THOMPSON OKANAGAN
Roche group hold willing rainbows to two kilograms with the odd, much larger lunker. Travel north off Highway 5 to Lac Le Jeune, McConnell, Surrey, Stake, Lodgepole, and Walloper lakes for plenty of easy-to-catch, stocked rainbows. In addition to rainbow trout, Black and Horseshoe lakes (in the Roche Lake chain) are home to chunky eastern brook trout to two kilograms. These colourfully spotted char rise readily to dry flies, and are equally willing to strike lures or bait while ice-fishing during the winter. Along Highway 97C, the
Tunkwa Lake Photos
smacking eastern brook trout. There’s no missing the hard strike of a bigmouth or smallmouth bass. The warm, shallow lakes in the southern part of the region hold lots of these aggressive, oversized members of the sunfish family. To catch these territorial fish, get out soft plastic crawdads and night crawlers, leadhead jigs sporting curly-tail grubs, crank baits, or feathered poppers, and work the lures over underwater structure, through matted weed beds, around dock pilings, and under boat docks. You can find these hard-biting battlers in Osoyoos, Skaha, and Vaseaux— three of the province’s best- known bass lakes — and anywhere along the connecting Okanagan River. The lakes also have good fishing for kokanee, perch, and whitefish, as well as more than a few trophy rainbows up to five kilograms in weight. In autumn, be sure to take in the colourful spawning display of crimson sockeye salmon in the
46 The SPORT FISHING Guide 2012 Okanagan River above Osoyoos Lake.
Thompson-Nicola-Merritt Radiating like the spokes of a
wheel from the Interior hub-town of Merritt, the Coquihalla (Highway 5), the “Connector” (Highway 97C), Highway 5A, and Highway 8 lead to hundreds of top-quality fishing lakes in the Thompson-Nicola-Merritt region. You’ll find great rainbow trout fishing in Courtney Lake, and the turquoise chain of Kentucky- Alleyne Lakes, on your way south through picturesque Aspen Grove via 5A towards Princeton. Private lakes like Crater, Stoney, and Minnie (part of the Douglas Lake Ranch) and Corbett are noted for exceptional, well-managed fly-fishing. The chain of lakes in the Kanevale Creek valley and Edna Lake, west of 5A, holds eastern brook and rainbow trout. Towards Kamloops (northeast along 5A), Nicola, Stump, Peter Hope, Lundbom, Marquart, the Pimainus Lake chain, and the five lakes of the
resource town of Logan Lake lies just north of Merritt. In full view of the highway, and circled by a well- used walking path, its municipal lake (known by the same name) sits smack in the middle of town – a seemingly unlikely home for some really big, aggressive trout. While you might need a four- wheel drive vehicle, there are dozens of small, pretty lakes (including Paska, Bose, Face, Calling, and Island) near Logan Lake that have good fishing for rainbows. North of Logan Lake towards Savona, Leighton and Tunqwa lakes are extremely popular, as is Mamit Lake, right beside the highway to the south. Be sure to visit tackle shops
in the area for the latest fishing information. Proprietors will tell you which lakes or streams are hottest, and give you the most up-to-date tips on what hardware or flies to use. You should ask them for directions to remote lakes in the area (like the seven of the Chataway group), or use them to book a guided four- wheel-drive, horseback, or hike-in backcountry fishing adventure. This is cattle country: book a stay at one of the region’s guest ranches during spring or autumn to join working cowboys on a cattle drive. There is also hiking, trail-biking, and horseback riding almost year-round, and fabulous cross-country skiing during the winter.
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