[bonfire1983]

Hi,

I recently moved to Robson (just outside of Castlegar) in July. I've went out fishing a million times on the Columbia and Kootenay ( on shore, and wading ) and havent got a single thing but whitefish. I see fish jumping everywhere and see pretty much everybody else but me catching rainbows and other species. I need help badly. Ive fished with spoons, spinners, baits (Maggots & Worms), powerbait, grasshoppers, crankbaits, all which have only got me a handfull of whitefish. I also recently took up fly fishing, and am having absoultely no luck with that either. If anyone knows of a spot where I am guaranteed fish, that would be much appreciated If not, some pointers would also be taken gladly.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[stonehanz]

hi bonfire.. i also have fished the area once, without much luck, but have some relatives there so am anxiously awaiting the responses that you get. first thing though,i dont think anyone could guarantee you fish...nomatter where you are.. :-\ my son did tell me about a couple of episodes of "sportfishing on the fly" where they fished that area,of course having awesome success... that is a great show,with a couple of good guys, apparently they began it all in the kootenays.If you could catch those shows,you would be well on your way. but one thing is for sure there is a absolute sedge bonanza for those fish all year, because just about every summer night there are about a billion of those little buggers everywhere, most of them small, about a 14 or 16 hook. so when you fish, i would imagine the bottom is a good place to start. good luck

 

[thebigO]

Well sounds like you have entered my world. Originally from Sask, but I have lived here for a while now and just starting to fish again. I've spent a lot of evenings on the west arm of the lake and on the kootenay river towards castlegar and have exactly the same problem minus the attempt at fly fishing. I did manage to land one decent but not huge rainbow late one nite and if you can believe this it threw the hook just as I was about to pull him up out of the water. I'm pretty sure a grown man cried that nite. I'm tryin everything from the spoons to the odd spinner to a fly and wood bobber rig and have very minimal success other than small stuff knocking the bobber around. I read that october is supposedly a good month but I am totally screwed so far on what to do and gettin major frustrated. Help would also be appreciated.

Cheers from Nelson

 

[bonfire1983]

Im gonna go out today, and hit up a few spots and hope for the best. I'll bring both setups so I can throw everthing in my arsenal at them again. Yeah Im not from the province either, so its like learning how to fish all over again. From what pointers I have received from locals catching fish, was to either fish off the bottom using like leech or wolley bugger patterns, or when spin casting to fish off the top using weights, a cork, a 3 way spitter, and maggots or grasshoppers as bait. I've tried both with meager success. Ive had a few rises out fish, but for all I know they were just more whitefish ???. I think I will shop around on the net this morning looking for techniques, or maybe even some of those fishing episodes from the Kootenays.

Scott

 

[oakey]

seems to me you may have spent enough time without much success that you may want to contact the local shop and book a guide for half a day

I have done this a few times on new waters usually in the US and it is always worth the money in the end especially in gas and time saved

Good Luck and keep the faith

 

[bonfire1983]

Update.

Went out today, and fished for about 2hours. Finally caught a nice 17" Rainbow, on a Panther Martin Spinner ( Red Yellow)


Pic

http://www.fish-hawk.net/photogallery/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=12849&pos=-7453


That aside, I'll still take advice.


Thanks,

Scott

 

[sarg]

Thats a nice looking bow! As with most things in life practice makes perfect. The previous advice about hiring a guide or visit the local tackle shop is a very good idea.

 

[kettlefisher]

I recently moved to Grand Forks (1.3 years ago) and I know what you are saying however I was lucky enough to team up with a couple of locals.....am now into the 'bows and other goodies......if you ever get over this way give me a holler.....I work part time at the Home Hardware "Downtown" not the one on the highway.

Bud

 

[bonfire1983]

Thanks guys for the info! I went out again yesterday, and had an awesome day. Got a 15" rainbow, and then a big boy 18-20" who got off just as I reached for him. Even though I lost him, the fight was amazing.

Scott

 

[thebigO]

Hey man...congratulations, thats a great lookin fish. Im green with envy. I take it you landed that in the columbia. You went from rags to riches now I think I need to get with the program...well i'd love to hear if you find something that is working for you consistently. Well done. I was out on the kootenay last sunday nite and it was extremely calm and beautiful nite. I saw quite a few jumps but only got bites on small stuff using a fly.

 

[olive wulff]

I am getting back into to fly fishing and learning a few new things but sounds like you want to catch some nice rainbows. The most traditional way in the Columbia around here in hte winter if you are not an avid flyfisherman is to bottom fish with a 3 way swivel using about a 2.5 to 3 foot leader on the hook. For a sinker we are using a pencil lead available at CTC or a tiangle about 1.5 oz that are really cheap in the US. The leader on the sinker is as short as you can make it. Sometimes it drifts sometimes it stays steady in an eddy. Best if you can find a sand bottom in an eddy but that is difficult. I use this method when I want to catch some to smoke. We have had a lot of luck lately using this method.

On the leader we have traditionally used a lil corky or a spin glow to float a piece of shrimp. Lately we have gone to just using 2 jet puff minature marshmalows and the piece of shrimp. Others are using jet puff and maggots or worms. No kidding it is really working well. The guys are disappointed as the fishing trip is lasting less than an hour to catch the limit of 2 nice rainbows - usually one over the 50 cm limit. I have seen one 7.4 pound rainbow and one 5.0 pounder taken this way. Unfortunately I did not catch either. We have mostly fished on the Birchbank park road between Trail and Castlegar but it works everywhere. In winter downtown Trail. It is good below the Mohawk in Castlegar but a difficult climb. Drive the extra 10 minutes to Birchbank. I also hear they bottom fish all winter at the Keenleyside Dam. We use Jet Puff as it lasts a couple of casts longer than the cheap ones and I prefer Safeway Select Shrimp in a ring in the black box. They are often on sale or two for one. They stay on the hook longer as they have tougher skin. One shrimp gets you 2-3 pieces of bait. Good luck and if you need more info email me.

 

[olive wulff]

Bonfire
Having read more of the post I see you did catch some bows. Did you catch them on the fly? Any secrets you want to share?