MONTE LAKE
fishing reports
Monte Lake is a popular fishing lake year-round, with kokanee in the 1lb range . Learn more about Monte Lake here.
august 14, 2024
I haven't had great success at Monte this year, so I hoped that today would be different!
I arrived at around 9:30 a.m. and was out on the water and ready to fish by 9:50 a.m. I started right in front of the north end launch and trolled southwest.
I still had one rod set up with a Chrome's single spinner from Paul Lake yesterday so I left that one on and on the other rod I put on my go-to pink wiggle hoochie. Most of the fish were marking between 15 to 30 feet- much shallower then I expected.
I lowered the gear down to 20 and 25 feet in depth. A fisher in another boat on the water told me he hadn't had any success, and neither had I at this point. After about 30 minutes I changed out my gear, switching to a gold wiggle hoochie that had been the only thing to get fish in the boat last time I was at Monte. It was the right choice for today as well! I caught one very small one that I was hoping to shake off but it was hooked good so I kept it, making this the first kokanee of the day. I was just starting to think about heading to the south end of the lake, but shortly after this thought I started marking lots of fish. I was straight across from the middle pullout and just south of the lone house that sits on the west side. Soon after marking these fish the gold wiggle hoochie produced a better-sized kokanee and then lost another. I reeled up the pink hoochie that had caught nothing and put on a silver hoochie. The silver hoochie performed as well as the gold!
By 11:30 I had put 4 kokanee in the boat and lost 7 others. The action was steady for about an hour. At 11:30 I was chasing my limit fish and the fishing seemed to turn off. For the next hour and 10 minutes I did nothing but switch out lures on one rod every 15 to 20 minutes, but left the gold wiggle hoochie on my second rod. Finally at 12:40 the limit fish took the gold hoochie.
I tried trolling at a few different speeds but my usual 1.3 MPH seemed best. I had action at depths between 16 to 30 feet, and because I was mostly fishing shallow I used 50 to 75 foot set-backs.
the Strategy
Rod one: a Chrome's custom bendable dodger and 14 inches of leader to a silver wiggle hoochie
Rod two: a Chrome's slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a gold wiggle hoochie
THE CATCH
There was one steady hour of fishing starting at 10:30 and the rest was pretty slow.
Limit caught, and 7 others lost.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
July 2, 2024
I woke up this morning thinking about going to Peter Hope Lake or Stump Lake, but I was also curious about how Monte Lake has been producing. I haven't heard many good reports from Monte this year so the decision was made! I was heading to Monte to test the waters for myself.
I arrived at 10 a.m. and there were only a couple boats on the lake. Usually in July trolling is the way to go so I set up with my standard pink wiggle hoochie on one rod and a Chrome's single spinner on the other, both paired with my new light swing tail dodgers and tipped with scented shoepeg corn. I went searching for marks and it seemed that the middle of the lake in front of the middle pull out had the most fish.
I was marking fish at 25 feet and 45 feet deep but couldn't get a bite. Trolling proved to be tough: for the first two hours I threw everything but the kitchen sink at those fish with no luck. Finally I tried a gold wiggle hoochie (of all things) and a red and gold wiggle shrimp. I had a bite almost right away on the gold wiggle hoochie and soon after caught a fish on both the gold wiggle hoochie and the red and gold wiggle shrimp, both at caught 45 feet deep. After that, it was another hour of trolling with nothing.
As I was packing up I set up my chironomid jigging gear. This is what I should have been doing all day! In only 45 minutes I lost 3 and caught another. It seemed easy to get them to chase and bite the chironomid on the slow rise.
the Strategy
Rod one: A 4 inch chrome wobbler with 12 inches of leader to pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A 4 inch chrome wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a variety of lures
Check out the report to see what was working!
THE CATCH
It was a tough day of trolling. I should have been jigging all day instead!
kokanee: 3
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
APRIL 3, 2024
I wasn't feeling well today but instead of lounging on the couch I decided to take a dose of ibuprofen and lounge in my boat. I have heard decent reports coming from Monte Lake so I hooked up my boat for the first time this year and headed out.
