PAUL LAKE
fishing reports
Paul Lake is best known for its hiking trails its huge rock bluff and scenic viewpoints. Now stocked with kokanee, Paul Lake's kokanee fishing is quickly growing in popularity. Learn more about Paul Lake here.
August 13, 2024
Kokanee fishing has been nothing short of awesome lately! All the kokanee lakes have been giving up easy limits.
The forecast was calling for light winds today so I loaded up my little 10 foot Harbercraft and headed to Paul Lake. I arrived at the provincial park at about 8:30 a.m. It took a while to set up because maneuvering my boat around the bollards that still block the launch is no easy task.
It was absolute glass when I arrived but that only lasted for about an hour until the wind picked up a bit.
I headed straight out from the boat launch to about 80 feet of water and fish were marking consistently in the 25 to 60 foot range. I geared up with a slim swing tail dodger and Chrome's pink and green single spinner on my first rod, and a 4.5 inch custom bendable dodger and a Chrome's red and orange single spinner on the second, both from the Big Bounties 3pk.
I started trolling at 45 feet with short 10 foot set backs and, like often at Paul Lake, it got very busy! I caught two kokanee back to back and then lost three, all within about 25 minutes. I found fewer marks and a little slower action out toward the middle, but still caught my third kokanee and lost another. Kokanee number 4 arrived soon after but was tiny. The hook popped out as I netted it so I simply turned the net over and let the tiny one go.
A couple of minutes after resetting my gear both rods went off. I landed the first one but wasn't able to get to the second rod quickly enough and that fish got away. I decided to try jigging some chironomids to catch the limit fish. It seemed like a good plan but after 30 minutes of trying I had no bites and no fish chasing the gear. I switched out the jigging gear for a pink wiggle hoochie and sent it down to 45 feet. I put the limit fish in the boat within two minutes of getting my gear down.
The longest I went without action while trolling was less than 10 minutes. There was one other boat in the area that had caught a couple and lost a few in the early a.m. but it had slowed for them as the morning progressed. They were using the right lures but unfortunately were not able to get their lines deep enough without downriggers. I chatted with with them at the boat launch and gave them a couple of wiggle hoochies to try for next time since they hadn't tried them before.
the Strategy
Rod one: A slim swing tail dodger with 16 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink and green single spinner
Rod two: A 4.5 inch bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's red and orange single spinner
Both spinners are from the Big Bounties 3pk
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn and Berkley's pink maggotts
THE CATCH
Another busy day at Paul Lake, with lots caught, a few lost and one tiny one released without handling it.
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
June 6, 2024
Today's forecast was for mild winds so I took the opportunity to take my little 10 foot Harbercraft out on Paul Lake.
I arrived at the west end at 9 a.m. and was out at the drop off around 9:20 a.m. There were several fish rising and plenty of marks on the fish finder!
I got out to 60 feet of water and since my rods still had a chironomid jigging setup on them I set the bow mount to anchor mode and began jigging. I got a couple of bites right away and then landed a small rainbow, which I released. I let my rod dangle at 30 feet while I got my downriggers clamped on and my trolling rods set up with custom bendable dodgers and pink and glow spinner hoochies. Another rainbow grabbed on to the chironomid while I doing this!
Most of the marks were 30 to 50 feet deep so I put my trolling rods down to 30 feet and set off toward the bluff at 1.3 MPH.
After about 20 minutes I hooked into my first kokanee of the day! This time I put scented shoepeg on the spinner hoochie and sent it back down. This made all the difference! It was about to get very busy. One rod would go off and while I was dealing with that one, the other rod would often go off!
It was only 10:30 a.m. when I filled my limit of kokanee, lost a few others, and caught and released another rainbow. All were caught between 30 and 35 feet and all on the west end in front of the houses.
I didn't feel ready to go so I dropped down a 3 inch wobbler with a size 12 tungsten chrome and red ribbed barbless chironomid. I jigged up two more rainbows and lost one that pulled harder than I have ever had a fish pull on Paul Lake. Too bad I didn't get a glimpse of it! My next catch was a good-sized kokanee and since my limit was filled I shook it off the hook without handling it. I don't normally make catch and release with kokanee a habit, and since they were taking the chironomid, I decided to call it a day.
