Lake Cowichan Report?

Red rover... red rover. I call Hourston over
 
lakes a lake - the fish are always in it. nothing really secretive or worth giving information about - plugs off lake down riggers, gang trolls, varry the depth until you start catching fish. fish the river mouths. Roe can be deadly bottom fished (not sure how legal this is anymore - by deadly i mean they inhale it.. not a good catch and release technique ) haven't fish the lake since summer.

get out there and fish it - its a big lake with lots of fish. catch and release for the big ones. fish the river mouths. think like a fish and you will catch them!
 
I think I can catch salmon a lot better then trout thats for sure but it seems the cutthroat like plugs this time of year. So I was thinking about trying out the small batrix fish and instead of using a plug action it will give it the anchovie roll look. Was also thinking about trolling a Big Gulp worm infront of the creek mouths.(I just might be able to fool a fish into thinking the worm just got flushed out of the river) Of course anything "might" work but I know the guys reading this have way more experiance then I do so please tell me what you think about my "ideas". Any help is muchly appreciated..... Thanks, Steve.
 
Sea Ranger said:
I think I can catch salmon a lot better then trout thats for sure but it seems the cutthroat like plugs this time of year. So I was thinking about trying out the small batrix fish and instead of using a plug action it will give it the anchovie roll look. Was also thinking about trolling a Big Gulp worm infront of the creek mouths.(I just might be able to fool a fish into thinking the worm just got flushed out of the river) Of course anything "might" work but I know the guys reading this have way more experiance then I do so please tell me what you think about my "ideas". Any help is muchly appreciated..... Thanks, Steve.
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salmon are usually easier to catch IMO. the trick with trout is narrowing in on what there eating. the big cutties like Fry ; rainbows seach the mud for gomphis and other small inverts. you can troll for hours without a touch change the lure and then get fish consistently for the rest of the day. Never tried batrix, but they could produce. the classic way to fish the creek mouths is to tie a worm on with a few split shots and cast it up river, and let it float down with a slow retrieve.

Plastics are usually outfished by bait - keep this in mind. its hard to go wrong with a tin of dew worms
 
I know cutties in Cowichan lake like fry as it seems everyone fishes with plugs and I'm probably better off keeping with plugs too. But I do like the idea of trolling a worm across the creek mouths. Guys talk about always fish the river mouths but there must be some cutties out in the middle don't you think? Depth is also another big part, I've heard as shallow as 10 ft to troll at. Now if one was to fish out in the middle don't you think the cutties would be a bit deeper? The thermocline layer plays a big part but I can never find the thermocline when looking on my sounder. I don't know how deep they hang out at but I would guess they would be found at 35 ft down. So thats my plan.... troll shallow near shore and troll deep out in the middle. Which brings me to another question, which part of the lake is better for fishing cutties this time of year? The far end ..... Youbou side? Goat Island .... Nixon? Shaw? the list goes on and on!!! I think I'm just getting excited about going fishing.... sorry if I'm rambling. Wish me luck! (remember I told I'm not very good at catching trout!....lol).... Steve.
 
you have to remember the lake is NOT like the ocean in sense of there being bait found in the deep. The trout will travel over the water, but they are not chasing food around. River mouths are always the best bet. Trolling worms works well. they also eat stickle back minnows. i have caught trout over 18 inches casting into 8 feet of water with stickleback patterns near dawn. the fact is most of the food is either coming out of the river mouths, or living in the weeds. standing on the docks in cowichan you can sometimes see nice sized trout going into less then 5 feet of water.

cutthroat are rarley a picky fish, anything with action they will hit, if its worth the effort to them. Play with speed and depth till somthing works.
as far as location, its all up to you. Youbou side is usually where i go.
 
Another important point to remember about Cowichan Lake is it has some additional regulations relative to other Island Lakes. There is a bait ban and single barbless hook restriction from Nov 15 to April 15. Also only two trout can be retained and these must be less than 50 cm (all year round). These regulations protect the large wild cutthroat broodstock. Since the implementation of the maximum size restriction Cutthroat fishing has significantly improved in Cowichan lake (in my experience).
 
Thanks for the reply, I will fish mostly the creek mouths looking for that 49 and 3/4 cm size cuttie. I'll give the batrix a real good try before putting out the tried and true plugs.(if they're tried and true I should just fish with them...lol.) Think I will fish the youbou side to start with then move down to the far end of the lake.Thanks again for all the help.... tight lines for all and remember.... keep your tip up!! Steve.
 
try a lure called a cowichan spoon,use it at cottonwood creek as well as up by wardrober I find it works well all year.ps the 50 cent max size only applies to cutthroat good luck
 
fivespot said:
try a lure called a cowichan spoon,use it at cottonwood creek as well as up by wardrober I find it works well all year.ps the 50 cent max size only applies to cutthroat good luck
Click to expand...
I believe it also applies to the Rainbow in the lake to protect the few steelhead that spawn in some of the creeks. The
only trout larger than 50 cm. you can retain in Cowichan Lake is brown trout,and they have been caught in there over
10 lbs! The river is another story. All wild trout are to be released,and there is no hatchery trout in the system,so
essentially all trout in the river must be released.
 
Good fishing up at Cowie on the long weekend ended up with 19 Cutties in 2.5 days ranging from 30-58 cm's. All fish over 50 cm. were released of course, as all but a few smaller ones for the fry pan. All caught by trolling Tomic plugs in the southeast end of the lake in 20-60 ft. of water.
 
fivespot said:
just applies to cutties,fish cowichan all the time.check the regs
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You're right,fivespot.Sorry about that. I was led to believe this was the case from somebody who should know what
he's talking about,since he organized many ,many derbies on that lake for many years.
 
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