When I arrived it was super calm and there was only one other boat out on the water.
I headed over to the middle launch and got my gear out. I was marking a few fish all over the water column with the majority down at 80ish feet.
I put a Chrome's custom UV and pink dodger with a pink kokanee wobbler on the first rod, and a swing tail dodger with a pink wiggle hoochie on the second rod. I sent the wiggle hoochie down to 75 feet and the kokanee wobbler to 10 feet.
I chased the deeper marks around the water column with the wiggle hoochie but I couldn't get anything to hit. It took a while before finally getting my first kokanee on the wobbler at 10 feet. I then pulled the wiggle hoochie up to 10 feet and chased the deeper marks with the kokanee wobbler but this didn't seem to work.
I pulled the kokanee wobbler back up to 10 feet and this seemed to be the best option. I caught one rainbow and two more kokanee on the wobbler. In between fish I changed out the gear on my other rod, trying spinner hoochies and single spinners tipped with shoepeg but with no luck.
I tried both ends of the lake but I caught all the fish in the middle trolling back and forth from the pull out to the house on the other side. I think that most of the fish were near the surface today which was why I was only marking a few, and that most of the deeper marks were sucker fish.
the Strategy
Rod one: a Chrome's pink and chrome custom bendable dodger and 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
Rod two: aSwing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink wiggle hoochie
THE CATCH
A bit of a slow day but I didn't go home empty handed!
kokanee: 3
rainbows: 1
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE OFF UPDATE
March 27, 2024
I took a drive to Monte today and was pleasantly surprised to find it 100% ice free!!! Get those boats ready! I took a few casts off shore with a spinner tipped with maggots but not surprisingly there were no bites to be had. I got back in my truck and headed for Stump Lake.
THE SHORT REPORT
February 16, 2024
I should have arrived earlier today because the bite was decent when I arrived at 9:30 but got progressively slower throughout the day. For the first hour the fish were coming in about every 10 to 15 minutes in groupings of one to four fish and were interested in my jig. I caught one kokanee and had two other bites in the 10 to 20 feet range. After 11:30 a.m. fishing died right off. I marked very few fish and the couple I did mark didn't come close enough to my lure to see them on camera.
Even with this cold weather the ice on Monte is still not great. I was set up on about three inches of clear ice with another two inches of white punky ice. I didn't take off my PFD today. On the way out there were also big areas with three inches of slush.
NO ICE
January 9, 2024
Still no ice! Monte Lake is 100% open water. It is not surprising with this mild winter we've been having, but cold weather is on the way. Hopefully the lake will close up by late next week!?
THE SHORT REPORT
October 19, 2023
It was a day full of white caps, and the kokanee were not that interested. I found several fish down at 50 feet but I spent hours chasing them with no success. After several hours I caught one small kokanee at 20 feet and lost two others at this depth. It was the only depth that I had any success. All three fish were on the pink wiggle hoochie. I went through my tackle box of lures on the other rod but no luck. I decided to check out the very south end, and was surprised to see my fish finder light up! I caught 6 rainbows all on the pink wiggle hoochie. The very south end was stacked from 20 feet to the bottom, presumably all rainbows! I don't think I have ever caught more rainbows than kokanee while fishing Monte. The schools of rainbows were not too far off shore- I would guess that shore fishing for rainbows on the south end would be very productive!
Fishing report from readers
June 29, 2023
Jarrett had a successful day at Monte with his dad. Thanks for sharing your tips, Jarrett! Jarrett writes,
"Knowing it was supposed to be a beautiful day today I was finally able to talk my dad into journeying to Monte from Ashcroft. We arrived at the highway launch just before 9:00 a.m. and were fishing by 9:30.
