As I get older, fishing remains a main focus in my life, but sharing moments with those close to me are assigned a higher value in the equation of success. While catching fish in numbers and/or size helps increase the success rating, there are many contributing factors that help balance the scale.
Many, many years ago (close to twenty years ago), I booked a week of vacation and decided to visit my grandparents who had moved to Chilliwack from Nova Scotia. I had arranged to stay with them and fish the Vedder river for salmon. I wanted to spend time with them and try a new to me fishery. I experienced two of my favorite things in life that week, family and fishing.
This week of vacation turned into an annual trip for me and over time I was able to have family and friends join me on the river. We ended up camping on the river, ate amazing meals, fished and enjoyed each others company while making memories and stories that we can reminisce on and laugh about. We then enjoyed fishing coho for years from the comfort of a family cabin close to the Chehalis and Fraser river. Early mornings and falling asleep while watching a movie on the couch after amazing meals and dessert made with love by Grandma were something I looked forward to every fall. As the years went on, our annual fishing trip continued to bring a tear to my eye every time we got the family together. We had many people join us over the years, even Grandma and Grumps, aka Marcus (who was not sure if he would like fishing). Over time, we decided to change the dates to a fair weather trip (summer), because our week in the fall ended up changing over the years to chase coho at the end of October which was great, but getting wet in the rainy season was getting repetitive and cold for some. Also, fishing regulation changes took away good spots we worked hard to find and an increased population of shore anglers over the years made “fighting” for a good spot exhausting.
For those who follow our adventures in our Kokanee Fishing BC group, during these years of salmon fishing (and continuing still), we started exploring many resorts on kokanee lakes (or close to). We had family and friends join us a few times at our number one rated favorite resort, Moosehaven Resort on Hathaway Lake and have enjoyed returning there every year. As the boys grew (and continue to grow), I started looking at other options for fishing on lakes holding bigger fish, like lake trout. I noticed the interest for kokanee fading slightly as my boys were looking at different species, bigger species and the opportunity to catch a fish bigger than themselves.
I did not have to look too far when I found Cariboo Bonanza Resort. We fished Horse Lake a few times and caught some nice lake trout (video on our YouTube channel: Fougere Family Adventures). We then stayed at some VRBO accommodations on Bridge Lake, Sulphurous Lake and resorts in the area like Lac des Roches Resort and Fawn Lake Resort. We made some great memories at all these places with family and friends and I would recommend checking any one of these resorts out for your next adventure.
Last year, we explored the road less traveled and chose Canim Lake as our starting point in a new adventure. We stayed at two resorts, both of which were on the lake. The owners and people at both resorts were great, but one resort rose quickly to the top as my number two rated favorite resort, because it checked all the boxes and exceeded my expectations on what I was looking for.
We returned to Rainbow Resort this year and booked a week (9 nights to be exact) to stay at this amazing, well run family resort. Taylor and Shaylen, I can not thank you enough for stepping in and keeping a family resort likes yours going. The improvements I have seen from last year to this year are noticeable and I see a bright future ahead of the rainbow that appears every time we are there. I look forward to returning with family and friends over the years to enjoy, relax and fish at such an inspiring and relaxing place.
This year, we arrived Friday at our cabin and we felt at home when we arrived later in the evening with the porch light on and the crickets singing. We quietly unpacked and prepared for a relaxing week ahead.
Family and friends arrived Saturday, and left at different times during the week. Others arrived later in the week which added to the experience and kept me in awe the whole time. It brings me joy to have those close to me come together, meet each other and hang out time and time again. For those of you who came to join us, I am happy you came and look forward to adventuring out again soon.
I was also surprised to meet several people at the resort who I have seen in the past and enjoyed catching up and talking. I look forward to more conversations in the future, so if you see us around, feel free to come say hi and talk fishing. I even had a chance at meeting another person who knew who we were and enjoyed talking fishing with him. It was great to talk with everyone.
