Okanagan sockeye 2022

[Corey_lax]

Should I bring anything other than small hootchies? I’m just gonna bring my mini tackle box

 

[tubber]

Should I bring anything other than small hootchies? I’m just gonna bring my mini tackle box

No other types of lure needed. 4-6 Dummies on 4 or 5 foot leashes plus clips for them.
When are you arriving? I might be there at 04:30 on Friday. If you haven't found your other flashers by then and need to borrow some. I'll be off the water by 7:30 if it's like last time.

 

[Corey_lax]

No other types of lure needed. 4-6 Dummies on 4 or 5 foot leashes plus clips for them.
When are you arriving? I might be there at 04:30 on Friday. If you haven't found your other flashers by then and need to borrow some. I'll be off the water by 7:30 if it's like last time.

I’m not leaving the lower mainland until mid afternoon. I’m in osoyoos until Tuesday. Found some new flashers around the garage so I’m good for the trip. Thanks for the offer though.

 

[sly_karma]

I agree, there seems to be a lot of fish. Given how warm the water is (almost 77F at the top according to my sounder), not sure how many will survive to spawn.

I made the trek out last week, braved the 37C heat and the myriad of jet skis, wake boats and the white Oakley crowd, with the aim to get my 2 fish per day limit. The lake didn't disappoint, giving up 2 fish early leaving me all day to bake in the sun waiting for day two.

Fishing was easy in the early hours of the day. I had close to a dozen hits and shakers from 6am to 9am, with 2 in the boat before noon. Once the heat took hold, hits became few and far in between. I finally called it quits before 6pm as nothing seemed to want to cooperate. The next morning was a repeat.

The fish were holding in 60-70 fow, with the occasional school deeper to 80 fow. Trolling dead slow at 1.6 mph was the ticket. Anything faster and the hits dropped off. As everyone on here has already stated, small pink hootchies produced the best, although I did pick up a few hits on a lime green/white striped variant. I only had silver flashers, but they seemed to work regardless, one plain and the other with a strip of reflective tape on the side. Can't say either one was better.

As it was my first time fishing the lake, I just followed all the other boats as they trolled pretty much right in front of the marina in 90 to 170 fow. There was no need to go anywhere else. Everyone was catching fish. The hardest part of the trip was finding parking, as the lot in front of the marina was full by first light. I was fortunate to arrive just as someone was coming off the water after catching their 2 fish limit...and they were headed off to work. They mentioned they were on the water for less than an hour!

At one point as I was trolling around, my fish finder went a bit wonky, as it was unable to pick up sonar returns from the bottom. Turns out I was over a school of fish in 60 fow and my finder registered a false bottom as it couldn't penetrate the school of fish. There were so many fish that it happened many more times throughout the morning.

The fish were a bit slimy and on the dark side...pinkish really...but the fillets were still firm (for now...as we all know it's bound to get worse).

Pretty happy with the trip in general. All the info provided by other members on the forum were spot on and made my trip a success. For that I'm quite thankful!

B

Interesting that the fish have moved shallow, especially given the heat at the surface. Usually you need 80-100 ft under the keel before seeing them stacked.

In past big years when the opening has been extended to end of August, the hits are harder to get, my theory is the heat and that most of the aggressive fish have been caught. Early morning is key, lower speed and also more bling; multiple dummy flashers 6 ft back from the cannonballs, I prefer inline spinner types such as Kone Zone or Agitator as they are much less likely to tangle. Go with a full size flasher with the hoochie, use a breakaway style to make it a bit more sporty.

 

[bcbassfishing]

Noticed the same thing a couple days ago... the big deep holes seemed to actually hold less fish. Fishing was still good though... 8 in the box in a few hours. So many lost with rookies on the boat lol.

 

[tubber]

We got 4 early Friday. I had 3 dummies on each side. 4 foot leads 5 feet apart with the first ones clipped to the eyes on the back of my cannonballs. Also short leads on my clips so the hook stays closer to the dummies.
I set my counter to zero when the rod flasher goes under the surface.
Hits were at 57 and deeper.
I got one when lowering from 57 to 65, which gave me the idea to speed up and then got one at 2.1 mph. Slow for 18 inch leaders, faster for 24 maybe.
I found most biters north toward the orange floats, but there are fish everywhere.

 

[Corey_lax]

Two socks this morning to keep the kids having fun. We caught a chinook that was twice the size of these socks. Maybe 6 pounds and super red already

 

[Corey_lax]

I should just start jigging

 

[sly_karma]

Do it! Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[sly_karma]

No word yet on closure of the rec fishery. I guess I should make one more trip Saturday before the Ironman gong show.

 

[Corey_lax]

Do it! Enquiring minds want to know.

Never tried it but man it was thick with fish at times. Some fish looking nice and shiny still, others turning pretty red.

Most of our bites were around 8:00am just North of the public launch. 72' deep was the ticket. And the bonus is that there is no boats fishing there as they all fish further north. 1.5 MPH was the slowest I could go trolling on my main with two buckets out the back. I would have preferred to troll slower, but we got fish nonetheless. Time to do a carb clean on my kicker as it was acting up this weekend.

 

[bcbassfishing]

One last kick at it tomarrow morning for me before hunting season gets in the way. Freezer is looking pretty good so far.

 

[sly_karma]

Yeah one more time Sat morning for me. Taking some of my work crew out.

 

[BobNewton]

Hundreds of salmon washing up on beaches in Osoyoos, B.C. - Okanagan | Globalnews.ca

Over 400,000 Okanagan salmon are destined for Osoyoos Lake and about 40 have been washing up each day this week. A senior biologist refers to it as “the squeeze.”

globalnews.ca

Any thoughts on this ?

Sounds like fish crossing the shallow water from basin to basin to me.

Not sure.

 

[Corey_lax]

Hundreds of salmon washing up on beaches in Osoyoos, B.C. - Okanagan | Globalnews.ca

Over 400,000 Okanagan salmon are destined for Osoyoos Lake and about 40 have been washing up each day this week. A senior biologist refers to it as “the squeeze.”

globalnews.ca

Any thoughts on this ?

Sounds like fish crossing the shallow water from basin to basin to me.

Not sure.

I definitely noticed quite a few floaters. Probably doesn't help when the water temperature is 80 degrees.

 

[Non-Confidence]

Is Sockeye open on OK lake? I am very surprised people are fishing for them given the great decline in numbers and environmental concerns.

 

[kingblazer84]

Is Sockeye open on OK lake? I am very surprised people are fishing for them given the great decline in numbers and environmental concerns.

No open fishery on OK lake, and tech shouldn't be targeting them but with kokanee liking the same gear its hard.

 

[bcbassfishing]

Floaters happen... nothing worth getting to worked up about. The fish we got today were in great shape and fought pretty decent actually. Too bad the fun has to end for me but time to put the boat away and grab a rifle.

 

[sly_karma]

Is Sockeye open on OK lake? I am very surprised people are fishing for them given the great decline in numbers and environmental concerns.

This year, sockeye are very abundant in the Okanagan system. Odd-number years are a different story at the moment, but work is ongoing to consolidate this impressive resurgence. It's a good news story in the fisheries world.

 

[sly_karma]

Floaters happen... nothing worth getting to worked up about. The fish we got today were in great shape and fought pretty decent actually. Too bad the fun has to end for me but time to put the boat away and grab a rifle.

Anything I need to know for tomorrow? Dummy flashers on the cannonballs plus the usual flasher/pink hootchie setup? Leader length?