Heading straight across the lake we were rewarded with fish showing on the finder right from the start at 10 feet all the way down to 40 in 90 feet of water. I dropped down to 30 feet with a 10 foot setback while my dad sat at 10 feet down with 70 feet or so of line out (weight plus speed and amount of line out). By 9:45 I had my first fish in the boat after numerous nibbles. Over the next 45 minutes the fishing was hot as I landed 3 more and my dad lost 1. It started to slow down on the bite after that but not on the screen as multiple schools were all over the water column. I was still able to land 1 more after losing 1 for the limit while my dad lost another but landed 2 including the hog for the day a 1 and 3/4 pounds.
All the landed fish fought with a fury and the acrobats displayed by them was awesome, including a 4 foot leap right into the boat, no net needed. By noon we were off the water with 7 landed and the memories of yet another great fishing day between father and son. 25 or so degrees out, with a little cloud cover that kept the sun away and made an almost perfect fishing day. 58 Fahrenheit water temp.
I stayed the course for the whole time at 30 feet down with a 10 foot setback while my dad varied between 10 to 20 feet down. Trolling 1.1 to 1.3 mph criss-crossing the lake from one side to the other by the highway launch."
the Strategy
Rod one: First, red with silver bendable 4 inch dodger, 14 inches of leader to a green and orange smile hoochie.
Rod two: red and white bendable 4 inch dodger, 14 inches of leader to a home tied orange hoochie.
The bait: Homemade fire cure and garlic shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
I caught 5 and lost 1, while my dad caught 2 and lost 2. All fish between 1.22 pounds and 1.75
kokanee: 7
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
Thrilled to hear about your great day, Jarrett! Thank you for the great report. Hope you enjoy your free fishing lures.
June 21, 2023
I knew time would be limited before the rain came today, but I wanted to take advantage of my day off.
Recent reports out of Monte have been good. The fish are of good size and are extremely scrappy! My last outing to Monte provided some of the heathiest looking kokanee that I have caught this season.
I was on my way to the lake when I realized that I had forgotten my scented shoepeg corn at home and I had gone too far to turn around. I did have some Berkley's synthetic pink maggots which also work, but not as good as scented shoepeg.
I arrived at 9:20 a.m. and was fishing by 9:45. I started at the north end launch just off the highway and headed south towards the middle of the lake. I was marking fish at 20 and 25 feet but all attempts at that depth were unsuccessful.
I noticed several fish rising so I pulled my gear up to 7 feet and the success started to come. I caught one scrappy kokanee on the wiggle hoochie in the middle of the lake. Moments after landing that fish my other rod that was equipped with a pink spinner hoochie was bouncing, but it got away. The action was coming in waves, likely every time I got near schools that were on the surface. By noon I had caught three kokanee and lost 4 others.
I used 70 foot setbacks and trolled at 1.2 to 1.3 MPH. Both the spinner hoochie and the wiggle hoochie seemed equally productive. I stayed in front of the middle pull out and went back and forth from the west to the east. I am quite certain I could have caught my limit today, but the lightning strikes that came in at noon prompted me to quickly get off the water.
the Strategy
Rod one: First, a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 18 inches of leader to a pink Chrome's wiggle hoochie
Rod two: a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink spinner hoochie
The bait: synthetic maggots
THE CATCH
I caught 3 and lost 4. Not bad for a couple of hours!
kokanee: 3
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
June 5, 2023
Yesterday there was a fishing derby on Monte Lake and I saw several posts of nice kokanee being caught. It looked like the participants had a fun day and I was looking to go and have a fun day on the water myself!
The forecast today called for moderate winds. This always makes trolling a little more challenging, but I was hoping that the bow mount would mitigate some of the problems while trolling in the wind.
The forecast was right: for much of the morning the wind was gusting around 15 to 20km. The bow mount did well, although while trolling directly into the wind I was sometimes down to 0.9 mph. This speed would be ok for the smile spinner I was using but it is a little slow to get the proper action on a wiggle hoochie, which I had on my other line. The fix was easy. I trolled diagonally or downwind often and when I did troll against the wind I put my 9.9 kicker down and put it in gear at idle speed to supplement the trolling motor.
