We fished Chimney Lake today. This was a great opportunity to meet some members of our group and learn about another great kokanee lake in our Province.
We left Quesnel at 6am and arrived just before 8am. The drive down was filled with lots of conversation about fishing and potential fishing locations for us to meet other members.
An idea surfaced thru our conversation on the way down to Chimney Lake. We have many members scattered throughout the province and so we discussed the idea of setting aside one day (or weekend) a month for members to have the opportunity to meet other members. Our thoughts are to pick a weekend mid-month each month and start a group get-together discussion of the next lake we can meet up as a group. We have January, February and March to pick a location to meet up with members. Chimney Lake was a great midway point for Cariboo members as we met with people from 100 Mile, Williams Lake and 3 of us car pooled from Quesnel. Where should the next location be? I was thinking about Timothy Lake.
Upon our arrival, we met Desi and his friend who pulled into a well maintained parking lot. We all loaded up our gear onto our sleds and off we went.
The morning air was crisp and the moon still stood in a silent clear sky on one side of the lake while the sun started sneaking up on the other.
We walked onto the lake and straight to our first spot of the day. I was very impressed at how similar the Chimney Lake fishing community was to Ten Mile Lake. Everyone was welcoming and relaxed as we settled into our spot. At one point, we counted 22 people fishing in our “spot.”
As the day went on, people came and left. Some had their limit and some had a feed for dinner. Others left empty handed only to say they would be back for more with a smile on their face. Today was a day that solidified the fact that ice fishing for kokanee is more than just fishing. Ice fishing for kokanee is a social gathering where everyone helps each other and encourages each other to succeed.
For those new to ice fishing for kokanee, I encourage you to join your local fishing community. There’s no Facebook group to join and the fee is free. All you need to do is show up. You do not need all the fancy gear or fish finders that some people will say you do. In fact, you do not even need an ice fishing auger. Most people will help you drill a hole or you can simply show up at your local fishing hole and use an old hole that was vacated by a group of anglers.
As for my fishing experience, I ended up catching one kokanee and missed a few bites. My mealworms were not working, but my old anise vanilla corn was. If only I had made some garlic bloody tuna corn I might have convinced a few of the kokanee that came into my presentation to bite. Next time, I might try a heavier flasher to help call more fish in. The water clarity was not more than 6ft and maybe a bigger, heavier flasher would have helped?
Everyone had a good time and although the fishing was slow, it was great to meet with members and chat about fishing.
-Happy fishing!