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Friday after work, Richie and I headed up to one of our favorite walk-in lakes close to Kelowna off of Highway 33. It takes us 40 minutes by 4X4 to be on the water. Because someone “removed” or relocated our canoes that we had stashed in the bush, Richie brought in his belly boat and I brought my Super Cat. We fished from 6:00 to 9:30 pm. There was no wind, the skies were dark, but the rain held off which made for a pleasant night on the water. The fish in this lake are notorious for being moody, and add to this the usual absence of any surface hatch, plus a very cool temperature made for a night of slow fishing. We tried scuds, chironomids, even some dry flies but only had a couple of takes. As I was kicking my boat back to shore complaining to Richie that all I had caught was a sore ass and a beer buzz, and that we should pack it in and head home, my rod with the silver bead head black micro leech on a sinking line snapped down and line started peeling off. Whoa! After I was into my backing, the fish stopped and sulked at the bottom for a minute and I couldn’t budge him. Then he tore off again towards me. I started stripping line. Then she turned and headed for shore. My stripping was soon replaced by more line going back out again and once again I was playing her off the reel. She jumped out of the water twice and did some cart wheels. I looked at Richie and yelled, “It’s a nice one, get your net ready!” After another two minutes or so, the fish surrended. She measured 20.5 inches and based on her girth of 12 inches, her estimated weight would be four pounds. Had I caught it prior to spawning it would have been five pounds.
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