My trolling rods were still set up with the same gear that I had used at Paul Lake and it worked well there so I used the same gear today. I began the day fishing the north end and was marking most fish around 15 to 20 feet in depth. I did laps on the north end trolling at around 15 feet deep for the first hour and a half. I caught one kokanee and lost three others. Fishing was ok, but I figured there must be a better spot- and there was!
I trolled down the west side of the lake and turned toward the middle across from the middle highway pull out. This is when things picked up. When I reached the middle I had a bite on one rod and then I got into a fish on my other rod. I landed one fish on the Chrome's smile spinner and as I was getting the fish in the cooler the other rod went off and I landed another nice kokanee.
I marked several fish straight out from the middle pullout all the way to just past the middle of the lake. It was a very productive area to fish. The fish were 10 to 20 feet deep so I kept my gear at 15 feet deep and used 75 foot setbacks. I followed up my 3rd kokanee with a series of losses. I did eventually get my last two. While reeling in what would be my limit fish my second rod went off. Fortunately the first of the two kokanee flipped off about 30 feet from the boat so I didn't have to handle any to release one. This has happened to me so many times I am considering running only one rod once I already have four kokanee in the boat.
It was tough to keep them on today. I lost far more than I caught, and others I talked to were having the same experience. It is hard to know why, but I wonder if sometimes they are swiping at the lure but not fully committed to biting it, resulting in a very shallow hook set.
I also tried a little bit of jigging earlier in the day but it was unsuccessful. The kokanee I caught today were very thick healthy looking fish. All of the kokanee I caught were over 1lb, with the biggest weighing in at 1lb 5.9 ounces.
the Strategy
Rod one: First, a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink Chrome's wiggle hoochie
Rod two: a Chrome's pink and green bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink and orange smile spinner
The bait: scented shoepeg corn.
THE CATCH
Fishing was good today! I lost more than I caught, but sometimes that is the way it goes.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
May 5, 2023
It has been over a month now since the ice came off Monte Lake. I figured by now the kokanee fishing should be picking up.
The forecast called for afternoon showers but the morning was supposed to be rain-free and calm. Besides some small rain sprinkles in the early morning the forecast was right! The lake remained fairly calm all morning.
I arrived at 7:30 a.m. and was on the water by 8 a.m. in hopes of catching my limit before the afternoon showers.
I started out right in front of the boat launch and I made a few laps on the north end with no success. I saw four fish jump and I was marking the odd fish at 15 to 25 feet, 50 feet, and 100 feet deep. After trying all of these depths unsuccessfully, I came to the conclusion that many of these deep marks were likely large scale suckers.
Next, I tried a 100 foot setback (the amount of line you let out before you clip the line to your quick release clip) and lowered my gear to 10 feet. I thought because I was only marking the odd fish that the fish might be closer to the surface.
This made a difference! I caught one kokanee on the pink wiggle hoochie shortly after. I pulled my second rod from the quick release clip and left it long lining behind the boat. It was equipped with a 4.5 inch Chrome's dodger and a Chrome's smile spinner tipped with synthetic maggots and shoepeg corn. A few minutes later I got a solid strike on the long line, but it didn't stick. I was two hours in and had only one fish on the boat.
I chatted with another angler that I had noticed was having some success. He told me that he was running a 150 foot setback and only down 4 feet. I pulled my downrigger up from 10 feet to 5 feet and literally seconds later I had one on! Over the next hour I put three more kokanee in the boat to fill my limit! All the fish were caught within a few feet of the surface and out in front of the middle pull out. I caught 4 of the kokanee on a pink wiggle hoochie and caught one and lost another on the pink smile spinner.
