Where to find Cutthroat in Cowichan Lake

[JuBy]

thanks for the advice....do you pull the pin and flatline all the time when your targeting the cutties in cowichan? I have never pulled the pins in my plugs before

 

[SmokerCraft]

Yes, I do pull the pins and flatline all the time. Lots of guys use downwriggers and are very successful, but for trout? Not my game. I like to pull the pins because I fish so tight to shore and cover debris where the biguns are there is a lot of snag-ups. When you are snagged and can't get your hook free simply snap your line and your $10-$12 plug floats to the surface pick it up and tie on a new hook your fishin with your lucky plug that has ation like no other! When you are playing a fish the plug simply drifts up and down the line leaving the battle for you the fish and the hook. Tomic does not recomend pulling pins because there is a slight chance of causing a leak, but I have never had a leaker. If you do decide to pull some pins be sure to use the back hole for best action.

 

[JuBy]

ok thanks! one last question how much line do you let out when your flatlining and do you use the tubby or regular plugs as i know tubbys you get more action from trolling slower

 

[SmokerCraft]

I cast as far as I can and then let a bunch more line out, I guess probably 75-100 feet back. I havent tried tubbys yet, I will one day. I do find cutties to like a pretty fast troll, change up the speed once in a while can trigger hits, and they often hit when the boat is making a turn. Good luck, I'm hitting the lake monday hopefully something to report.

 

[JuBy]

sounds good good luck im going to go give the nanaimo lakes a try this weekend although they hold substantially smaller cutties

 

[KCW]

I used to fish the lake alot and found a black/silver countdown rapalla outfished the tomics at times. Lots of big trout, caught a few rainbows over 8 lbs ,there was one caught over 14 lbs, were all probally steelhead. Steelhead , coho , and springs used to spawn in some of the tribs, hopefully still do!

 

[Reel Knotty]

sounds good good luck im going to go give the nanaimo lakes a try this weekend although they hold substantially smaller cutties

Sorry but I must disagree with that statement. There are lots of larger cuttys in Nanaimo Lake chain. I commonly catch 3 lbs+ and 4-5 lbs are nice, 6+ very nice. What I do notice is anglers fishing here, gear up for smaller fish. Just remember, cutty's are piscavors when they get bigger. They aren't interested in little bug like patterns. (think tomic plugs!!!!)

 

[JuBy]

what kinda plugs and what size of plugs are you running in the nanaiom lakes?

 

[Reel Knotty]

what kinda plugs and what size of plugs are you running in the nanaiom lakes?

3 to 4 inch tomics, rainbow trout pattern work well. I lost my favorite that I can't find to replace, I believe it was painted to look like a brook trout, however it looked very baby cutthroat to me

 

[JuBy]

do you fish mostly the second lake?

 

[Reel Knotty]

call up Tomic and get a few more made reel knotty...holmes*

Might just have to do that, but looking at their color chart, I see one that looks similar, but the colors on site are much yellower than real life.

do you fish mostly the second lake?

Mostly 2nd sometimes 4th rarely 1st

 

[JuBy]

when are the best times for cutties march through to may?

 

[SmokerCraft]

when are the best times for cutties march through to may?

I start fishing cutties in Cowichan in late October and fish till April. I find the most productive time is late November to the end of January. You can get them any time, but that is when I have had the best success fishing plugs shallow.