Fishing Okanagan Lake

Doug

Well-Known Member
I'm planning on fishing Okanagan lake from mid May to mid June and will be fishing from the Westbank area.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should use for lures, the depths I should fish or the area I should be fishing?

I've seen on a few videos of people fish around rattle snake island and using plugs but is that my best option?
 
Apparently you can jig for burbot around rattle snake island too. As for rainbows it sounds like plugs are the thing to do, try out some of the wooden ones made by lyman lures of kelowna. for the burbot ive heard 100ft is the depth
 
The fishing near Rattle Snake can be good and the fishing in Gelattley Bay in west bank is also good. The fishing is can be tough in Okanagan lake and you can catch the Trout pretty much any where I mostly troll in the middle of the lake. I have caught more fish on Apex's then anything else but I also like Lyman plugs and Bucktails. Keep an eye on the link below we all post our reports on this page and you can find out whats working. He just cleared all the reports off to start 2012 but they will start to show up soon.

www.reelfishingadventures.net
 
Sawmill,White,Hatheume,Stump,Courteney,Oyama,etc...in May/June. Okan. L. is for easing cabin fever in late fall/winter/early spring.
 
Sawmill,White,Hatheume,Stump,Courteney,Oyama,etc...in May/June. HavOkan. L. is for easing cabin fever in late fall/winter/early spring.

X2, The big lake is where I go to run my boat in the winter so I don't have to winterize it. It can produce fish, but it's slow for the most part.
 
Thanks for the info

I've stayed in Galatley Bay a few times over the last year and did note a charter boat (21' aluminum boat with OB) fishing just out front of the Cove Resort at Galatley Bay.

We're staying in Galatley Bay so I'm seeking moorage in the area and will probably try the same area as the charter boat I saw and Rattle Snake Island.

Can anyone tell me what colours and size of plugs work best in May/June? Or a good local store where I can go to get info and buy the gear that works?

Thanks for the info and any additional information is greatly appreciated.
 
Trout water in kelowna is my go to place. Great guys. Lots of gear. I tend to fish a lot of plugs. 1.5"-4". Colors range all over the map. Depth is pretty all over the map too. I'll mark fish then do a loop and drop/raise my gear to the approx depth. Kokanee can also be caught using gang trolls or a small plug in the top 50ft of water. A small spoon with 12-16 inch of line behind it with a wedding ring also works well.
 
Went out on Saturday fishing was ok had two on and got one in the boat. Both were on purple pink apex at 103 feet down in the riggers.


Thanks
JAC
 
Doug:
We used to fish the lake as much as we could (3-4 after work evenings and at least 1 weekend day but often both) from end of march /early April up to but NOT including May long weekend. I found that weekend would bring way too much traffic and all but guarantee some gear getting chopped off. 95% of my fish came on the 4.5 black to clear apex or a blue/white weighted body buck tail. Bucktail had to be made with real polar bear hair, not fake. We fished both lures with no weight so right in the first couple feet of water. We hung them both around 100 or more feet back and trolled quite quick. We fished almost exclusively at Glatley. We would come out of Glatley yacht club boat launch and drop the gear just to the kelowna side of the point and troll toward Peachland. More than half our fish came from 3/4 of the way to the middle of the lake if not the middle. We also got lots if we took a line that had us about75- 100 yards out off of the point. Many of our fish came from doing a big circle which had us covering both described passes. I would also try putting the boat in neutral for a minute and then hitting it with a fast troll. We definitely hit most fish when speeding up either from a standstill or even from our regular speed that already seemed fast. As for timing, early may used to yield as many and often more fish than April. As for the end of May and June I have spent little time on the big lake in those dates. They were reserved for the belly boat and the fly rod.

About 12 years ago I took my last good bucktail in to Art and Cindy at A&C Sports and they had their guy copy it. It did almost as well as the originals I used to get from Clem's (You old guys from up that way Know who I mean). A & C kept some on the shelf right up to 7 years ago when I moved .I assume they may still.

X2 on "Trout Water" as well. Always helpful! I Hope some of this helps you out ,I kinda got long winded as it brings back some fun memories. I look forward to reading Your report this June.
I found this OLD(1991) pic of a couple my buddy and I got first Saturday of May I am pretty sure. Both came on the bucktail on speed changes and both came on the same circle as described.
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
Cheers:Ray

IMG.jpg
 
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I fish a lot of bucktails and I found the deer hair to be way better than the polar bear. I mostly use kootenay fly company flies and the fly number 215 is by far the best pattern that I use. I alway troll my flies about 100 yards behind the boat. Jencourt hit the nail on the head with the speed change speeding up and slowing down will definitely get your more hits. Some guys also lift and lower there downriggers from time to time to try and get a hit.
 
Nice Fish

Thanks for the info.

The area you describe is the same location I saw the charter boat fishing.

I was born in Kelowna and lived there until 1980 when I moved to the coast. With all the growth in Kelowna and area I thought fishing must have changed so that's why I started this thread.

Growing up my parents had a boat in the water in front of our house on Mill creek, so we would fished the lake all the time. I remember my dad coming home from work at 430 and we'd load into the boat with a box dinner and a few stubby bottles of old style beer (for my dad) and we'd fish the south side of the bridge for Kokanee and most days catch 10 in a couple of hours. I also fished Carp as a kid and we'd catch numerous 10 lb fish

We just recently purchased a place in Glatley bay and this year we're going to tow our charter boat up and do some touring and fishing.

