Although it has been a different type of spring, with cool temperatures and heavy rain showers, it’s that time again – when ardent anglers enjoy fishing the big Shuswap and Mara lakes, in hope of hooking up with those large, magnificent rainbow strain of trout.
The lake has also caught the attention of fishing guides who travel from Kelowna and other locations, in hopes of rewarding their clients with one fish a day per person – their catch recorded on their license.
Many years ago, Bryan Hebden and John Cartwright, fisheries biologists working out of Kamloops, could see that with liberal catches and increased angling pressure, something needed to be done to maintain a decent and sustainable fishery.
They implemented regulation for: single barbless hooks, bait ban and one-trout-per-day at 50 centimetres or over, recorded on the anglers licence with a five-trout-limit for the season and no ice angling.
It has worked out quite well, with most anglers quite happy, and compliance I would estimate at about 70 per cent.
When I was working with Cartwright, there were a few incidents, when writing out a violation tickets (to mostly out-of-province anglers), where tensions increased (alcohol was involved).
One I recall was an angler and his wife who were fishing near Hungry Cove when we approached. We identified ourselves and came alongside, to check a cooler and licenses. The man had caught an under-sized trout and had it in the cooler. Angling licenses were OK, except he told her to put on the only apex lure with a barbed hook. His wife went ballistic, and the air turned totally blue.
There were even words we had not heard before.
These rainbows feed exclusively on the hundreds of small salmon fingerlings drifting along continually in the Shuswap, Adams and Eagle rivers until they spill out of the river mouths and into the confluence of the two lakes. It can be a feeding frenzy for diving ducks, pike minnow, birds of prey and rainbows.
Similar to the Adams River sockeye dominant run, trout and lake trout have been conditioned to travel in the fall to the Adams river mouth to feast on the spawn eggs drifting into the drop-off.
In May and June, trout travel from near and far, to converge at the river mouths to wait for the aluvins (salmon fry) to arrive. Many seasons ago, conventional lures consisted of the tiny Glendon, Stewart nickel, brass spoons and Trolled spinners, etc.
Boy, how times have changed.
With a large variety of lures – apex, crocodile and Jenson, and a variety of bucktail flies that imitate salmon fry, success rates have dramatically increased.
Can trout identify colour? You bet they can. The past two seasons,they have gone after tinsel yellow bucktails and gold coloured plugs. Maybe trolling speed has something to do with it.
In any case, there’ll be some hungry trout looking for easy pickings this spring, as there aren’t as many salmon fry as in a dominant year.
So enjoy your outings on our big lakes while angling, but also be safe.
Know your limitations. Wear a fitted life jacket – especially in small aluminum boats – and check weather reports before heading out.
Tight lines and good fishin’!