PETER HOPE LAKE
Fishing Reports
Less than an hour outside of Kamloops, Peter Hope Lake is one of my favourite lakes- and not just for fishing! Beautiful cabins and hidden arms of the lake make this a great lake to explore. Read more about Peter Hope Lake
October 10, 2024
It was a perfect fall day, one of those days that makes fall fishing feel even more special. I layered up, hooked up the boat, and set out for Peter Hope Lake. As I passed Stump Lake, the water was like glass- an image that never fails to get my excitement rising. At Peter Hope, the campsites were fairly busy and there were already a few boats on the water.
I rigged up my rods with slim swing-tail dodgers- one paired with a gold wiggle hoochie and the other with a silver wiggle hoochie featuring pink and blue stripes.
I scanned the water as I cruised away from the boat launch heading toward the southwest end of the lake. I continued to scan all the way to the halfway point, marking only the occasional single fish in the 20 to 40 foot range. Despite the sparse marks, I decided to let the rods down. After all, you won’t catch anything if your lines aren’t in the water.
I continued to troll down the west side towards the south end, eventually looping all the way back around the east side of the lake. I was using a 75-foot setback and repeatedly adjusted my depths between 20 and 40 feet throughout the loop, trying to attract attention. This entire circuit took about an hour, but not a single bite. The fish finder finally came to life as I reached the north end, just before I reached the boat launch. There were large schools of fish gathering, but they refused to bite on the wiggle hoochies.
I reeled in my rods and set up a jigging rig, using a three-inch chrome wobbler with a 12-inch leader to a chironomid. I dropped the line right in front of the fish, but still no bites. I then switched to different chironomids and hand-tied pink tungsten jig flies, but the fish wouldn’t even chase my gear. At this point, I'd been on the lake for two hours with no action.
My next strategy was to return to trolling but this time I swapped out the wiggle hoochies for micro smile hoochies. I rigged an orange micro hoochie with a gold smile blade, and a pink and glow hoochie with a chrome smile blade. I trolled back and forth through the large schools on the north end and this finally got the fish’s attention- though it was still a slow bite. After three hours, I managed to land four kokanee and lost one more.
The most productive depth was between 20 and 25 feet. Both micro hoochies performed equally well. I experimented with different trolling speeds, but the slowest (around 1.2 MPH) was the most effective. There were about a dozen boats on the lake but I only saw one other fish get landed all day.
the Strategy
Rod one: A slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a orange micro smile hoochie
Rod two: A slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink and glow micro smile hoochie
THE CATCH
A slow day but I still managed four fish on the north end of the lake.
kokanee: 4
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JuLy 30, 2024
I wanted to go to Stump Lake because it has been incredibly good lately, but I hadn't been to Peter Hope for a while and some of the kokanee are a little bigger than Stump. For that reason, I chose to go to Peter Hope in search of big kokanee and hopefully a good fishing report.
The last time I was at Peter Hope it was all about the gold wiggle hoochie, but last time at Stump was all about the pink wiggle hoochie. With that in mind I put on my Chrome's 4.5 inch bendable dodgers, one with a gold wiggle hoochie and one with a pink wiggle hoochie.
I headed down toward the north end of the lake. The fish were marking at 35 to 55 feet. and they seemed to be almost everywhere I went. I sent the gear down to 45 feet and trolled at speeds between 1.1 to 1.5 MPH. It was the pink wiggle hoochie that struck first, putting a good-sized kokanee in the boat. After 15 minutes with no bites I was just about to replace the gold wiggle hoochie on my second rod with a pink wiggle hoochie, but before I grabbed the rod it starting bouncing and kokanee number two was in the boat. Shortly after that came kokanee number three, also on gold. I followed this up with four straight lost fish, all on the gold hoochie. I have been pleasantly surprised at how productive the gold wiggle hoochie has been!
I set up my first rod with gold as well and it quickly put kokanee number four in the boat. The fifth one took a little while longer. I lost two more before I got one to the side of the boat, except this one was rainbow trout that I quickly released. A little while later I caught another one on the gold wiggle hoochie, but it was another rainbow.
I brought my gear up and anchored over a large school using anchor mode on the bow mount. I tried jigging chironomids for about 30 minutes but I couldn't even get the fish to start chasing my gear.
Back to trolling I went. I got one rod down to 45 feet and as I was letting line out on the second rod the first rod went off and finally put my limit fish in the boat!
Four of the fish were of good size, two weighing in at over 2 pounds, and two just under 2 pounds. A slower troll seemed to work best today, 1.1 and 1.2 mph were the most productive speeds. I had action at all depths from 35 feet down to 55 feet.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's 4.5 inch custom bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A Chrome's 4.5 inch custom bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's gold wiggle hoochie
THE CATCH
A limit of kokanee, two rainbows released, and 6 fish lost.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 2
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JuLy 11, 2024
It was an early start this morning to try and beat the heat. I arrived at Peter Hope Lake at just after 5 a.m. and was on the water by 5:25 a.m.