Today was my first time using braid on my clamp-on downriggers and it was awesome! No more loud hum and vibrations through the little aluminum boat. I wish I would have made this change a long time ago.
the Strategy
Both rods: a Chrome's custom 4 inch bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink and glow spinner hoochie
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
It was a busy day of catching fish, my kind of busy!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 5
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE OFF UPDATE
March 28, 2024
Today I went on another scouting mission to check out the ice at Paul Lake. The far west end is opening up and a long strip up the northern shore is also opening. There were a couple of open patches in the middle and the shore along the bluff was open. I didn't go all the way to the east end but based on what I could see from the bluffs, it is mostly iced over. It won't be long though!
THE SHORT REPORT
March 5, 2024
I took advantage of this cold weather and headed up to the west end of Paul Lake. I arrived at around 9:30 a.m. and set up over 60 feet of water. There was still about 6.5 inches of good ice. I marked a school of fish right away at 17 feet, but only managed to to get a bite before the marks disappeared. I got my hopes up that it was going to be one of those easy fishing days.
Sadly things slowed down and I marked only single fish at around 17 feet and only every half hour or so. When they did come in they seemed to like the scented shoepeg corn and also meal worms. I caught two kokanee, two rainbows, and lost four others, two of them being good-sized kokanee by the hole. As I was packing up to go a large school came in but I only got one hit before they took off.
February 2, 2024
It was another warm day out on the ice today. As usual, I wore my PFD and carried my ice picks!
When I arrived on the east end of Paul Lake there were several fishers on the ice already. I headed out about 125 yards offshore and was pleased to be on 6.5 inches of good ice. The ice had a unique cracking look on the surface that I haven't seen before- check it out in the gallery pictures.
The depth was 90 feet and the fish were marking right away at about 15 feet deep. I rushed to get my small (size 12) pink tungsten jig fly down to 15 feet because often the fish don't hang around for long. I hadn't set up my camera yet but I could see clearly down the hole at 15 feet. Three kokanee were eagerly dancing around my jig and within 30 seconds of getting in my tent I had a nice kokanee on the ice. I tried to get back down to 15 feet quickly after unhooking the fish but the others had left.
I set the camera up at 15 feet and shortly after a big school of about 30 kokanee came into view. I thought for sure I was going to get kokanee number two but the school was swimming straight like they had somewhere to be. One fish darted out of the school and took a quick look at my jig, but quickly rejoined the school and they all swam off in the same direction. A short while later four more fish came in at 20 feet. I coaxed them up into the camera's view and got to watch kokanee number two take the jig. This time I was able to get my gear back down before they left, and kokanee number three was quickly on the ice! Twenty-five minutes went by before I marked more fish, another giant school, but again they passed my gear with very little interest. Fortunately, this was followed by a smaller school of fish that were interested! I was able to quickly land two kokanee from this small school before they took off!
Since I had my limit so quickly I packed up and wandered over to chat with the others that were on the ice. Most people were getting a few kokanee but no limits. I also noticed that the ice was much thinner about 150 yards west of where I had been fishing, thinning to about 4.5 inches. I offered up a few of my hand-tied jigs and the shoepeg corn that had been working so well for me, and enjoyed sharing some fishing stories! It was nice to meet you all on the ice today, hope you filled your limits!
the Strategy
Ice rod: A blue and silver Williams wobbler with 10 inches of leader to a hand tied pink tungsten jig fly (size 10).
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
A little less than an hour to put my limit of kokanee on the ice!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
THE SHORT REPORT
January 26, 2024
Reports have indicated that Paul Lake has been slow as of late. I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours in the afternoon and the kokanee didn't seem to want the usual jigs or bait. I tried my tungsten weighted red and chrome ribbed chironomids and this worked! I caught two and lost three kokanee. They were near the bottom in 60 feet of water at the west end. Any quick jigs scared them off immediately, but a very slow rising chironomid got them chasing it up and biting.
The top inch of ice seemed hard but it had 3 inches of punky ice below and you would sometimes break through the first layer. There was about 6.5 inches of good ice below the punky ice. I kept my pfd on while going out and coming back off the ice. This can be a dangerous time for changing ice conditions. Stay safe!
January 14, 2024
Finally, I get to post a fishing report after a very long wait! The ice on the east end of Paul Lake was good! A couple of days ago I encountered ice that tapered from six inches down to one inch. Today that same patch had grown to 4 inches thick. Oddly, as I got beyond that patch the ice thickened again. Further out where I set up I found seven inches of good ice. It goes to show how unpredictable ice can be.