Early mornings and late nights by the campfire can describe most days of our trip. While the schedule stayed consistent, the “seasons” seemed to change during the week. Pollen was floating everywhere when we arrived and the water clarity seemed less than last year. Clouds, rain and unstable Cariboo weather patterns remained constant as the wind changed directions several times throughout the day and week. After a few days, the pollen slowed, the water clarity improved and the fishing remained slow. We caught some lake trout and burbot in the first few days, but the lake trout stomachs were empty while the burbot were noticeably feeding on kokanee. Then, the cottonwood trees started dropping all their cotton. At one point, it looked like it was snowing. Later in the week, we had a thunder, lightning and torrential rain storm roll through. We could not see across the lake and my boat filled up with 6 inches of water in a matter of an hour or so. From what I’ve read, this thunderstorm should have put the lake trout off the bite for a few days, but fishing remained the same and active fish were more noticeable as the week went on. It was fun watching them chase my lures on my Garmin Striker 4 fish finder as I reeled up and watched them chase (and strike a few times at my lure).
We had lots of debate as to why this lake fishes different than other lakes. The lake trout seem harder to catch here than other lakes. Or, maybe the lake trout numbers are low? Maybe the tannin colored water plays a role in the fish seeing the lure and they have to rely more on other senses like smell and vibration. We discussed the possibility of dormancy in feeding patterns to conserve energy due to the lack of food in the stomachs of the fish we kept. One fish we kept for a fish fry only had a cottonwood bud in it’s stomach, while the other lake trout had an empty stomach. We discussed why my methods seemed to be more productive than trolling and hypothesized that it was a numbers game. Fish need to feed to grow, so my jigging methods were putting me on top of feeding fish more frequently than trolling. I did watch a lake trout feeding on the surface and assume he was chasing kokanee. It happened shortly after I noticed kokanee jumping on the surface as if they were being chased (and this happened lots the last few days of our trip). I’ve heard spring and fall are the best times for fishing this lake, but I’m curious if July and August might yield more fish with better water visibility and more bait fish around.
We put many lures in front of the fish during our trip. For those trolling, traditional lures and new lures were tried with only a few fish caught. Later in the week, those who were trolling caught fish when fishing dangerously close to bottom, including Austin. While it was stressful downrigger fishing, I enjoyed watching Ethan and Austin run the downriggers close to the bottom while glued to the fish finder screen, knowing the risk of a hang up. Thankfully, the bottom we were downrigger fishing with our Scotty Fishing Products downriggers was softer than most of the lake.
Jigging remains to be my favorite and most enjoyable method for chasing lake trout. The stress levels of jigging are far less than downrigger fishing. Loosing one lure while jigging compared to a downrigger ball and lure seems an easy decision. Also, I only used 40 litres of fuel for the whole week, so the cost savings is uncomparable. This does not include the pontoon boat rental we enjoyed immensely. Having the whole family on one boat at the same time was a treat and it made me want (or think about) a pontoon boat in the future. These boats are great for carrying larger groups of people (compared to boats of the same length) and are perfect for older people because they are easy to get into while at a dock.
We found success jigging Buzz Bombs in blue and green holographic finish. We also found success using a few Gibbs Fishing products, like the Gibbs Zak Attacks we found on clearance at Cabela’s. I also tried a new 2oz lure from Gibbs this year. It was a blue, glow and silver minnow. This jig might be my new favorite (even after I bought over $100 worth of buzz bombs for this trip) because it gets to the bottom the quickest and keeps the fish’s attention as the rest of the anglers on the boat drop down to the bottom. I also lost the biggest lake trout I have hooked on this lake with the Gibbs minnow. Another successful jig we used was a green tube jig from Black Pine Creative. I believe the glow in these tubes helped entice a bite and we caught a laker and burbot on it. Thanks Chad for making great tackle.
As a large group, we consumed a couple lake trout and burbot on this trip. The plan is to only eat a meal or two while on our fishing trip and not to take anything home with us. Eating fresh lake trout and burbot the day it was caught is definitely my favorite way to eat it. We tried a few different batter recipes and while they were all great, we had one incredible shore lunch over a bed of coals. Luckily, friends of ours have done this style in the past and I look forward to trying this on a future walleye trip.
We have started a new tradition in the Fougere Family. Rainbow Resort now holds a special place in our hearts. This family orientated resort is a great middle of the road meeting place for our family and friends who live around the province. On our last day, after returning from fishing, the resort came alive. Summer vacation had officially begun for everyone. New guests had arrived and families with children were everywhere. Kids ran freely around the Resort, because they too were returning on an annual trip to Rainbow resort. They were comfortable and at home. We also felt at home and look forward to returning.
Want to learn how to catch lake trout? Here’s a video I made while on this trip. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel Fougere Family Adventures to learn more about fishing.