As I was packing up another boat trolled by. They hadn't been as successful, with only one bite to show for their efforts for the morning. I shared the advice that the other angler had shared with me about long setbacks and only going down a few feet. I also pulled the gear off my rods and tossed it to them with some shoepeg corn. I really hope they were successful and would love to hear their success stories if the rain didn't chase them off the water!?
the Strategy
Rod one: First, a Chrome's pink and green bendable dodger with 16 inches of leader to a pink Chrome's wiggle hoochie
Rod two: a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink smile spinner
The bait: Pink synthetic maggots and scented shoepeg corn.
THE CATCH
It took a while to dial it in today, but with patience and good advice, the limit was filled.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
SLOW FISHING REPORT
April 14, 2023
Today was an amazing day to be on the water weather wise, but not so much for fishing kokanee. A friend and I trolled around for about 2 hrs with no fish and no bites. We switched up to jigging chironomids and I was able to hook one fish when a large school went through at 40 feet deep. We were on the north end and marking lots of fish from 20 feet down to 75 feet but I am quite sure that many of the marks were large scale sucker fish and not kokanee. A few times we saw large schools on the finder that were likely kokanee, but they seemed to be on the move and didn't hang around for long. No one we talked to had caught fish except one other angler who told us he also caught one fish on a chironomid. Hopefully the fishing picks up soon!
OPEN WATER!!!
April 4, 2023
It was awesome being out on the open water again! Unfortunately the fishing was quite slow. I was marking fish everywhere through the water column but only managed one kokanee at 50 feet and lost another. I had two bites while jigging at 60 feet deep. It was still great to be out on the boat!
ICE OFF UPDATE
March 29, 2023
It is time to get those boats shined up! Boating season is getting closer. The vast majority of Monte Lake is still covered in ice but the north end is beginning to open up quickly!
February 21, 2023
Monte Lake was not busy at all today. My first thought was that fishing must have been pretty slow as of late. When I arrived there was one tent off the middle pull out and one tent further south. I have yet to fish in front of the middle pull out this ice season so I decided to give it a go. There was plenty of water and slush near the shoreline but once past the shore area there was about 7 inches of good ice.
I got all set up over 115 feet of water and I was marking a few fish right away between 60 to 100 feet and also a few between 20 to to 40 feet.
I started to jig at 30 feet using my underwater camera and found out that most of the marks between 20 to 40 feet were sucker fish. You could chase these marks all day if you didn't have a camera to verify that these marks were indeed sucker fish. After learning this, I went down chasing the marks at 70 feet. I was able to get one kokanee to chase my gear up and he took my jig around 50 feet.
The fishing was quite slow over the next couple of hours. I was marking sucker fish up top and very little down deeper. The other angler that was also in the middle was heading off the ice. He too had found it slow and hadn't had any luck. He said he was marking fish between 20 to 40 feet but he couldn't buy a bite. Unfortunately he was likely chasing mostly sucker fish without even knowing it.
The water was very murky today. You could see no more than about 10 feet down the hole. I was quite impressed with the underwater camera- at 70 feet down I could still see the size 10 tungsten jig up to 5 feet away from the camera and fish from about 10 feet. I was starting to pack up around 1:30 p.m. when I noticed 3 marks at 60 feet. I sent the rod down and caught one as the gear was falling. These marks were the beginning of the most impressive school I have seen on my fish finder. The screen lit up from 30 feet all the way to 60 feet and it stayed like that for 9 minutes. There were so many marks that I could no longer tell where my gear was in relation to my underwater camera. Unfortunately I was only able to catch one more out of this school. They then disappeared as fast as they showed up.
the Strategy
The set up: First, a Chrome's pink and green flasher with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
Second: a chrome and brass 4 inch wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
The bait: Meal worms
THE CATCH
A school of kokanee 30 feet thick! Spanning from 30 to 60 feet was the highlight of my day!
kokanee: 3
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
January 26, 2023
When I arrived at Monte today I wasn't yet sure where I wanted to fish. I was also a little concerned at how sloppy the ice looked. There were 4 or 5 tents at the middle pull out, a few tents on the south end and only two anglers sitting side by side just a little south of the main launch area. I ended up deciding on the north end because it was the least busy with just the two anglers. I first tested the ice a few feet off shore and found 6 inches of good ice with one only inch of sloppy slush on top.
