July 12, 2020

Have you ever experienced Cariboo weather at its finest?

This year, we booked a full week at our favorite cabin and resort, Moosehaven Resort on Hathaway Lake. We have been talking about staying a week for a few years now. This resort is a perfect fit for our growing family. We had other family members join us in their own cabins this year which made the experience that much sweeter. The boys enjoy riding their bikes around and kayaking right from our front door. The location is perfect! There are 5 great kokanee lakes within a half hour of what we made our base camp. A week was simply not enough time to explore all of the lakes around us.

Sarah and I arrived first and prepared for the arrival of our boys and Grandma. After we were settled in, we decided to try our luck at Bridge Lake. Given the unpredictable weather, Sarah wore my rain gear and waders. I wore my shorts, sandals and a well worn Taiga rain jacket that is still able to fend off a medium rain storm at best. The kokanee were scattered throughout the water column. We failed to mark many schools of kokanee and find “the big one” that we were after. We tried many different presentations and were unsuccessful. Thankfully, this trip was also a scouting trip for the next few years. We spent a greater portion of our day exploring the many bays and open stretches of water that I haven’t charted yet on my previous trips. I managed to find another sunken island which serves as a reminder to be careful when downrigger fishing or boating on this potentially dangerous lake.

On our second day, Sarah decided to stay behind and relax at the resort while I chose to explore Bridge lake once more. This time, I brought my shorts and waders as back up for the unpredictable weather we were having. The waders proved useful as a storm hit and I found myself scrambling to get “dressed” into my waders and rain jacket which would soon keep me warm and dry. When the storm hit, I was able to take protection from the blowing wind and soon to come rain in a bay that provided shelter and safety. The bay was calm, while the main lake started to white cap as the storm approached. Then, the rain came and it got progressively worse. As the rain started to slow down, I decided to start exploring the bay for potential kokanee schools. I found a few good schools and marked their locations for next time. They were not interested in biting during the storm. Then, just as quickly as the Cariboo storm came, it was gone, or had turned around and started coming my way. The bay was no longer going to provide protection so I chose to move to another protected bay on the lake. I managed to jig up one lake trout there and then decided to call it a day after the storm settled down.

Our third day of fishing was a day to remember. The fishing was slightly better on our base camp lake although the weather continued to be unsettled throughout the day. Marcus managed to get his first limit of kokanee and I also managed to get a nice one. The color of the day was orange and the scent seemed to be garlic.

The rest of the week was extremely relaxing. It helped to have no expectations given the weather that was happening around us. It felt like a week of fall coho fishing where waders and a rain jacket were an essential part of my wardrobe. Sleeping in and eating a hearty breakfast was not uncommon while sipping a cup of freshly brewed coffee and watching the local deer walking the shoreline of the lake.

We managed to also spend a few hours on Sulphurous Lake. We went out one evening and tried our luck for lake trout because the weather was not cooperating. We were unsuccessful, but learned a few things and locations where we will definitely try another time. Then, we found a couple really good schools of kokanee that we had not marked yet during our trip. I quickly marked them on my Garmin Striker 4 so we could return to the exact GPS location later in the week should the weather improve. The next day, we returned to Sulphurous. The weather was looking promising and then out of no where a storm cloud approached over the hillside. The wind picked up and we quickly got positioned to stay protected from the furious wind and blowing rain that arrived. And, as quickly as the storm arrived, it was gone. We chose to try our luck for kokanee once again. The skies opened up and there was blue skies above us and storm clouds all around. We chose to try our marked “hot spots.” I turned on the way point map feature on my Garmin and we were on top of the schools we found the day before. Everything happened so quickly from here. My camera for filming my YouTube videos for my channel was still packed away due to the rain. We trolled thru the first school and had a double header immediately. Then, just as quick as we could get a line back down we hooked a third kokanee. When I realized my camera was not set up, I rushed to get it filming. Unfortunately, as quickly as the “bite” turned on, it was off.

Our last experience was similar to my second day. The weather was looking like it was going to hold off so we packed up and went to Bridge Lake. When we arrived, we were greeted with a windy lake that would prove to be a refreshing journey across to the shelter of the big island. The mist from our boat traveling thru the water was just enough to make me feel like I did not need a shower late that day. When we arrived at our fishing “hole” there were at least eight other boats in the water. We fished for a while until we were not noticing any boats catching kokanee. So, we changed gears and went to one of our laker spots to try our luck. We managed to get two lake trout until the wind changed direction again and we found ourselves racing for cover in case the weather brought anymore wrath. Unfortunately, the weather would not let up again and our kokanee adventure was over. We took our time getting back to the launch as the waves were getting bigger and we had to take the longer, safer route home.

On our way home, we decide to eat lunch in 100 Mile House. We called up the Firehouse Diner (one of our favorite places), but were sad to hear they were not open. Thankfully, we also love the Ironhorse Pub in Lone Butte. We stopped in for lunch and then might have also stopped in at Lone Butte Sporting Goods Ltd so we could pick out some more tackle for another adventure we are looking forward to.