www.suncruisermedia.com I 2012 SunCruiser OKANAGAN
BY ROD HENNIG PHOTOS FROM KELOWNA FISHING
Okanagan
Lake All in a Day’s Work
FIVE A.M. COULDN’T COME SOON enough for me. The moment the alarm sounded I jumped out of bed, made coffee, and packed a lunch: I was ready to head to my unofficial ‘office’ - the one with the amazing view, where rods and reels take the place of photo-copiers and fax machines. Okanagan Lake is my office, the place I spend more than one hundred days a year, and today was going to be one of those fine days where fishing with two easy-going, regular clients was going to be a blast. The three of us agreed to meet at
the West Kelowna Yacht Club at 7:30 am. By 6:30 I had the truck parked, the boat (Slay-Ride) launched, and was rigging rods and gear for the day – complete with a steaming
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cup of coffee in-hand. I fired up the diesel heater, relishing the warmth as it circulated through the cabin. The heat felt good: it was early November - prime fishing on Okanagan Lake, and the air was crisp and cool. Sitting there waiting for my
clients to arrive, I thought back over the past year. It had been a typically warm spring and hot summer in the Okanagan, and the fishing had proven to be good. Kokanee numbers were up again, and the season had opened with a bang for these tasty, land-locked Sockeye Salmon. We caught a few of these fish in months passed, with our largest weighing in at just under 6lbs. The Rainbows were also benefiting from the Kokanee's return, as there was more food available for them.
In fact, earlier in the year, an angler landed an awesome 25.5lb Rainbow! When people think of the
Okanagan Valley, they typically think of wineries, golf, and water sports in the summer; skiing, snowmobiling and snow-boarding during the winter. If only they realized the great, year-round fishery we’ve got on our doorstep. In fact, the world-record for Kokanee was held by an Okanagan angler from Vernon until just recently. With 'Slay Ride' ready to go and
the equipment waiting, who knew what my guests would pull out of the water today! Just then, my clients pulled into the parking lot, grabbed their lunch and gear for the day, jumped on board and started asking, “How’s the fishing?” As we left the
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