I drilled a hole to scan for fish after about 100 steps straight out from the launch area. I immediately marked three fish around the 30 foot mark so I lowered my gear down. I jigged for about 15 minutes with no bites. I couldn't even get the marks on the fish finder to chase my gear. This made me suspicious that these were not kokanee and were likely large scale sucker fish. I pulled up my gear and lowered the camera to the fish at 30 feet. Sure enough! Three big old sucker fish were staring at the camera.
I moved farther out, about 250 steps from the boat launch. I set up my tent and waited for the kokanee to find me. It did not take long- down at 45 feet is where most of the kokanee action took place.
I sent the camera down to 45 feet and got it lined up with my gear. I saw a few kokanee and they didn't seem interested at first. Lately on most of the lakes I have found that using a slow jig when the fish come in tends to get the fish. This was not the case on Monte today. I watched 5 kokanee come in and swim away. When the 6th came in I jigged short and fast jigs. This got their attention! The fish became very aggressive, hitting my flasher twice before hammering my jig. Once I dialed in the jigging technique I had 5 kokanee on the ice and released a big spawner in under an hour.
The only problem with catching your limit so fast is then you're done fishing! Not today, though. I really wanted to see if I could get one to bite on a slower jigging style. I took one of my pink tungsten jig flies and cut off the hook portion, leaving the body of the jig in tact. I sent it down with my flasher and when I saw fish come in I started to slow jig, but just like earlier in the day they wouldn't touch it. As soon as I did the short fast jigs they became aggressive. I had 6 more kokanee come in and harmlessly bite at the hook-less fly while jigging quickly. It is so strange how something like a jigging technique can sometimes be the deciding factor in whether or not you catch fish.
the Strategy
The set up: First, a Chrome's pink and green flasher with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
Second: a chrome and brass 4 inch wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
The bait: Bait-less
THE CATCH
Once I dialed in the jigging technique the fishing was awesome!!!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
Fishing report from readers
January 08, 2023
I arrived at lake at 7:15 a.m. The walk on the ice was adventurous to say the least, thank god for my cleats and headlight as there were many open ice fishing holes. With the warming temperatures there was no snow left on lake and a few places with a 1/2 inch of water.
I was set up and in the water at 7:30 a.m. and the first and last fish was on the ice at 7:33 a.m., not even a bite for the next 4.5 hrs. The fish left, and never came back, I couldn't buy a bite. At 8:30 I had to move. With so many fish finders in close proximity, the interference was stifling. (hey guys try to keep 30-40ft between) By 9 a.m. I counted 22 tents and those were just the ones I could see.
After the first fish, a few fish showed up here and there, but no rhyme or rhythm. I tried the krill, corn, and different flashers, but if the fish are not there, it don't matter much. At 11 a.m. it starting raining and at 12 p.m. I pulled the pin. A lot of people not catching today.
Tight lines, lets hope for colder weather and better fishing, the forecast leaves me in doubt.
Steve Vad
"In The Hut"
December 12, 2022
I had high hopes for the ice on Monte Lake today! I left town expecting that I would likely have to pass up Monte and keep going to Pillar Lake. As I neared the north end of Monte I could see that it was still open water; however, the south end was ice covered and there was a lone tent on the ice. I put on my PFD and grabbed my ice picks and headed out on to the south end. I found only 3 inches of ice close to shore but when I went a little further out there was 4 inches of clear good ice.
I set up over 120 feet of water. It was a very slow start to my day, only marking the odd fish with no takers.
Bill, a fellow fisher I met before on the South Thompson River, set his gear up about 50 feet from me. Our fish finders didn't like each other and I was getting some interference. It didn't take long for me to see that he was set up over an active spot so I ended up dragging my tent over to where Bill was set up. With his fish finder and my underwater camera we had some fun!
