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Late June through early July on Roche
Lake will usually provide fly fishermen with some exceptional
dry fly fishing for Kamloops rainbow trout. Thus, July
1st found my family and friends and I at the Roche Lake
lodge anticipating a week of long overdue trout fishing.
When we arrived we asked several other fishermen how
their success had been and got the standard reply that
fishing was basically non-existent. One poor fellow
had caught just one 12- incher in two days. We decided
to ignore the reports of poor success and forge ahead
as planned anyway.
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Late June through early July on Roche Lake will usually
provide fly fishermen with some exceptional dry fly fishing
for Kamloops rainbow trout. Thus, July 1st found my family
and friends and I at the Roche Lake lodge anticipating
a week of long overdue trout fishing. When we arrived
we asked several other fishermen how their success had
been and got the standard reply that fishing was basically
non-existent. One poor fellow had caught just one 12-
incher in two days. We decided to ignore the reports of
poor success and forge ahead as planned anyway. |
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The next day dawned clear and hot. We flogged Roche again
in the morning without success and then headed off to little
Rose Lake to see if we could do better on the brook trout.
When we arrived we were surprised to discover that some of
the char were feeding on adult damselflies. We decided to
continue using wet line and fish the nymphs, however, and
were rewarded for our forethought with five fat one and a
half pound squaretails. We kept two for dinner and let the
others go.
Later that evening we fished Roche again. I expected at
least a small caddisfly hatch, as it had been very hot all
day long. I could only hope that my expectations would be
realized and the trout would start to feed.
We made our way down to monster bay, near the electric motor
only zone, and anchored off a small rocky point where it formed
a shoal. After 15 minutes or so, a few fish started to rise
and we noticed that numerous caddisflies were emerging. I
had guessed right, and it looked like we might be in for a
good evening of fishing.
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I fished a caddis pupa for
the first half-hour, picking up two one pound trout, and
then switched to a dry deer hair caddis as the hatch came
to fruition. I spied a pair of rainbows that were rising
consistently off the point, emerging from their rocky
haven to attack the caddis as they ran across the surface
drying their wings. I false cast a few times to extend
line and then laid the fly out over the rocks and without
even enough time to twitch the little offering one of
the fish rose immediately in a classic porpoise take.
I raised the rod tip, set the hook, and played with her
for the next couple of minutes. Before she was completely
exhausted, I brought her in, unhooked her, and then spent
a few seconds to admire her while she recovered before
I released her. Then I quickly dried off my fly and continued
to fish the point. |
After a few more unsuccessful casts, a trout again rose to
my fly in a swirling attack that caught me by surprise. I
still managed to set the hook, and we battled it out until
she was tired. I released her as well, noting that all the
fish I had caught so far had been peas in a pod...15 inches
long and about a pound in weight. I had expected larger fish
(Roche is noted for some exceptionally large trout) but, what
with the relative success of the other anglers in the area,
I certainly wasn't about to complain.
After a few minutes more, we decided to move to the opposite
side of the lake where a large shoal jutted out. It was covered
with a heavy weedbed and always seemed to have an excellent
rise if there is a hatch on. When we arrived there were numerous
fish feeding on the adult caddis and we caught three more
trout, and missed as many more, before it got dark. As darkness
closed in we packed up and headed back to the lodge.
The next day was as hot and sunny as the previous, and we
fished Rose Lake again during the day with great success,
then headed out onto Roche about 7:30 in the evening. The
wind continued to blow until 9:00 p.m. and this made casting
a nightmare. A few fish rose here and there in the shallows
and I managed to hook into one decent 16-inch fish over the
next hour and a half. She put up a good fight, jumping numerous
times before tiring, but she was still dark from the spawn
and I let her go.
As the wind died down and the sun dropped to the horizon,
more fish started to rise and I moved across the lake to the
spot we had been the previous evening. There was a fair rise
on there and Murray had broken off one good-sized trout just
a few minutes before I arrived.
