Herb, Keith and I have been fishing lakes in the Thompson- Nicola area together for 20 years. This year Keith didn't join us; last year on the day he got home and while offloading his Spring Creek Pram, he tripped, fell and broke his femur. We missed him on the trip.
It was sunny and bright for most of the seven hour drive to Mile High Resort. Herb and I arrived at the resort within minutes of each other. After a fist bump, handshake and a quick manly hug, we started unloading our trucks. As hard of hearing as we are, we both heard thunder and a few minutes later it started to hail, then snow. Welcome to the Thompson-Nicola region and "mile high" resort. Herb wasted no time getting a fire started in the wood stove.
After dinner, we talked about what lake we should fish the next morning. We decided to fish a lake we'd heard had "boots" (that would be Canadian speak for poor fighting trout, such BS). Herb was up at 4:00 am the next morning getting the coffee started. 4:00 AM? Man, it was cold outside. We had breakfast, drank lots of hot coffee and headed out. Unfortunately for Herb, he likes a breeze from the east on this lake, the wind was blowing from the west. I could care less which way the W blows as long as it isn't howling. There weren't any bugs hatching and it didn't take me long to cut the midge off and tie on my Seeger Perch jig which I hung under my Seeger-Cator™. Game on, 14 or so fish to the net. Later in the afternoon, dark callibaetis started hatching. A cripple worked very well fished in the chop above the middle launch shoal.
The middle launch - the shoal goes for a few hundred feet on either side of the launch.
The next day we fished a lake slightly lower in elevation. Mayflies started hatching about noon. Herb capitalized on the hatch landing seven fish over 20" with one that must have weighed five pounds.
The weather was interesting. We only had snow the first day but we had frost every morning. It was 27F the morning we headed home and 78F at my house, that 50 degree swing caught me by surprise. We did have rain, rain and more rain. With good rain gear and if it isn't too cold, I like fishing in the rain.
We fished only two lakes; alternating between the two. On day five I was anchored on a flat shoal 18-feet deep but with a drop of four or five feet right off the stern of my pram. I broke off my Seeger Perch fly. Man, it served me well. I saw a few swallows working and two nighthawks so I thought "midge" and rigged two Seeger-Cator™ rods with olive midges:
I decided not to bomb casts (me? bomb casts? Not often), instead I just rolled the leaders out a rod length from my boat. What I noticed was just this ever so slight tick to one of the indicators. Then the other indicator did the same thing. It was flat, calm - no wind. When it happened again, I lifted quickly and had a fish on. Talk about subtle takes. I never would have seen these takes if I'd been casting 30 or 40 feet out. I got busy after that, several times both indicators indicated. Maybe there is something to the two tone Iracator? I just like my Seeger-Cator™'s and they served me well on the trip.
Herb and I had six days fishing together. We had the oppportunity to visit with several locals. We ate well. We slept well. We had a lot of fun. I hope and pray that next year Keith will be up to joining us on our annual spring trip.
Randomness:
Chopaka Mountain just beyond Osoyoos ----^
We did actually toast some toast.
I carried five fly rods in my boat every day. Insane? No, practical. I kept one 5 weight rigged with a dry fly, I had a rod rigged with an intermediate, a rod rigged with a type-6 and two long leader bobber rods.
There's a steep dropoff just to the outside of the biggest submerged pine tree (2nd from the left). I'd hooked a big trout and as I netted the fish, the fly popped out. A few minutes later that same fly drew a really fast take. The Seeger-Cator™ ripped underwater and my reel was quickly losing line and then it was gone. Huh, I reeled in to check things out, the hook had broken, no doubt from damage when debarbing.
I've been home a bit more than 24 hours now, I'm almost done cleaning gear. The pram is ready use, the rods cleaned, lines cleaned, leaders refreshed, used flies put back in their proper boxes.
Last edited:
