Fishing for Kokanee is always a fun way to spend a weekend. We have many great lakes here in British Columbia that are stocked with kokanee as a catch and keep fishery. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC stocking program has been successful and provides many options for anglers looking for a great eating fish. Choosing a lake can be difficult for people living in the Cariboo region of the province due to the number of lakes that hold kokanee. Making a decision on what lake to go to can be made based on the time of year. While most larger lakes are starting to freeze, I chose a small lake close to home this weekend.
I chose to fish Ten Mile Lake just outside the city of Quesnel and was hesitant on whether or not I made the right decision. When I arrived on the first day, I was excited to find near perfect conditions for fishing. The lake had a couple inches of hard packed snow on top of eight inches of solid clear ice. It felt great to get outside. Life has been busy in the Fougere house and fishing trips have been few and far between. I walked straight to “the spot” on the north end of the lake that was kindly marked by an angler with a branch who had been fishing there over the last couple of days.
With the full moon quickly approaching, I was wondering how the day would go. I chose to leave my Otter ice fishing tent at home and dressed for the weather. The forecast looked like a warm day was on the horizon and I have been enjoying sitting in my chair with a side table that I bought at Costco a few years back. I was prepared to leave early if the morning bite was not on, but time would prove that I like to wait around and see for myself when bite turns on. After speaking with some anglers who had been fishing the last few days, the bite time to target seemed to be one o’clock in the afternoon.
Setting up was a breeze without my ice tent, big buddy heater, and all the extras that I normally bring when fishing for a day. I brought my four-inch Mora ice auger with me on the first day and I’m always impressed with how quickly I can drill my two holes for fishing. One hole is always dedicated for my Garmin Striker 4 ice transducer. This protects my transducer from thrashing fish that come up through the hole. I used to fish with only one hole, but either my transducer would tangle with fish, or they would throw it again the side of the hole when they came up in the water which is not good for the transducer.
I was fishing within minutes of drilling my holes, which is something I can get used to. With my mealworms and fishing corn in my pockets, and StrikeMaster battle jacket on, I was ready to watch the sunrise while catching the morning bite, if any. Two rainbow trout later and a few missed bites had me scratching my head. Kokanee always keep me guessing and wanting to learn more. Was the approaching full moon causing the fish to go off the bite? I marked quite a few single fish coming in to look at my Williams Whitefish ice flasher and jig, but most of them turned away and left shortly after inspecting my offering. I find kokanee bite better when they are swimming in schools. I was wondering if I should try further out, closer to shore or just stay put. Past experiences have told me that waiting for the school to come around is more often than not the way to catch kokanee. That being said, I have also had days where I caught no fish because I chose to stay in one place. And, I have had successful days catching a limit of kokanee by moving to a different spot.
As people started arriving for the day, I kept wondering if staying in one place was the right choice. The warm weather brought more than forty people out on to the ice. It was great to see families bringing their kids out to experience ice fishing for kokanee. One family in particular set up their tent close to my location and caught two fish shortly after starting fishing. I was brought back in time when I heard how excited everyone was in the tent. After a couple of hours with only a few single fish coming in I chose to move around. I tried different locations, including deeper depths, shallower depths and close to a known area of a spring which sometimes holds schools of fish. Nothing. Where did the kokanee go?
Every year it seems that we talk about kokanee fishing pressure. This year was no different. The schools of fish did not seem to appear today, and we were scratching our heads wondering if angling pressure was too high. While we want to promote angler recruitment, we also wonder if too many anglers will bring down the average fish size and number of fish available in the lake. Short term, it may appear that there are no fish in the lake, but more often than not the fish we are looking for are simply feeding in a different area of the lake. Fishing pressure can also bring fish size up considerably. Removing large amounts of fish from an ecosystem can leave more food for the remaining fish to grow.
My first day of fishing this weekend was not as great as I would have hoped. That being said, it was great to be outside, talk with some great people and learn just a little bit more about kokanee fishing.
Today was better than yesterday. As we drove to the lake, we watching the full moon setting over a clear sky. In anticipation of another day of learning, we started talking about where we wanted to start fishing from and where we would set up base camp on the drive to the lake. We brought our new Jet Sled by Eagle Claw that I bought at Cabelas in Abbotsford and our old Pelican sled fixed with freshly waxed skis. I enjoyed not having to pack all our gear on to the ice and was excited to have Austin “pull his weight” and help with the work of fishing.
When setting up, we always follow a system that has kept us efficient and gets us fishing quickly. First, we set up our fishing tent. I like to secure one corner of the tent before opening it in case the wind picks up and tries to carry it away. Then, once the tent is set up, we drill our holes inside and outside where needed to help reduce noise below the ice once we start fishing. Next, we get our big buddy heater started and take a layer off. At this point, I am most often starting to sweat, and I want to reduce my chances of catching a cold or hypothermia. I always try to start my buddy heater from my five-pound propane tank, but it does not always work as they are designed primarily for the small one-pound propane bottles. After the heater warms up, it will usually run off the five pound propane tank which helps save costs over time.
Our first location turned out to be unproductive for kokanee. I caught one rainbow trout and missed many bites during the first hour of fishing. We spent another hour waiting for a school of fish to come around, but they never did. We chose to try a few holes close to base camp, but these locations also had us come up empty handed.
After watching a group of guys leave “the spot” known for kokanee, we decided to grab our chairs and walk over to see if we could mark some fish. We marked fish right away. Our fish finders were close together and causing lots of disturbance on our screens, so Austin decided to hole hop and look for other holes to try in the area. It did not take long to catch my first kokanee, followed by four more. Limit!
Austin came over shortly after he realized I was catching fish. While the fish I was catching were single cruising fish, they were curious enough to bite my offering. The winning set up for me was a half blue and half silver Williams whitefish flasher, with a two-foot leader down to a pink ice jig tied locally. Each kokanee was caught with mealworms that I sell at Franks Supermarket in Quesnel and pink anise shoepeg corn that I sell at Corlane Sporting Goods in Prince George.
We ended the day on a good note. While we did not get full limits, we caught enough fish for three meals. Austin ended up catching two rainbow trout and two kokanee in the same hole that I caught my fish from. I found it interesting that the hole he was previously using was only four feet away was not working. Maybe it is a confidence thing, but when something is working, do not change it.
I look forward to my next fishing trip to Ten Mile Lake. Next time, I am curious to see what phase of the moon it will be and if the fish will be more willing to bite. Where did the schools of kokanee go? Have they been removed from the lake, or are they just feeding somewhere else? Until next time, I will be thinking about fishing for active fish that taste great and have me wanting to go fishing again and again.
Here’s some of my YouTube videos from ice fishing season on Ten Mile Lake, British Columbia.