The schools were coming in fairly frequently between 15 to 30 feet deep and were often quite aggressive. We concentrated our efforts at about 20 feet. With both of our flashers working we put 8 fish on the ice and released a couple of big old spawners.
Bill was using a 6" chrome flasher to a forage jig with maggots and/or mealworms. I was using a 3" flasher with a pink and white tungsten jig. I hate to admit it, but I was out-fished today. Well done, Bill!
the Strategy
Rod one: A 6" chrome flasher with 12 inches of leader to a pink forage jig tipped with meal worms.
Rod two: A 3" chrome flasher with 12" of leader to a pink and white tungsten jig.
The Bait: scented shoepeg corn, meal worms, pink maggots
THE CATCH
Lots of action today once we got on them! Not bad for the first outing on Monte for the ice season.
kokanee: 10
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE UPDATE
Monte Lake is finally starting to freeze! 80% of the lake is frozen with the northern end still open water. There is no safe yet, but it will be coming soon!
December 6, 2022
ICE UPDATE
November 29, 2022
Usually the big lakes like Monte don't have safe ice until the new year. I am hoping this year will be different with the cold front that is coming through. That being said, today the lake was still almost completely open water.
August 11, 2022
When I pull up to a lake to go fishing and it is as calm and glassy as Monte was this morning, I feel like a kid in a candy store. You just can't beat that feeling!
I had the opportunity to take a friend out who enjoys fishing but hasn't done any serious kokanee fishing or used equipment like downriggers. I enjoy having the good company and am always happy to share fishing knowledge.
We got to fishing right away just off the main boat launch. After a quick lesson on the downrigger my buddy was good to go! We marked several fish at 25 feet and several between 35 and 50 feet.
I started with a Chrome's pink and chrome dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink smile spinner tipped with shoepeg corn. My friend started with a willow leaf with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink and purple spinner tipped with chartreuse maggots.
We tried various depths between 25 to 45 feet. I caught two and lost one at 40 feet in the first 20 minutes, while my friend's rod had not moved. We changed up his presentation to something that was closer to mine and he quickly caught the next two fish!
What a great day. By just after 11 a.m. we had 8 kokanee in the cooler and had lost a bunch. It took two more hours to put the last 2 kokanee in the cooler while losing several others. All of the fish today were caught deeper than 35 feet with the majority at 40 feet. We chased the marks at 25 feet but with no success. I ran in to a Humminbird representative at the boat launch and he suggested that the fish at 25 feet may be sucker fish. He might have been right- I have seen sucker fish while ice fishing on Monte Lake swim by the underwater camera.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's UV pink flasher with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink smile spinner
Rod two: A chrome and pink flasher with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink smile spinner
The Bait: scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
Fishing with a buddy today, and we were busy reeling in fish and resetting lines. I like being this kind of busy!
kokanee: 10
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
july 7, 2022
Sometimes you have to put in a lot of time and effort to catch your limit of kokanee, and other times it seems like you can't keep them off the line. Today I couldn't keep them off the lines.
I arrived at the lake at 10:15 a.m. and it was very calm! I did my usual scouting routine to find the fish and it didn't take long, because most of the fish were right out in front of the boat launch on the north end of the lake.
I scouted a few other areas but none of them had the amounts of fish that the north end had. I was marking the fish from 15 to 40 feet deep with the exception of a few marks that were 80' and deeper.
I let out 75' of line, clipped my line to the quick release on the downrigger and lowered my gear to 25'. I was using a Chrome's pink UV dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink Chrome's smile spinner tipped with shoepeg corn. I set my bow mount to 1.3 mph (my go-to trolling speed for kokanee). I was still setting up my second rod when the first rod saw its first action of the day. I landed that kokanee, and finished setting up my second rod with a Chrome's pink and chrome dodger and a Chrome's chartreuse and chrome smile spinner.