I headed out towards the drop off and started marking fish right away at 35 to 55 feet deep. I sent down a chrome and copper chironomid while I was setting up my downriggers. I was able to get the marks to chase the chironomid and got one bite, but I wanted to get trolling so I reeled up.
Last time I was out on Monte a gold wiggle hoochie had been working best for me, so I tried it again today paired with a slim swing tail dodger. On my second rod I used a pink wiggle hoochie also paired with a slim swing tail dodger.
I dropped the gear down to 45 feet and moved it up and down as I went, depending on where the marks were. As I got just past the halfway point across the lake (towards the west side) I got into my first kokanee on the gold wiggle hoochie. About 20 minutes later I got into another nice kokanee, also on the wiggle hoochie. I then lost two more on the gold wiggle hoochie over the next 30 minutes.
I decided to change out the lure on the second rod. I tried multiple lures but none were as good as the gold wiggle hoochie today. I did get a couple of bites on a pink micro smile hoochie and caught a small kokanee on an orange wiggle hoochie. It took a long time to catch my last two kokanee. I ended up getting them both on the gold wiggle hoochie and lost count of how many I lost on that setup. At one point I put a pink wiggle hoochie back on and had a fish on it, but I was busy reeling in a fish on my other rod and didn't get to it in time.
I caught most of the fish at about 50 feet, give or take 5 feet, at a speed of 1.2 to 1.4 MPH. I am sure that I lost well over a dozen fish today which is unfortunate because I was trying out some new high-end number 2 drop-shot hooks I've heard are supposed to up your catch to loss ratio. For me it was the opposite. I will try them again though, one trial run isn't enough to make a true judgement on them. Plus I need another excuse to get out there on the water again soon! It is definitely a little harder to keep them on at Peter Hope with the single barbless hook restriction.
Four of the five fish I caught today were over 2 lbs, with the biggest weighing 2.6 lbs. The majority of the action was in the southwest end of the lake.
I chatted with a few other fishers today and it seemed like everyone was catching some kokanee, but not many of them. Most fishers were using wiggle hoochies and/or micro hoochies.
the Strategy
Rod one: A slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a gold wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie
THE CATCH
It took a while but the gold wiggle hoochie got the job done again!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
June 12, 2024
I have been itching to get back out to Peter Hope Lake, and when I woke up this morning the sun was out and the wind was calm. Today was the day!
I arrived at the lake at around 9:30 a.m. and started marking fish at 40 feet right after passing the drop off. I dropped down my chironomid jigging gear to 40 feet while I set up my trolling rods and mounted my downriggers.
It didn't take long to get some fish chasing the chironomid- by the time I set up my trolling gear I had gotten 3 bites and lost a kokanee beside the boat. I was second guessing if I should even bother trolling today and just continue jigging.
But I decided on trolling. The wiggle hoochies and the kokanee wobblers have been very good as of late and I wanted to give them a try. This ended up being a good idea!
I put my gear down to 40 feet. On one rod I was using a 4 inch custom bendable dodger with a pink kokanee wobbler, and on the other I used the same dodger but with a pink wiggle hoochie. These along with spinner hoochies are my favourites to use at Peter Hope because they don't need bait to catch kokanee.
It only took about 5 minutes for the kokanee wobbler to get into a kokanee, which I lost near the boat. I just got it back down and the rod with the wiggle hoochie was going off. This time I landed a beauty chrome kokanee! As I was putting the fish in the cooler the kokanee wobbler was into another kokanee which I also landed.
By 10:30 a.m. I had four kokanee in the boat and lost another four. The action at the the beginning of the day was frantic!
It took a full hour to land the next kokanee and I lost two during that time. The barbless hook adds a little extra challenge when landing the fish, especially when they get close to the boat. I didn't catch any kokanee while I was turning the boat, as I often do. A straight path at 1.2 MPH seemed to be the sweet spot today. Depths in the 35 to 50 foot range were all working well.
The fish were marking almost everywhere with the biggest schools seemingly at the north west end of the lake where I caught 4 of my 5 kokanee. It was another awesome of day of catching kokanee!
the Strategy
Rod one: A 4 inch custom bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A 4 inch custom bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
THE CATCH
It was an awesome day of fishing! I lost more than I caught.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
may 3, 2024
Back out on the water today and armed with tungsten chironomids!
Fishing was so good two days ago on Peter Hope Lake that I could hardly wait to get back out. Today did not disappoint! I arrived at around 9 a.m. and headed straight out front of the boat launch until I found the drop off over about 50 feet of water.
I set the bow mount to anchor mode and dropped my small chrome chironomid with green ribs down to 45 feet where I was marking two fish. It only took about two minutes to coax one of the fish to hit and I landed a nice 1.75 lb kokanee!