I set up over 80 feet of water. Normally at this time of year I find the kokanee from 25 to 35 feet and today it was right in the middle at 30 feet.
I used my custom-made glow sided willow flasher with 10 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig that I had tied up the night before. I added one kernel of pink-dyed, anise-scented shoepeg corn.
It was so exciting to see the first few fish swim into view of the camera! It has been a while. In short order I put two kokanee on the ice! After this there was a long lull in the action, besides one big curious spawner that kept swimming right past my fishing hole just under the surface. Eventually while pulling my gear up the big spawner grabbed my jig. I caught and released the spawner and it didn't return. About an hour after catching my first two I caught two more kokanee very close together. Again it took a while before more fish came in, and around noon I finally put my limit fish on the ice. All of the fish besides the spawner were caught around 30 feet deep. I noticed on my camera that there were often one or two rainbows hanging out in many of the kokanee schools. I was able to pull my jig away as they tried to bite so I could have more time targeting kokanee.
If you are going to try Paul Lake, keep in mind that many areas froze up while much of the lake was still open water. Be diligent while checking out unknown ice. Wear a PFD, carry ice picks, and test the thickness often.
the Strategy
Plan A: a custom Chrome's glow side willow flasher with 10 inches of leader to hand-tied pink tungsten kokanee jig.
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
It was exciting to be out on the ice! Six kokanee caught, one spawner released
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE REPORT
January 12, 2024
With high hopes but only a little optimism I headed up to Paul Lake in hopes of posting a kokanee fishing report. Instead what you are getting is an ice report.
Today was a prime example of needing to exercise extreme caution when venturing out to test unknown ice. I put on my PFD, grabbed my ice picks and hand auger and headed out on the east end of the lake. There was a big area of ice but also open water in the distance. My first test hole close to shore revealed a little better than 6 inches of ice. I continued out further, drilling several test holes along the way, each one revealing about 6 inches of ice. As I got out a little further there was distinct shift in the ice. It was darker than what I had been walking on making me believe that it formed later than the area I had already tested. I stopped here to drill a test hole without walking onto the darker-looking ice, and I am so glad I did. I could hear a hollow sound as the blades of the auger touched the ice. The ice had tapered from a healthy 6 inches to just over 1 inch thick in just a couple steps. I am certain that if I had walked on the dark ice I would not have made it very far before going for a very cold, potentially deadly swim. I am hoping that with this weekend's very cold temperatures the ice will be ready for Monday!?
October 30, 2023
I am pretty sure this will be my last time out kokanee fishing until the ice is on! I arrived at the rec site at around 8:45 a.m. and it was -6 degrees! You've gotta love fishing to go out in a tinner when it's that cold.
With just myself to unload the boat, it was very difficult to maneuver my little 10 foot boat around the bollards that are blocking the launch but after some grunting and very frozen fingers I was ready to go!
Having the bow mount mounted to my little boat has been awesome! It was nice that the boat drove itself, giving me a chance to warm up my fingers and defrost my rod eyelets.
I was marking lots of fish mostly around 50 feet but there were also some surface splashes. I tried one rod up top and one rod at 50 feet. The top rod had a wiggle hoochie and the bottom had a spinner tipped with shoepeg. Both rods had custom dodgers attached.
I headed westward toward the bluff and by the time I got there I had lost one kokanee and caught another- a nice kokanee at 50 feet. The top rod was unsuccessful, and so I put the top rod down to 50 feet and continued past the bluff. I marked almost no fish in front of the bluff and only the odd one west of the bluff. I made a turn and headed back to the east side of the bluff (between the rec site and the bluff) where I had been marking more fish. As I got past the bluff I caught another kokanee on the single spinner. I was marking lots of fish at 50 feet so I reeled up all of my gear and got myself set up with jigging gear. I used a 4 inch, half and half Williams wobbler with 10 inches of leader to one of my hand-tied red and chrome tungsten barbless chironomids. I have found that even when the kokanee are not actively feeding on chironomids they will often still bite them. This was true again today! I set my bow mount to anchor mode and within seconds of getting my chironomid to 50 feet I had my first bite followed by another which I landed. Over the next 30 minutes I lost three more and caught one.
I now had four fish in the boat and decided to troll towards the rec site boat launch. I also wanted to try my custom pink spinner hoochie that has been extremely productive for me. I began letting the line out and before getting it all the way out, I had a fish on. A tiny little rainbow that couldn't resist the spinner hoochie. I tried again and this time I was successful at getting the spinner hoochie down to 50 feet. I placed the rod in the rod holder only to pull it right back out and land my limit kokanee on it!