I do remember Clem's on Lakeshore road.
 
Im born and raised in kelowna and spent my first 18 years living on the westside and have had numerous friends that lived in green bay/pritchard. If you are right on the water in gelletly, you might want to think about starting to carp fish again. there are a TON of fish there and many over 20lbs. I bowfish for them now but thats besides the point. Ive had lots of good luck in the Gelletly bay area, north in front of kalmor park and south right down to peachland. If you want to do some Laker fishing, head out to Kal lake in search of some of the giants that roam the water there.
 
Nice Fish

Thanks for the info.

The area you describe is the same location I saw the charter boat fishing.

I was born in Kelowna and lived there until 1980 when I moved to the coast. With all the growth in Kelowna and area I thought fishing must have changed so that's why I started this thread.

Growing up my parents had a boat in the water in front of our house on Mill creek, so we would fished the lake all the time. I remember my dad coming home from work at 430 and we'd load into the boat with a box dinner and a few stubby bottles of old style beer (for my dad) and we'd fish the south side of the bridge for Kokanee and most days catch 10 in a couple of hours. I also fished Carp as a kid and we'd catch numerous 10 lb fish

We just recently purchased a place in Glatley bay and this year we're going to tow our charter boat up and do some touring and fishing.

I do remember Clem's on Lakeshore road.

I grew up on the Westside and in 1990 I bought a house in Glenrosa. Quick drive down the hill and I was on the lake. Those days it was a 12 foot sears tin boat and a 9.9 ,no sounder nothing.
later I had the eagle portable with the suction cup transducer. Never really helped much.

"Clem's" was on Harvey across from the rec center.. "Harv's out door sports" was on Lake-shore. As I am typing this I am thinking I remember that Clem did move to lake-shore a couple ,few years before calling it quits.Or was it the other way around?
I am just not sure or did he set up at "Harv's" for a while. Seems I have some memory of him finishing up with just a counter somewhere? I could have this part wrong so if you or some one else can put this straight for my suffering memory I would appreciate it.

As far as the Carp-suckers in Glatley. Yup!! I am afraid to admit as young Teen's we used ti ride our bike down to the old ferry wharf.In the afternoon in the heat of the day they would move in on the pilings. Not knowing any better we would throw a big triple prong hook on,climb up on the top of the towers so we could see them well . Anyway we would cast out over them and well ,you can guess what we did next.Sounds so wrong looking back at it now but it was fun on small spin cast rods.

Cheers: Ray
 
Clem's shop was right before you hit gyro park/beach. I believe it is now the Wok Out/inn Chinese food place. My dad used to work at Harvs. I hung out there a lot as a little kid.
 
As far as the Carp-suckers in Glatley. Yup!! I am afraid to admit as young Teen's we used ti ride our bike down to the old ferry wharf.In the afternoon in the heat of the day they would move in on the pilings. Not knowing any better we would throw a big triple prong hook on,climb up on the top of the towers so we could see them well . Anyway we would cast out over them and well ,you can guess what we did next.Sounds so wrong looking back at it now but it was fun on small spin cast rods.

Cheers: Ray

I guess we have all done things as kids which we regret. It was pity there was no one around from the U.K. to show you how to fish for carp, especially those at or near the surface. Big carp (20 lbs and up) are prize angling quarry in U.K. as they are so strong. In my day we used to quickly dunk a stale bread crust containing a size 2 hook and lower or gently swing it in front of a cruising carp without spooking it (that part was tricky sometimes). Very exciting watching big carp cruise up and slurp down the floating bread and even more exciting to hook and fight a 20 pounder on 8 or 10lb line!! I have done this right in the boat basin on Shuswap Lake so I know it works in Canada.......
 
I also thought Clem's was in a small bldg located at the trailer park near Gyro beach. But that was 40+- years ago ????.

I fished carp and suckers using flower and water mixed together to make dough and triple hooks. We would fish around the bridge bumper piling or at the old ferry docks which were close to the newer Grand Hotel. We (9 yrs olds boys) would catch the fish and sell them to some local Chinese guys for $.25-$.10 a fish. I thought I was rich.
 
Ah yes It is coming back to me slowly. Yes indeed he was on Lakeshore for many years. I shopped mostly at Harves until I was put onto Clem's flies.I do think he re-located for a couple 2 or 3 years after closing that store. My memory is that it was on Harvey up by Bertram in the single story strip mall . Man funny I can remember almost every fish I have caught and all the details but have a hard time remembering stuff like this.

Thanks for setting me strait on the Lakeshore location. I knew he had been there at one time just could not remember that that was long standing location.


Cheers: ray
 
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Doug: Sorry this turned into a total hijack

Time to get it back to your topic.

Fishing Okanagan Lake.

Cheers Ray
 
If you are looking for burbot, try the old Hiram walker water plant and just south of rattlesnake island in the bay by the rock face.

Oh and the normal places such as the log booms.
 
No problem Jencourt, It brought back memories I never would have thought of .

I've never caught or seen a Burbot in Ok Lake? Now you mention them I did see a video on the Ogopogo and the fish in the video looked just like a large Burbot swimming on the surface and then it smacked it's tail and disappeared. The video appeared to be near Rattle Snake Is.
 
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