I didn't mark any more fish in this location over the next 15 minutes so I headed back to the south west end of the lake where I had done so well two days earlier. Today was different, though- I marked a few fish and over the next hour and a half I only managed two bites. I pulled up my gear and headed to the east side of the middle of the lake.
It was now 11 a.m. and I was frequently marking several fish in this new location. I used a small size 14 chironomid on both of my rods. One was chrome with red ribs, and the other was half red and half green with chrome ribs. I was in 60 feet of water and I used my slow rising technique with one rod while the other rod was dead sticked. It did not take long for the rod that was stationary to buckle over! In came a decent sized rainbow that I released. I left both rods motionless after this and fishing started to heat up!
Over the next hour I caught two good sized kokanee at 2.5lbs and 2.75lbs and caught and released three rainbows in varying size from about 1lb to 2.5lbs. Things started to slow again so I went up to a size 12 white tungsten bead chironomid that was chrome with red stripes. It was still kind of slow until I started using the slow rise technique again, and the fish started smashing the chironomid!
By 1 p.m. I caught and released three more rainbows, and caught two more beautiful kokanee to fill my limit. I also released one more kokanee that I caught while I was pulling up my gear because I was already at my limit. The barbless hook made it easy to shake it off while it was still in the water. I also had several missed bites between 11 a.m. and 1. Before I left I was able to help out some fellow fishers who were trying to figure out why they were not catching. I pulled the gear off my rods and tossed it to them with a quick explanation of my technique so hopefully they got a few as well.
the Strategy
Rod one: A 4 inch chrome wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a small tungsten chrome and red ribbed chironomid
Rod two: A 4 inch chrome wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a variety of different tungsten chironomids
THE CATCH
Kokanee and rainbows gorging on chironomids again today! All rainbows were released as well as one kokanee that I shook off the barbless hook.
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 7
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
may 1, 2024
I have been too busy to get out on the water for a while but today was finally the day!
I set my lines up with flashers and chironomids before I left home because I was certain this would be the way to catch kokanee today. I arrived at about 9:15 a.m. and headed straight out from the launch to the drop off.
I was scanning for fish on my way out and found that most of the fish were within 10 feet of the bottom and were scattered around the drop offs. I set the bow mount to anchor mode and began fishing right in front of the boat launch. I used a 4 inch chrome wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a large greenish tungsten chironomid with red wraps. Within the first 5 minutes I had two good bites but then the fish seemed to disappear.
I headed down to the south west side of the lake where I have often done well. I puttered around until I marked a few fish and then I set the bow mount back to anchor mode. The chironomid shucks floating on the water were smallish so I downsized my chironomid to more closely match what I was seeing. The new chironomid was green with chrome wraps and a dark tungsten head. It worked! And in fact it proved to be the best of the day. Throughout the day I tried several other colours and patterns of chironomid but none were as productive as the small green chironomid with chrome wraps.
I would lift my gear slowly when the marks showed on the fish finder and watch them chase it. The slow rising chironomid was hit most often by far! I had one bite while dropping the chironomid and I caught one while dead sticking, but all the rest was on the rising movement.
It was a fun day, every 15 to 20 minutes I was getting a bite or catching a fish, limiting out at 1 p.m. The kokanee were all of good size as well! The biggest kokanee was pushing 3lbs. I caught all five kokanee within 15 feet of the bottom and was fishing in 55 feet of water. I lost 4 others and had a handful of bites.
This is my favourite, and the most productive way to fish for kokanee this time of year! If you have never tried jigging chironomids in the month of May for kokanee I highly recommend it! Each kokanee was stuffed full of chironomids.
the Strategy
Rod one: A 4 inch chrome wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a small tungsten green and chrome wrapped chironomid
Rod two: A 4 inch chrome wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a variety of different tungsten chironomids
THE CATCH
Kokanee gorging on chironomids today!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
SHORT REPORT
April 10, 2024
I wasn't sure if I would be able to get out on the water today but I figured worst case scenario I would double back to Stump. To my surprise the lake was open! Unfortunately it was also turning over. Peter Hope is usually a very clear lake but not today, there was only about 4 to 5 feet of visibility. I usually don't have any success when the lake is turning, and I couldn't get anything interested when I was trolling, not even when going through large schools of kokanee. I changed things up and began jigging.
I was able to coax two kokanee into taking a pink and chrome tungsten hand-tied jig. Both were at about 40 feet deep. I tried several other jigs including chironomids and blood worms but no luck with them. It shouldn't take too long for the lake to finish turning and the fishing will get much better!
September 15, 2023
I was very happy to get out in the boat today! Not only was I excited to get out in the boat but I was also excited to try out some new custom dodgers I have been working on.