I anchored off the edge of the shoal in a spot where I wouldn't
interfere with Murray's casting, but still close enough to
talk to him and observe any action he might be getting. There
were so many fish rising that I simply laid the cast out in
their midst without selecting any specific trout. It became
apparent after a couple of casts that this method of attack
wasn't going to work. I then began selecting individual fish
to cast to and soon had numerous takes on the big caddis pattern
I was using. After a few smaller fish had mangled my fly,
I took a few minutes to dry it and watched the rises as I
false cast. One swirling take was quite close so I laid the
fly out right into the rings and the fish sucked it under
almost immediately. I set the hook and the trout pulled its
way to deeper water. Then she jumped, and Murray and I got
our first look at a seven-pound plus rainbow that was none
too please at being stabbed in the mouth by its dinner. She
tore off more line and jumped again, then ran right at the
boat, making me madly strip in the line trying to keep some
pressure on her. I managed to do so and she swam to the stern
of the boat not 10 feet away. Then she flung herself high
into the air, cartwheeling as she went. I could see the glisten
of the leader wrapping around the fish as she descended to
hit the water with a tremendous splash. I raised the rod tip
again and felt tension for a split second, then the hook pulled
free and she was gone. Her desperation jump had saved her
from the net. I would have released her after getting some
photos anyway, but she didn't know that. I stood there for
a few moments feeling instantly disheartened after the previous
few minutes' excitement. I tried to look at it objectively
and rationalize that it was better to have hooked and lost
than never to have hooked at all... but it didn't help much.
We fished until darkness overtook us and managed to hook
into a couple of smaller fish before calling it a day.
The weather continued to hold all week and after a day at
the waterslides with the family we again fished the shoal
where I had lost the big hen. Unfortunately, although there
was a good rise on and we did manage to hook into several
small trout, very few good sized rainbows showed themselves
and we did not catch anything of exceptional size. That's
the way it is with hatches sometimes; one day the fish will
be feeding hot and heavy and the next they seem to have all
but disappeared.
We had to leave the next day and, as fate would have it,
the weather finally broke and a system started to roll in
out of the west. We packed up our gear, turned in our keys
after one last dip in the pool, and headed for home with the
memories of the one that got away still haunting me. It was
nice to share the experience with a partner though, and it
also helped to quell the "Oh sure!" comments from my family
and friends when I was able to produce a witness to the event.
Drop in to Roche Lake any time of the year. The new owners
are excellent hosts and the fishing can be spectacular. The
lodge features a restaurant, pool, and hot tub, as well as
beautiful chateau style cabins with lofts that sleep up to
six adults. There are also camping sites available at the
lodge, or you can rough it in the nearby B.C. Forest Service
campsites. Roche has been a favorite haunt of mine for many
seasons now and I never fail to visit it each spring. If I
manage to hit it right, the weather will be warm and the caddisflies
will be hatching. That's when I like it the most, that's when
it is at its best.
Bill Luscombe has been hunting and fishing for most of his 42
years. He has been flyfishing for 20 years. He instructs flyfishing,
and has done so for the past 12 years. He also instructs the
federal FSET firearms course and the BC CORE hunter training
course. He is an award-winning outdoor writer and has been writing
freelance since 1987. He has been published in BC Sport Fishing
Magazine, Outdoor Edge, BC Outdoors, Western Sportsman, Island
Fish Finder, and the BC Hunting Guide.
Bill Luscombe was born an army brat and raised in Ladner
(Delta, BC) where he was raised hunting waterfowl and pheasants.
He presently resides in North Cowichan on southern Vancouver
Island where he has lived and worked full time as a professional
forester since 1982.
He presently works in Nanaimo for the BC Forest Service and
continues to write the fly-fishing column for BC Sport Fishing
Magazine as well as contributing articles freelance to various
outdoor magazines in western Canada. Bill Luscombe is also
a BC Director of the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association.
"Catching fish is not hard. You simply need to understand
what makes them tick. If you think like a fish, you will catch
fish. It’s as simple as that."- Bill Luscombe
Previous Articles by Bill Luscombe:
To visit saltwater flyfishing patterns by Bill Luscombe,
visit:
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courses visit his home page at:
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