KOOTENAY ROCKIES
weight – and each year, a few bragging-rights fish weigh in at nine or more kilos. Hire a guide and charter boat from any of numerous marinas at shoreline communities like Kaslo, Nelson, and Crawford Bay to downrigger-troll for these trophy rainbows. As the massive lake doesn’t freeze, some of the best fishing can occur during the winter months. With four mountain ranges (the Monashees, Purcells, Selkirks, and Rockies) providing a consistent flow of clear glacial melt-waters, big hydro-electric reservoir lakes in the area include Upper and Lower Arrow, Slocan, Duncan, Kinbasket, Trout, and Koocanusa. All these impoundments, with ample day-use provincial park campgrounds and picnic areas, offer excellent fishing for whitefish and humungous bull trout in addition to Gerrard rainbows. Kokanee (landlocked sockeye
salmon) are willing strikers at almost any small pink trolling lure, drift-jig, or fly. As these tasty fish are often found in huge schools, they are perfect fun for anglers of all ages and abilities. You’ll also find excellent angling
for rainbow, eastern brook, or bull trout in smaller lakes like Champion, Summit, Box, Fish, Mitten, Whatshan, St. Mary, Cartwright, Whiteswan, North Star, Peckhams, Rockbluff, Whitetail, Rosebud, Cherry, and Premier. If you’re fit and energetic, there are a host of little hike-in lakes in this incredibly picturesque region … and if you’re not, fly in to remote Fortress Lake in mountainous Hamber Provincial Park for its trophy eastern brook trout. If you’re into casting a vast array of plastic worms, crawdads, spinner baits, or other wiggly doodads of every size and colour, try bass-fishing in Duck Lake near Creston, Wasa and Jim Smith lakes near Cranbrook, or Lake Windemere near Invermere. Since many smaller lakes freeze over during winter, they are also great for ice-fishing. The Freshwater Fisheries Society
52 The SPORT FISHING Guide 2012
of British Columbia’s Kootenay Trout Hatchery regularly stocks some 150 lakes in the region with rainbow and westslope cutthroat trout, eastern brook trout, and kokanee to ensure the highest quality fishing. The hatchery also supports white sturgeon populations in the Kootenay and Columbia rivers. Just 32 kilometres southeast of Cranbrook in Fort Steele, the hatchery offers tours, and an informative interpretive display with aquaria
and educational exhibits. The Columbia and Kootenay,
two of the region’s major rivers, provide a variety of sport fishing species including walleye (great for scrumptious shore lunches), rainbow trout, whitefish, and bull trout. Use a boat to fish the deep, slick flows below dams, as well as slower flows along the edges of sand bars and cut banks. Spin-cast from boat or shore at the mouths of feeder creeks like the Syringa on the Kootenay River, or the Blanket, Downie, and Goldstream on the Columbia. Dream of seeing a dark-spotted, golden-hued westslope cutthroat trout noisily slurp your mayfly or caddisfly imitation as it bobs down a foam-flecked seam in the current? Clear, freestone rivers like the Elk (which flows through the resource-industry towns of Elkford, Sparwood, and Fernie); the Bull, Wigwam, St. Mary, and Skookumchuck in the exquisite Valley of a Thousand Peaks (near Cranbrook and Kimberley); and the stunning Flathead (accessed via
Fernie or Sparwood) are a dry-fly purist’s nirvana. Fly-fishing shops in each community offer fully guided drift-boat or walk-and-wade day- trips on all these rivers. For the fishing fanatic, there are multiple- day fishing safaris to several longer rivers. Tackle stores offer reasonably priced drop-off and pick-up service to most of these streams for anglers with their own drift-boats. The Kootenays are recognized as British Columbia’s mountain playground. Enjoy the spectacular panoramas of Kootenay, Yoho, Glacier, and Mount Revelstoke parks – and a major portion of the northern Columbia River Valley with its massive dams and hydro reservoirs – along the National Parks Corridor. As well, more than 75 provincial parks offer swimming, hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking to complement the fabulous fishing. Visit some of the many ghost towns tucked away in the hills, or play a round or two of challenging “mile-high” golf at more than 20 championship courses carved around the bases of snow-capped peaks. With an average of 10 metres of snow each winter, there’s world- renowned backcountry ski touring, heli- or snowcat-skiing, and snowboarding in the deep powder that covers the Selkirk, Purcell, and Monashee ranges. For those not into “steep and deep,” you’ll find plenty of wilderness trails for cross- country skiers, snow-shoers, and snowmobilers. Traditional alpine skiers and snowboarders can find groomed runs and all-inclusive resort facilities at places like Mount Fernie and Mount Revelstoke. And what better way to
rejuvenate your body and mind after a busy day of outdoor activities than with a long, hot soak in the region’s many energizing mineral springs? Halcyon, Ainsworth, Fairmont, Nakusp, Canyon, and Radium hot springs are just short drives from Revelstoke or Nelson.
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