The last time I attempted to go boating I got in a fight with my trailer tongue and I lost. What was supposed to be a nice boating day turned into a day at the ER getting nine stitches to close up my shin.
Today I made it to the lake safely. No more jumping over trailer tongues when it is hooked to the truck!
I arrived at the lake at 8:30 a.m. and it was perfectly calm. There was a large school of red kokanee cruising the shallows as there so often is this time of year. Since Peter Hope is stocked with triploids I knew there was a good chance of still finding some good sized chrome fish. However I was told that fishing was dead slow by two of the campers that had been skunked the day before.
I began marking fish right off the drop off near the boat launch so I began trolling here. I was using my new Chrome's Swing Tail dodger with custom Chrome Catchers decals that I made the day before. I paired it with a Chrome's pink wiggle hoochie. My other rod I had a Chromes pink bendable dodger with custom decals and a matching pink and glow spinner hoochie.
It took a while but I finally got one on the Chrome's spinner hoochie combo but ended up losing it. Fishing was very slow. Over several hours there was no particular place or time that seemed better than the other, it was just consistently slow the entire time I was there. I did, however, not go home empty-handed. I still caught three chromers and released a big spawner. I had three other bites as well. The spinner hoochie and wiggle hoochie seemed to work equally well. Considering I was there for about 5.5 hours that was one bite or one catch every 45 minutes. The fish were marking in the 40 to 50 foot range for the most part, and were not heavily schooled.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's custom Swing Tail dodger with 12 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie.
Rod two: A Chrome's pink custom bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a matching pink and glow spinner hoochie
THE CATCH
It was a slow day but I still caught 4 kokanee, one of which was a spawner that I released
kokanee: 4
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JUly 31, 2023
Vacationing was amazing, but there was a part of me that missed sitting in my boat on the local kokanee lakes.
I fixed that today by getting up early and heading to Peter Hope Lake. I've recently heard that Peter Hope has not been producing, but after reading reports about Monte Lake which suggested that early morning is by far the best time for fishing, I thought this may be true on Peter Hope as well.
The lake was quiet in the morning and the campsites were mostly empty. I headed straight out from the the first boat launch to the drop off and was marking several fish in the 35 foot range. I set the bow mount to anchor mode and jigged on and off while setting up the trolling rods and downriggers. I have caught more kokanee jigging in Peter Hope than trolling this year. Almost all of them actually!
Today was different, but this didn't surprise me because trolling is often a better method in the later season. I got no bites while jigging. I set up with a pink and chrome dodger and an orange and pink micro smile hoochie on one rod and a chrome and pink dodger with a pink wiggle hoochie on the other. Using a 30 foot setback I lowered the gear to 30 feet and 40 feet. I changed up the depth periodically but I kept them between 30 and 45 feet.
Fishing was slow but steady. I lost a kokanee beside the boat on both of my starting lures over the first hour. I changed up to a pink kokanee wobbler and a pink and purple wiggle hoochie. The pink and purple wiggle hoochie was best today. I caught four of my five kokanee on it while the kokanee wobbler caught one. It took five hours to catch my limit today and I lost as many. I didn't mind the slow fishing because I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in my boat!
Morning didn't seem to be any better, fishing was slow but consistent throughout the day. The fish were not schooled up very much and instead were mostly scattered through the lake, with a few exceptions. It didn't seem to matter where I was fishing, the fish would consistently mark around 30 to 45 feet.
As I was packing up, I put my rod down in the grass to catch a quick pic (see photo in the gallery). Unfortunately, that's likely exactly where I left it: lying in the grass at the first boat launch in front of the dock while I drove away! I realized when I got home that I no longer had it with me. Let me know if you see it :D
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
Rod two: A Chrome's chrome and pink bendable dodger with 16 inches of leader to a pink and purple wiggle hoochie
THE CATCH
I lost as many as I caught today. Some of the kokes are showing their fall colours.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JUne 15, 2023
It has been a windy week so I found myself choosing to fish offshore as opposed to getting battered by the 25 to 30 km winds that have been blowing for the past couple of days. Today the forecast looked much better so I headed out to Peter Hope.
I fully expected that trolling was going to be the way to go, as the kokanee are often back to feeding exclusively on daphnia this time of year.
When I arrived the wind was blowing more than what had been forecast but it did eventually slow down. I headed to the south end and dropped down a jigging line while I set up my trolling rods. I jigged it a few times but I didn't give it a solid try before I was ready to start trolling.
I was marking lots of fish in the 30 to to 50 foot range. I put a flasher and wiggle hoochie combo down to 35 feet and a flasher and spinner hoochie combo down to 40 feet. I was marking fish so frequently that I was sure one of the rods was going to go off. But I was wrong. I trolled the south end for an hour, and tried a few different speeds, depths, and setback lengths but no bites... nothing.
