Last week, I had a week of vacation and my plan was to go fishing as much as possible.
The week started off with 2 days of fishing with Sarah at Ten Mile. As usual, this lake did not disappoint us. Finding the winning lure on the other hand was an interesting endeavor. We caught a few on GRAMS TACKLE BOX shrimp the first day and then the next day we would discover that the kokanee had become extremely picky with what lure they wanted. We were able to maintain the same setback, depth and speed (minus the turning boat speed) and 9 times out of 10 the kokanee would hit the lure Sarah chose. A pink and sparkly Paulina Peak Tackle micro hoochie would end up being the winning lure that day and eventually would be a winner in both Sulphurous and Ruth lake later in the week.
On Tuesday, I arrived at Cariboo Bonanza Resort and stayed in a cabin lakeside. I was impressed at how friendly and comfortable the hosts made my stay. My goal for the next few days would be to learn about lake trout fishing. While others were bringing in some nice kokanee out of Horse Lake, I was bound and determined to catch a few lake trout jigging.
Unfortunately, lake trout are also affected by changing barometric pressures like kokanee. I asked around and it seemed they would be off the bite for the next few days. After the third morning of fishing, I decided to try my luck for kokanee at Sulphurous Lake.
Just as I was arriving at Sulphurous Lake the skies let loose a wrath of rain and hail. Thunder and lighting were surrounding the lake on multiple sides. In typical Cariboo fashion, I decided to wait out the storm clouds in hopes that they would pass.
When the sky finally decided to calm down, I verified which direction the worst storm clouds were going. It looked as if I had about an hour of “lighter” clouds with no rain on the horizon. I quickly loaded and launched my boat.
I was not holding my breath that the kokanee fishing was going to be any good. In my past experiences, I have only had a handful of rainy days where the kokanee were happy enough and aggressive enough to feed in such weather.
To my surprise, I hooked and landed 2 kokanee in the first 5 minutes after launching. Was this going to be a record limit day in bad weather? Why were they being so aggressive? Then, as quickly as they were biting, they stopped. I made multiple passes over the schools that I found, changed gear and scents and nothing. What had I just experienced?
I would spend the next 4 hours trolling around the lake in search of active kokanee. I even had to jump off the lake for 10 minutes as another storm cell passed (mainly I didn’t feel like getting drenched in rain again as I did earlier in the week). After what felt like an eternity going around in circles the bite picked up again. I would loose a couple kokanee and eventually land 3 more to make my limit. Then, I tried jigging for lake trout and had a window of a half hour where 2 of them hit my jig. That bite died quickly as well.
The next day, I was packed and on my way to Ruth Lake. I fished Ruth a while back and I wanted to try my luck again. The weather was almost as bad as the day before, but I went for it as there was no better time than the present to try fishing it.
Again, I hooked into a nice kokanee in the first 5 minutes of fishing. I couldn’t believe it. If I was at home, I wouldn’t have even tried fishing on a day like this day. And then, it happened. I would spend the next 4 hours trolling in circles trying to find active fish. I found a few big schools, but by this time the wind had picked up making it hard to steer the boat over uninterested fish. I eventually gave up and retreated to a quieter section of the lake for a late lunch.
After eating, I was starting to think about heading home. The wind had not slowed down. It almost seemed as though it was picking up speed and the clouds up above seemed to be getting worse. I told myself, “you have come too far to give up now.” So, I decided to head back over to the area where I was marking fish.
On my way over, I noticed a few other good sized schools. I gave it a try and got bit right away. After fighting and landing this kokanee, I was amazed at how far away from the “spot” the wind had pushed me. I would spend the next hour hitting and losing fish as I fought the wind and waves to stay in position. In fact, it got so bad at the end that I decided to only use one rod. As soon as I landed my last kokanee, I pulled in my downriggers and raced back to the launch to beat another windy storm pushing in.
I the end, I jigged up 4 lake trout which was one of my goals for the few days I spent fishing solo. I also landed my possession limit of kokanee which meant I was headed home to see my family, charge up our boat batteries and prep for another fun day of fishing at Ten Mile.
Stay tuned to my YouTube channel for some great footage that I was able to capture on the water. I can only hope that my audio did not get ruined by all the wind I was filming in. Until then, tight lines and happy fishing!