Hi blazer, I have been fishing the Kootaney region of BC for a very long time, which includes Arrow, Trout, Kootaney Lake, Lake Revelstoke and Kinbasket. I fish all of those lakes many times per year. Now saying this Kootaney itself agreed has taken a heavy toll but not so much from over fishing, the other lakes are still fairly productive, the reason for the decline in Kootaney Lake is mainly due to the decline in kokanee populations. Not only did a full years worth of spawning get wiped out during the 2013 floods but the fish also contracted IHN virus and overall lake numbers are down by the millions. I spoke with a long time local guide there yesterday and he said the fishing is getting better, not the huge sizes like 5-10 years ago but better, and there are alot of government programs in the works to get this fishery back on top. He said the big fish are still around, they are just down very deep and in a rather dormant stage as there primary food source, which is 5-7'' kookanee's are hard to come by these days. Let's hope these programs work and get back to the 20-25lb gerrard days!!