I gave up on trolling and set the bow mount to anchor mode in the southwest corner where I was marking lots of fish in 65 feet of water. I then armed up my jigging rods, one with a chrome and brass Williams Wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a tungsten weighted chrome and red ribbed chironomid, and the other with a pink and chartreuse 3.5 inch flasher with 14 inches of leader to a tungsten weighted chrome and black ribbed chironomid. (chironomids can be seen in the gallery). After about 20 minutes of jigging I got into a kokanee, and it would prove to be the smallest one of the day, but still a great fish!
I throat sampled the fish and found it was full of daphnia. For some reason it still took the chironomid. The fish were coming in steady but not biting often. I ended up catching my limit and losing one over the course of about two hours. I find often the bites come in waves, but not today- there were long waits with no bites between fish. I tried a few different chironomids but the chrome with red and the chrome with black seemed to be best.
I used quick jigs to attract the fish and then slowed down when the marks showed up. The kokanee ONLY hit the chironomid while I was lifting the rod slowly. I often left one rod in a holder while I jigged the other. The rod in the holder had no bites all day.
I spoke to some other anglers who were out trolling and none of them had any success when I talked with them. Jigging still seems to be the way to go!
the Strategy
Rod one: A 3.5 inch chrome and brass Williams wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed tungsten chironomid
Rod two: A 3.5 inch pink and chartreuse ice flasher with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and black ribbed tungsten chironomid
THE CATCH
Chironomids! My favourite way to catch kokanee! It was slow but steady today.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JUne 1, 2023
I was debating whether to go fishing at Stump, Monte or Peter Hope today. Then I received a message from a friend first thing in the morning asking, "where are we going today? Peter Hope?" which made the decision easier. Off to Peter Hope. The fish coming out of Peter Hope are currently bigger than the other local kokanee lakes which also factored into the decision.
Peter Hope has been slow fishing while trolling gear, but it has been fishing very well over deep water using chironomids. Today was no different!
We had the boat on the water at around 9:30 a.m. and headed for the southwest corner of the lake to an area where I have been doing very well this year. We talked to a few others that were trolling as we headed to our spot and no one had caught anything.
We started marking a few fish on the finder and sent our jigging gear down. It was a little slow for the first 20 minutes but then I put two kokanee in the boat shortly after. The action seemed to come in waves. We had slow spells followed by lots of action. By 11:30 a.m. I had caught my five kokanee and lost as many. Unfortunately my buddy was just not having the luck I was and was still looking to put his first fish in the boat, but his luck was about to change.
We soon got in to a double header! My buddy catching a nice kokanee and I caught and released a rainbow while fishing shallower depths in search of rainbows. By 2 p.m. it was time to go and my friend had put three kokanee in the boat and had lost six.
The landing ratio when using tiny barbless hooks to catch kokanee is not always very good. The fine wired hooks tend to pull out of the soft mouths very easily. Many people like the fine wired hooks for trolling gear, but I prefer a little thicker gauge hooks, as they seem to not pull out of the kokanees mouth as easy. The trade off is that the fine wire hooks set easier than the thick wire hooks.
When I am targeting kokanee with chironomids. I am searching for marks in deep water. The kokanee are most often feeding on chironomids at depth. Today we were over 60 feet of water and catching them around 35 to 55 feet down.
The setups we used are similar to an ice fishing setup. I was using a 3.5 inch chrome and brass Williams' wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a weighted chironomid (white tungsten bead, chrome with red ribs). The weighted chironomid is essential for avoiding tangles. Alternately, you can put a small split shot weight in the middle of your leader line, which is not quite as good at preventing tangles but it helps.
I find the best technique for jigging kokanee on chironomids is to use your flasher to attract fish by making quick jigs when you are NOT marking fish. When you do start to mark fish stop the quick jigs and get your gear close to them. Start raising the chironomid slowly as far as your rod can reach as long as the marks are following it. The kokanee will often strike while the chironomid is rising. Using a good fish finder like a Garmin Striker 4 will greatly increase your odds of success while jigging. It is sensitive enough to see exactly where your gear is and it never misses a fish.
Trolling was very very slow today for the boats around us. I knew some of the anglers out trolling and only two of the boats had gotten one fish each between a total of six rods in the water. One fish was caught on an orange wiggle hoochie and one on a pink kokanee wobbler. With bait-ban restrictions on Peter Hope Lake your trolling options are limited in comparison to other lakes. Another boat had set up close to us and started using chironomids after seeing us landing fish and they too got into some beauties!
the Strategy
Rod one: A 3.5 inch chrome and brass williams wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed tungsten chironomid
Rod two: A 3.5 inch ice flasher with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed tungsten chironomid
THE CATCH
Chironomids! My favourite way to catch kokanee! Today we lost about 11 others and had several bites.
kokanee: 8
rainbows: 1
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
MAY 16, 2023
My last day out on Peter Hope was such a beauty that I've been eager to go back! I've kept an ear out for what's been working and heard from a friend that the kokanee were taking wiggle hoochies (especially his favourite pink and purple one) at 20 and 30 feet deep.
