It was a perfect day to explore Mcleese Lake a bit more for some monster kokanee. Go Fish BC has been stocking it with some great strains of kokanee.
Mcleese Lake might just be able to produce kokanee over 2lbs very soon. We started our trip with some pre-trip scouting on Anglers Atlas. I had a game plan lined up for a new section of the lake we haven’t fished before.
The “morning” bite (10:30) proved to be filled with action. We had our Paulina Peak Tackle spinners on, paired with a Paulina Peak Tackle dodger on one rod and Gibbs dog tail dodger on the other.
The fishing was fast and furious right from the start and I had no time to get my own rod in the water. I was busy helping the boys gets their lines back out for the next bite.
Most fish were caught at 10ft off the downriggers, which would put our gear in the 8ft or so depth below the surface.
Our biggest fish was caught while chasing some large schools. We were working the downriggers from 30ft to 60ft. The winning depth was 25ft. We did not mark any fish at 25ft, but all of a sudden the rod started bouncing and popped the downrigger clip. We knew we had a big fish on because kokanee don’t normally pop off the clips. At first, we thought we had a big rainbow on, but when the kokanee got closer to the boat and started doing the infamous kokanee roll and dance we knew we had a nice one on.
This kokanee was the largest kokanee we’ve seen come out of Mcleese lake. Our home town lake produces these kokanee at the end of the season. A fish like this would have pushed 2lbs, maybe 3lbs by the end of the summer or next year.
We stopped in at the Mcleese Lake Hotel to check on nightly rates and dock space. I also got to practice how I want to dock my boat as I do not dock it often. We heard Kelly’s Campsite has closed, which we hope is not true. There are 3 very nice resorts on Mcleese Lake all with campsites and 2 with motels. We love the close proximity to home and the chance to catch a big kokanee.
The boys had fun taking silly photos before we left the lake for home.
Mcleese Lake was a great adventure to go on today. We will be back another day to see how much bigger these fish have gotten.