South Island Lakes 2020

Fished Thetis for the first time the other day caught one nice trout my daughter caught 3 nice ones. My fishing partner took me out to his spot and he caught one trout. I've never fished bass my buddy says to come over here you can see theres a few bass along different areas along the shore. I couldnt beleive it so I search my gear to see what I can use I found a plastic worm after throwing it a few times the smally was on then gone this happened 4 times then the fight was on and I caught my first bass then a few more tosses and a larger smally. I was hooked I like this bass fishing. Decided to take my daughter out yesterday to beaver I try several different baits all artificial and for my daughter good old worm and bobber. First spot Im casting away my daughter drops it at her feet daddy I have a fish her first bass she catches two more nice bass an she losses a huge bass it bit her line 4 times and never got to land it she love bass fishing oh ya I caught one bass on plastic. Sorry to go on but first time basser and I will be doing it again.
 
Was on Langford Friday afternoon from 4 to 7 with my son. Landed one on the fly but action was slow so I pulled out the lake rigger for the first time this year and threw down a wedding band and worm combo. Landed 6 in a couple hours with that combo at about 20 to 25 ft depth. Temp was right around 64 degrees.

20200518_072052.jpg

20200518_072302.jpg
 
Saw this posted on FB yesterday. This was Langford and it was also stocked about a month ago. Nice to see the Freshwater Fisheries Society putting the license money back into the fishery!
That should get the existing fish active.
 
Fished elk lake for bass from 4:00-8:30pm. No luck with bass but kid got a catfish.

Anyone else fishing elk lake for bass any luck?
 
Hi I am wondering how you cook your trout so they don't taste muddy thanks Art
Dredging flesh through 2% milk then into mixture of cornmeal, chickpea flour, dried dill, along with some lemon pepper will do the trick. Sear. remove from frying pan and add either fresh lemon to it or a Czech Pilsner will do the trick. Bon Appy
 
Heard three days ago 6lb bass taken from Long Lake in Nanaimo, not sure if spoon or live bait used, since then fishers are out on weekend. Also hearing bass gear is coming off the shelves around town
 
What strain do you think this fish is fraservalley?
That doesn't look like a Fraser Valley to me... The large, well defined spots on the head and the gill plate don't look consistent with the ones I've caught.

I had a little evening/early night session at Long Lk in Nanaimo this past Thurs. Roughly 630-930 pm.

My idea was to capitalize on the breeding termites as they look for mates around dusk and try to get bites on threaded nightcrawlers with a weighted float with a short leader (30-40 cm from float); I thought that any hungry bass or trout rising to feed on water-surface termites would view a crawler as a very welcome payload of protein and nutrients. It was pretty slow leading up to the Dusk bite, but as soon as those termites came out there were boils all over the place ranging from tiny perch sized bass approx 5 feet from shore, to big healthy looking trout and bass launching out of the water from the sheer speed at which they were hitting the termites.

Unfortunately the float setup near the surface wasn't getting hit by any of the bigger fish, so I switched to a bottom fishing tactic I've been messing with where I rig a corkie on the leader of a typical Carolina rig that you would use to target trout with powerbait. With the corkie on the leader, there is no need to rely solely on powerbait and other floating trout baits which may not always be effective.

My choice on that night was to thread a crawler on the rig, just as I previously tried with the float setup, and I quickly got SLAMMED by a roughly 12 inch, 1 lb or so Smallmouth. It put up a pretty great fight on 4 lb Seaguar STS leader and unfortunately popped off 'quick release' style right at the shore. Not exactly a hog by any standards, but I was happy to see some fair sized bass are still in the lake after a whole summer of many people likely targeting the big guys for the frying pan.

After this I wasn't getting much action, but I continued to soak a crawler on the bottom rig with intentions of finding out if there would be any action soon after dark. The reasons I wanted to find out were twofold: (1) I had recently watched a trout documentary where they focused much study on Salmonid eyesight and they were saying that the fishes eyes adjust to the night approx 30 mins after dark and that this can be a likely feeding time following the 'last light bite', and (2) I was also hoping to possibly get a nice big Smallmouth, as the best 3 I've landed were all only around perfect 12 inch 1 lbers like the guy I lost earlier.

Well, right around 9 pm, approx 30 mins after last light my rod went from zero to fully corked instantly and as I was fighting the fish it just kept diving straight down and pinning on the bottom. I thought I had a new 1.5-2 lb pb bass on the line for sure, however:

50313604137_35c1244571_k.jpg


I was somewhat surprised it wasn't a bass, as this was a very scrappy fish. Caught, photoed, measured and released. The real surprise however, was when I got home and looked at the pics after the initial excitement started to wear off and noticed that it was actually a wild! It made me pretty glad I didn't bonk it.

Planning on going to Long Lk or perhaps Westwood tonight and fishing until 10 or 1030 to see if the first couple hours of darkness and colder temps will bring out any more of these guys or perhaps a nice Bass!
 
That is a lunker for long lake, well done!
Thanks! I thought it was a lunker by LL standards as well, and extra special being a native trout opposed to a generic old Fraser Valley.. Don't get me wrong though, I'd be stoked on a 17 inch hatchery fish too.

Another report is incoming from the last night I said was going out... Just been a bit busy to upload photos and such. I'll edit this post and add it in later when I'm done carving for the day!
 
Got out on Langford for the first time in a long while before the rain hit. Landed about a dozen, including 2 double headers, in just over 3 hours in the late afternoon. Water temp was still up there for this time of year.
Went out for the inaugural in my yellow tub. Chose Langford after reading your report. Was not disappointed, lots of strikes, marked many fish at both ends. Only one to the boat though.
 
It is getting crowded down there:
122551331_3993244364038293_7865084841989090273_o.jpg
 
Back
Top