I started off the day by trolling a pink wiggle hoochie on one rod, and a pink kokanee wobbler on the other. I paired them with pink and chrome 4 inch bendable dodgers. The action was on and off, sometimes busy and sometimes slow. I was getting fish from the surface down to 60 feet deep. Over three hours I caught two rainbows and two kokanee, but lost five others. I also had several bites. The southwest end of the lake seemed most productive. Both the wiggle hoochie and the wobbler were getting action!
While I was trolling I took a throat sample from one of the kokanees and it was full of chironomids.
I reeled everything up and set up my Okuma spinning rods for jigging chironomids. I set the bow mount to anchor mode over 50 feet of water on the southwest corner of the lake, where I had been seeing lots of marks near the bottom. I was keeping an eye on the fish finder as I lowered my gear. When I was approaching 45 feet I paused and slowly lifted my rod, watching as the marks chased my gear and one took the chironomid! Kokanee number three was on the boat right after starting to jig.
In just 45 minutes I caught three kokanee to fill my limit and two rainbows. I also had four other bites on the chironomid.
Earlier in the day I had been chatting in passing with a couple who were out trying for kokanee. It was nearing the end of my day and they hadn't had success. They had been watching me jig up some nice kokanee and were eager to try it. I tossed them a couple of my hand-tied weighted chironomids and gave them as many pointers as I could. I hope they found some success!
the Strategy
Rod one: a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger and 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: a pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
Jigging setup: a 3.5 inch flasher with 14 inches of leader to a chrome with orange and black ribs tungsten chironomid
THE CATCH
Chironomids! my favourite way to catch kokanee!!!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 4
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
May 2, 2023
All winter long I have looked forward to this day: the day I arrive at Peter Hope Lake and find that the ice is gone! Peter Hope has no ice fishing and single barbless hook bait ban. The last time I fished this lake was September of 2022.
Before I left for the lake I went back searching through old Peter Hope Lake fishing reports to remind myself what the fishing was like after ice off.
I remembered that trolling wasn't always that good soon after ice off, and reading old reports showed me that early season blood worms and chironomids jigged over deep water had worked well.
I set up my jigging rods with a 3.5 inch flasher with 14 inches of leader to my hand-tied tungsten chironomids, chrome with red ribs.
I found a decent school on the southwest end of the lake in 65 feet of water. The school was from 40 feet down to the bottom. I set the bow mount to anchor mode. What a game changer it is using anchor mode for jigging in deep water!
I had my first one on after about 10 minutes of jigging, and it was a good one! Unfortunately I lost it beside the boat. All was not lost, though- I stayed on this spot trying a few different chironomids and blood worms.
The chrome and red ribbed size 14 chironomid was enticing them the most. I managed to catch one about every half hour. By 11:30 a.m. I had four kokanee in the boat. The limit fish, like always, seemed to take the longest. Finally an hour later a large school came in and I hooked into my last one. As I was reeling it up the rod that I had sitting in a rod holder also buckled over. I landed both kokanee and had to release the last one so that I wasn't over my limit. All of the kokanee I caught today were 40 feet or deeper and were feeding primarily on daphnia but also on chironomids and bloodworms. I never did try any trolling today but the way the fish were schooling I think it would have worked too.
the Strategy
Rod one: A 3.5 inch ice flasher with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed tungsten chironomid
Rod two: A 3.5 inch ice flasher with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed tungsten chironomid
THE CATCH
It was all about jigging today. I caught six kokanee and released one.
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE UPDATE!
April 27, 2023
In previous years the ice has been off by now, but this year there is still a little way to go. The forecast is for warm weather so hopefully not long.
September 8, 2022
It has been far too long since I've been out kokanee fishing and finally today was the day to get back at it!
I was greeted with heavy gusts of wind and white caps, but I was determined to go fishing. I bounced my way out onto the water and began scanning around to find the fish. The fish were marking everywhere with the majority schooling just east of the sunken island.
I started with a Chrome's dodger and a pink wiggle hoochie on my first rod, and a dog tail dodger with a hand-painted watermelon kokanee wobbler on my second rod.
Today proved to be very difficult. I trolled at several different depths, different speeds, and changed my gear several times. I had my gear right in front of their noses several times but two hours passed without a bite. I reeled up all the gear and set the bow mount to anchor mode. I tried jigging everything from chironomids to buzz bombs and several lures in between. Another two hours passed with only one bite on a chironomid. While I was jigging I noticed that the bigger the flasher, the longer I was able to get the fish to follow the gear. This is information I never would have known without my fish finder.
I was pretty close to packing up but I was on some big schools so I decided to troll back to the boat launch- and this time I would give them plenty of flash.
