catch is about 18", and I don't see any that are much bigger.
Nice fish, but nothing like the 5-6 lbers I was promised, much less the 10 - 12 lbers of legend.
One of the advantages of fishing in tourist lakes is that there are pretty girls in bikinis sunning themselves on the docks. So when you catch a nice fish you can give the camera to a bikini girl and have her take your pic, as I did at this dock.
Too crazy and roiled up to fish any more so I explore a while further up the shore, and then load out and head into Invermere. Find a coffee house and blog for a few hours. In the evening I go back out, launching from Invermere at the top end of the lake, which flows out under a bridge into a complex of sloughs and channels. Looks like great bass habitat here, but as I expected the bass have move offshore now that the sun is setting, and I get no bites. They will be back tomorrow, and so will I.
June 6
No need to get up early. The bass will not. I go over to Tim Hortons for coffee and work on downloading pics. Partly cloudy with high overcast today. 8 AM I head out onto the lake. Sunday is gone, and so is the weekend madness. I am the only boat on the lake. What is the matter with these people – do they go to work or something? I head across to the E side where I did not fish yesterday. Looks like steep dropoffs beneath the cliffs, but is is not. There are a few reed beds. Should be bass here but I catch only 1. Nice fish, like all the bass here it is a cookie cutter clone, about 16”.
There are some docks here, but not as deep as the ones I fished yesterday. I get a few under the docks, then try some more on the W side that I did not fish yesterday. I got the best of this lake yesterday. All downhill from here. The reports about 10-12 lbers are sadly and grossly exaggerated. The guy in Creston who hyped me into coming here should be ashamed. Beautiful place to catch bass, but I must get on with my life. I load out, head in to a coffee shop to blog and recharge my batteries, and then I am off back from whence I came. If I hurry I can make it back to Creston for the evening bite at Duck Lake.
Drive to Xtina Lake
June 7
Leave at 5:30, drive to Vaseaux Lake. Calm, then windy. Still cold and muddy. Only catch 1 tiny bass.
Head into Oliver to blog. It is warm, cloudy and calm. When I head out to Osoyoos Lake. I can launch at the inlet channel at the N end. The first dam, or "drop structure", upstream from the lake is usually running clear, and you can catch big SMs here. Not today. It is raging now with coldmuddy spring runoff.
A big storm rolls in.
Truck w/ guy & girl fishermen. Rain, and I read Che.
After 4 hrs the storm lets up so I launch pontoon and paddle into the old relic channel.
Starts to rain hard again. Must flee back to the car.
It rains all evening until just before dark. Bad afternoon of fishing for me. But there is a dead coyote by the fence who is having a much worse day.
Cannot sleep here so I drive up onto the Anarchist Mountain siwtchbacks and sleep in the car.
A big storm rolls in.
Truck w/ guy & girl fishermen. Rain, and I read Che.
After 4 hrs the storm lets up so I launch pontoon and paddle into the old relic channel.
Starts to rain hard again. Must flee back to the car.
It rains all evening until just before dark. Bad afternoon of fishing for me. But there is a dead coyote by the fence who is having a much worse day.
Cannot sleep here so I drive up onto the Anarchist Mountain siwtchbacks and sleep in the car.
June 8
Cloudy and cold this morn. I want to fish early, even tho I don't expect to get much until later. First I must stop by Tim Hortons. Shocking. They are closed. This must the only Horton in the world that is not 24 hrs. I must go to 7-11 for coffee and a donut. Now I am ready to fish.
I will only fish the lagoon this morn. Only take 1 rod, 2 hooks, and a few black yum worms. The lake is much higher than it was a few days ago. I have never seen it so high. The is tearing out the old marina and building a new one.
I head straight up to the lagoon. Fishing is very slow. There are a couple beavers hanging around my boat. I cannot get a bite. I make a long perfect cast into a little pocket. Just as I let the cast go the beaver pops up. Incredibly, the yum worm happens to land right on its back. The beaver freaks, makes a big splash, and is gone. I let the worm sink for a couple seconds, and suddenly it takes off. Fish on! And a big one too. Runs right under my boat and shakes off. Now I have found the secret.
I head straight up to the lagoon. Fishing is very slow. There are a couple beavers hanging around my boat. I cannot get a bite. I make a long perfect cast into a little pocket. Just as I let the cast go the beaver pops up. Incredibly, the yum worm happens to land right on its back. The beaver freaks, makes a big splash, and is gone. I let the worm sink for a couple seconds, and suddenly it takes off. Fish on! And a big one too. Runs right under my boat and shakes off. Now I have found the secret.
How to catch big bass in Osoyoos Lake:
1: Find a place where there are beavers swimming around
2: Make a long cast, and drop the lure onto the beaver's back just as it surfaces
3: Wait 3 seconds after the beaver splashes
Presto – you are hooked into a big bass. Works every time! (Although I have not been able to repeat this trick yet.)
I am getting some bites now. Mostly small fish. Miss the first 7 bites. What is going on? I finally catch a 1 lb SM at the mouth of the upper channel. The fish should be stacked up in here now, spawning. But they are not. The lake is very high, and the water is colder than it was 5 days ago.
What happened to spring? The bass are very confused, not to mention the bass fishermen. In order to kill time and deal with the boredom I start composing lyrics to songs.
Bullship Baass Fishin Man
(Note: to be sung to the tune of the old Byrds classic “Drug Store Truck Drivin Man”
Don't got him no house on the hill
Lives in his Volvo and sleeps where he will
Plays Flyin Burritos most every day
But he sure don't think much of the old USA
He's a Bullship bass fishin man
He's the head of the IKN
When summer rolls around
He'll be throwin that black yum worm down
Well he don't like Rush Limbaugh I know
And his oxy contin neo fascist radio show
Ain't got him no medals
Cuz he weren't in no war
If he had him a bedroom he'd still sleep on his floor
He's just a Bullship bass fishin man
He's the head of the IKN
When summer rolls around
He'll be throwin that black yum worm down
Well he's been like a hero to me
Only one on Duck Lake when its blowin 40
I'm a vagrant bass fisher, just roamin the land
And why they don't like me I can't understand
He's a Bullship bass fishin man
He's the head of the IKN
When summer rolls around
He'll be throwin that black yum worm down
I finally get a decent LM under a willow. Then a better one under a dock. Then hook into a hog, but it gets off. If you absolutely must fish with a crappy Mitchell reel – which I must cuz I now own 2 of them – it is imperative to keep re-setting the drag. Otherwise the drag backs off while you are fishing, and you cannot set the hook into a big fish. Twice I have forgotten this today, and lost 2 big fish as a result.
I head back out to the main cove. Get a nice SM about 1.5 lbs, and a couple decent LMs. Then a big swirl and I am into a huge fish. Almost surely a pig LM, but I will never know. My crappy drag has backed loose again, and I cannot get the hook set.
My 15 hp Yamaha has run perfect for 10 years, but it has suddenly developed carburator problems, and will not idle, and will barely start. This spring basstravaganza is over. Time to load out and head S. Back to Ashland to get a load of my stuff.