Before I could get the first rod re-baited, the same thing happened again- and then a third time! Three fish in the boat in about 20 minutes. Once I landed the third fish I took a bit of a break to enjoy my coffee. While I had my feet up I noticed a large school below the boat. I put my bow mount on anchor mode and grabbed my jigging rod. I had just purchased a funny looking pink shrimp jig that I wanted to try so I put in on and lowered it down to the school. Five or six jigs later I had a bite and a few minutes later this funny looking shrimp jig caught a kokanee. I lost two others after that on the same jig. It looked like it was going to rain so I put the smile spinner back out to quickly catch the last fish to fill my limit and as expected I caught fish number five soon after setting my line out. I was off the lake before noon.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's UV pink flasher with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink smile spinner
Rod two: A chrome and pink flasher with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's chartreuse and chrome smile spinner
The Bait: scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
It was a fast fun limit today, even my crazy shrimp jig caught fish!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
May 3, 2022
It is always a pleasure to get out on the water with good company, and when the fish are biting like they were today it is even better.
I launched at the pullout on the north end of the lake. Just in front of the this launch is the most popular place to ice fish, and for good reason: it has lots of fish! I started marking fish right away in front of the boat launch. The fish were in small schools at 25 to 30 feet deep. I was also consistently marking single fish at 50 feet.
I geared up with Chrome's 4.5" flasher with 16 inches of leader to a pink wiggle fly, and a second rod with a Chrome's pink UV flasher with 16 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink smile blade spinner.
From here, a friend came out to meet me and we started out trolling right in front of the boat launch with one rod at 25 feet, and the other at 50 feet. Our speed was 1.2 to 1.5 MPH and we were using a 50 foot set back. The bites were coming in steadily and we had our first three fish in the boat before we ventured out too far from the north east side of the lake. Outside of this area, the bites slowed considerably (see the lake map in the gallery for our fishing location).
We returned to the good zone and from here we decided to experiment with several different lures and baits to see what would work best. We tried smile blade hoochies, Chrome's single spinners, a hand tied wiggle fly, spinners hoochies, smile blade spinners and wiggle hoochies. We also tried scented corn, pink gulp maggots, earth worms, meal worms and pink krill.
We had success with all lures and baits, catching six more fish and losing a few. All of the lure and bait combinations were getting bites as long as we were in the right area doing 1.2 to 1.5 mph and had our depth set in the 25 to 50 foot range.
the Strategy
Rod one: A chrome and pink flasher with 16 inches of leader to a pink wiggle fly
Rod two: A chrome and pink flasher with 16 inches of leader to a pink Chrome's smile spinner
Plus several other lure/bait combos
THE CATCH
Staying in the right location was the key to success today.
kokanee: 9
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JANuary 11, 2022
I found myself with a bit of a surprise day off and figured what better to do than go fishing again!
Monte Lake is probably the most popular kokanee lake around Kamloops, and true to form, there were several tents set up on the north end of the lake when I got there.
I took my gear and set up far west of the cluster of ice tents.
The water was 105 feet deep where I set up and I concentrated my efforts at 15 to 20 feet deep. I was marking the odd fish around 70 feet. I tried sending my gear down to try to entice a bite but like usual the fish at depth don't seem to be too interested this time of year.
At 10:15 a.m. a large school showed up and I managed to catch one. Often when you catch one you can quickly get a second if you don't waste any time getting your gear back down. I quickly got my gear back down but the school had moved on.
Between 10:15 and 10:40 I had a few single kokanee come in but none of them were very interested. At 10:45 I caught my second kokanee when a large school came in. I had a second rod already baited and at the ready so I could get back on the school quickly. I had a few interested but I couldn't get one to bite before the school swam off. I stayed until 12:30 and only saw a couple more fish. I noticed several other tents had also packed up. It seems as though the morning was producing better.
the Strategy
The setup: A chrome, pink and chartreuse glow ice flasher with 12 inches of leader to a watermelon tungsten jig with a grub tail.
The Bait: Scented shoe peg corn.
THE CATCH
Just two large schools passed by, and the odd single fish. Two kokanee were caught at 20 feet deep.
kokanee: 2
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