Out came the three-leaf Ford Fender. I normally prefer to use Chrome's dodgers or other smaller dodgers because they have much less drag than a Ford Fender, but it was time for some old school methods! I paired the Ford Fender with the pink wiggle hoochie and the watermelon wobbler I was using originally. I set the lines down to 40 feet and soon after I was into a double header. I caught one of the fish but lost the other before I could attend to the second rod. I ended up with a pretty quick limit thanks to the big heavy gang trolls. All the fish were caught near the sunken island at around 40 feet deep. Old school techniques for the win!
the Strategy
Rod one: A three leaf Ford fender with 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A three leaf Ford fender with 14 inches of leader to a watermelon kokanee wobbler
THE CATCH
It took a while to start catching them, but once I did the limit was filled quickly.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
August 3, 2022
I was undecided early in the morning whether or not to venture out on a day that was supposed to bring 26 km winds in the afternoon. I reasoned with myself that I only have so many days off so I better go. I am usually able to logic my way into a reason that I should be out fishing :)
When I arrived at the lake there were no boats on the water and the south end of the lake was reasonably calm, considering the wind.
I went right to the south end to get out of the wind and waves and landed right on top of a big school of fish schooling between 40 to 60 feet. I set the bow mount to anchor mode and began jigging. I tried a flasher with a pink #12 weighted marabou jig, then switched to a pink spoon, then a chartreuse spoon, and then a pink non-scented grub tail. Not even a sniff.
I then set up both my trolling rods with Chrome's bendable dodgers and 14 inches of leader, one rod with a pink kokanee wobbler and the other with a pink wiggle hoochie.
I began trolling at about 50 feet deep where the biggest concentration of fish were. It seemed as though the fish were stacked on the south end. I don't think there was ever a time that there wasn't at least one mark on the fish finder. Unfortunately, it seemed to be one of those days when you are staring at the rod tips in anticipation due to the mass amounts of marks on the finder, but with no action. Finally after about an hour I had one on the kokanee wobbler- a big one! Unfortunately it slipped off the barbless hook right by the boat. I think I had been trolling too deep.
I began changing up lures. I tried Chrome's single spinners tipped with non-scented pink grub tails, Chrome's smile hoochies, trolling spoons, and finally the lure that seemed to work best: a small pink and glow micro hoochie on a pink wiggle bill. I ended up catching another two nice kokanee (both smaller than the one I lost but still decent) on the micro wiggler hoochie and losing two more. I lost another two on the kokanee wobbler. All my bites came at 35 to 40 feet. When I trolled deeper I got no bites even though there were higher concentrations of fish.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's pink UV flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A Chrome's pink UV flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
I tried many other lures today as well, check the report for more info
THE CATCH
It has been a while since I haven't been able to fill my limit, but still a great day! Two caught and five lost!
kokanee: 2
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
july 13, 2022
It was a much nicer day at Peter Hope Lake than the last time I was here, when it poured on me relentlessly the entire time I was on the water. Today is was sunny with a few clouds and 24 degrees C.
Even better, my kids came along and they brought a friend. I was very excited to get them into some nice kokanee!
I decided to only use two rods today even though I could have run four rods. I figured it would be much easier to manage and the kids could take turns reeling in fish. I geared the rods with Chrome's dodgers and kokanee wobblers.
I headed to the south end of the lake where I had success last time and there were several fish marking around 40 feet. We put the gear down to 40 feet and caught our first kokanee in about 10 minutes on an orange, yellow and pink kokanee wobbler. The kids were stoked and so was I! We continued fishing for about another hour and we lost two on the pink kokanee wobbler. I switched the orange, yellow, and pink wobbler to a pink wiggle hoochie and it proved to be a good move. We caught two kokanee quite quickly on the pink wiggle hoochie.
We took a bit of a break from fishing so the kids could cool off in the lake and have some lunch. I tried a little jigging while we were stopped but had no luck. I also used the down time to change out the wobbler so that we were running pink wiggle hoochies on both rods.
We fished for a short while longer and caught two more kokanee at 40 feet deep. At the end of the day while packing up I met a couple of anglers who were inspired to go kokanee fishing after reading some of my reports. They hadn't had any success at Peter Hope and were heading out to Stump Lake. I hooked them up with a couple of wiggle hoochies because they had never tried them before. I was happy to get a message from them the following day showing me the beauty kokanee they caught on the wiggle hoochies.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's pink UV flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A Chrome's pink UV flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
THE CATCH
Last time the pink kokanee wobbler was best, but this time it was the pink wiggle hoochie
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
june 29, 2022
This was the rainiest day I have ever spent on the water. But with only so many days off work I felt like I needed to go out, rain or shine.
I did my usual routine today of scouting different areas of the lake looking for the biggest concentrations of fish. Today the southeast end of the lake was where I found the most fish.
Most of the fish were between 30 and 50 feet deep, with the exception of a few areas where the schools were right on the bottom (as seen in the photo gallery where you can see my down rigger balls drifting well above the school below).
One of my friends swears by the pink and purple wiggle hoochie as being the best kokanee lure of all time, so I paired one with a pink UV Chrome's dodger on my first rod. On the other rod I used a pink and purple spinner hoochie also paired with a pink UV Chrome's dodger. I set the depths to 40 feet and just as I was about to put my feet up and take a sip of coffee (love the Minn Kota bow mount!) the rod with the wiggle hoochie had snapped free from the quick release and was bending hard. I quickly sprung to action and put a beauty 2.5lb kokanee in the boat. About 20 minutes later the spinner hoochie saw its first action but I lost this one. I fished for another 45 minutes with one bite on each rod but no more fish in the boat. I reeled up the spinner hoochie and changed for the pink wobbler.
I set the wobbler down to 42 feet and almost immediately had a fish on and put another beauty in the boat, this one about 2.25lbs. Once the wobbler was on, I never had more than 15 minutes go by between strikes. I caught three more fish on the kokanee wobbler and lost five. On the other rod the wiggle hoochie managed two bites and one more got away. I fished between 30 and 50 feet with most of my success happening at 42 feet. I set my trolling speed a little faster than my usual 1.3 mph, after noticing many of my bites were on the outside rod during turns. I dialed up the speed to 1.5 mph and had better success.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's pink UV flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink and purple wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A Chrome's pink UV flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
THE CATCH
I had plenty of fish on today and put my limit in the boat thanks to the kokanee wobbler.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
May 26, 2022
Finally! A day this May that was not overly windy!
Every time I'm headed out to Peter Hope Lake I have an extremely hard time passing Stump Lake when the lake is as calm as it was this morning. Passing up Stump turned out to be a good move. Peter Hope Lake was also calm, and the kokanee were hitting chironomids in 60 feet of water!
We first cruised to a few different spots where I often find fish and scanned around with the fish finder. We found the south end to be holding good size schools at about 40 to 50 feet deep. Often when there are several fish marking together they are kokanee. We used Chrome's dodgers and pink kokanee wobblers to troll at 35 and 45 feet using a 70 foot set back. This got us into three fish over the course of 1.5 hours. Unfortunately all three got away. Using single barbless hooks as opposed to tandem hook rigs definitely decreases the catch ratio. We changed our tactics and started jigging chironomids for kokanee. Once we found a school we stopped on it and dropped a small flasher with a short seven inch leader to a silver and red ribbed chironomid. We kept the chironomid almost still while the fish were marking on the finder, only raising them very slowly. When the fish stopped marking we would jig a little faster creating some flash until the fish came back. This worked very well, we caught four chrome kokanee with the smallest being 1.5 pounds. We lost four others.
the Strategy
Rod one: A chrome williams wobbler with 7 inches of leader to a red and chrome chironomid
Rod two: A chrome and pink 3.5" flasher with 7 inches of leader to a red and chrome chironomid
THE CATCH
We had lots of fish on the line but only got four in the boat.
kokanee: 4
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
April 26, 2022
This day was a long time coming! Peter Hope Lake has an ice fishing ban so I am always eager to get out in the water after ice off. This time of year can often prove challenging to catch kokanee, and today was no different.
Like usual I started my day by scanning different areas of the lake where I thought the fish might be. I found that the north end and a small spot toward the south east side were marking the most fish (see lake map in gallery).
I started trolling the small spot towards the southeast side of the lake as it seemed to have the highest concentration of fish. The fish were marking from 20 feet deep right down to the bottom. I used a Chrome's pink and chrome flasher with a pink wiggle hoochie on rod one, and on the second rod I used the same flasher with a pink kokanee wobbler. These normally wouldn't be my first choice during this time of year but the options are more limited on Peter Hope due to a single barbless hook bait ban that is in place.
Over the course of three hours I caught one rainbow and lost two kokanee beside the boat, all at 30 feet deep and all on the pink kokanee wobbler. A throat sample of the rainbow revealed mostly chrome and red chironomids. Last year around this time I did very good on Peter Hope catching kokanee on chironomids so I changed up my tactics. I begn jigging using an ice flasher and 12 inches of leader to my hand tied weighted red and chrome chironomid, keeping an eye on my fish finder to put my gear right on the fish.
This was a little difficult because it was in deep water and I was not using an anchor. I made it work with my trolling motor and in the next hour I managed to land four rainbows and one beauty kokanee.
the Strategy
Rod one: A chrome and pink flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A chrome and pink flasher with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
Jigging rod: A chrome and pink 3.5" flasher with 12 inches of leader to a red and chrome chironomid
THE CATCH
Red and chrome chironomids were the way to go!
kokanee: 1
rainbows: 5
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