All of the kokanee I caught were around 50 feet deep. They seemed to prefer a slow troll of 1.1 MPH.
the Strategy
Rod one: a Chrome's custom swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's single pink spinner
Rod two: a Chrome's traditional swing dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's wiggle hoochie. (see report for other set ups used)
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
It was a rewarding day today, but catching my limit of kokanee was a cold task!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 1
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
June 30, 2023
This morning I had a decision to make: go fishing, or stay home and prepare for tomorrow's farmers market?
If you know me, you can probably guess which option I chose. The weather looked too great to pass up, and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. which gave me plenty of time to enjoy coffee with my wife and still get an early start fishing. Fishing it is!
I packed up the little 10' aluminum and headed to Paul Lake. I arrived at the west end of the lake around 8 a.m.
I headed out through the shallows and went a little past the drop off on the west end over 60 feet of water. I was marking several fish throughout the water column with most being near the bottom. I set my bow mount to anchor mode and sent down my 4 inch brass and copper wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed tungsten weighted chironomid.
I dangled the chironomid near the bottom while I set up my trolling rods and clamped on the downriggers. Not once but twice my rod bent over while I was setting up. Two rainbows were caught and released in the first 10 minutes of fishing!
I began trolling at 35 feet because it seemed that the main concentrations of fish were between 25 to 40 feet, or right near the bottom. I trolled at 1.3 mph and headed towards the bluff starting at the west end. It was one of those days where the action was steady! By the time I got half way to the bluff I had caught three kokanee and lost two. This made for very busy but fun fishing. The micro smile hoochie was working good and so was the pink and purple spin n glo. That being said, I think most kokanee lures would have worked well, given how active the fish were today. I spun the boat around and headed back towards the west end, this time only trolling one rod. Right after turning the boat around I caught one and lost one.
I now had four kokanee in the boat so I put my trolling gear away and pulled out the jigging rod. I set up over 70 feet of water and I was marking lots of fish. The chironomids were a hit again: I was lowering it to 30 feet and at 25 feet it stopped falling because a fish took it! Up came kokanee number five and it was the biggest of the day weighing in at 1.4 lbs! One of the bigger ones I have caught out of Paul Lake. It was only 9:30 and I wasn't quite ready to head home so I moved closer to where I was catching the rainbows and gave it another try. When the chironomid neared the bottom I jigged it a few times and as I slowly raised it I had another fish on! This time it was a kokanee. Fortunately I was using a barbless hook so I was able to give the fish some slack and pop the hook without netting or touching it.
The next fish was a nice rainbow. I had a real scare while taking a quick pic of this rainbow while it was still in the water. Just this morning I was reading an update about the tragic situation with the boaters at Stump Lake. These types of events always make me wonder what could have gone wrong. But today I learned just how quickly things can go badly. While I was attempting to release the rainbow I leaned to one side of the little boat. I had a 12v deep cycle battery for my electric motor that was acting as a counter balance. Without warning, the battery slid towards me as I was leaning over, suddenly and significantly shifting the weight balance in the boat. I thought I was going over. The top edge of my boat was about 2 inches from the waterline. I am not sure how far a small aluminum can lean before it will tip over but I think I pushed its limits today. Thankfully I stayed upright. Stay safe out there, everyone.
I took a minute to regain my composure and rebalance the boat then went back to fishing. I quickly got into another fish near the bottom but it was another kokanee and again was able to release it without handling it. I decided to quit fishing since I was catching more kokanee than rainbows on the chironomid and I don't like to catch and release kokanee since they often don't handle catch and release well. I do think that releases are very successful if you don't have to handle the kokanee, but even a barbless hook doesn't guarantee that you will be able to release the fish without handling it.
the Strategy
Rod one: a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's orange micro smile hoochie.
Rod two: a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink and purple spin n glo
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
A busy but great day. I kept five kokanee and was able to release two kokanee without handling them. The three rainbows were released.
kokanee: 7
rainbows: 3
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
May 25, 2023
The weather forecast for Paul Lake looked good today. I like to take these opportunities to get out in my little 10' aluminum boat.
I have only been out to Paul once since ice off, and I wasn't able to catch any kokanee that day. Today was much different!
I launched my boat on the west end of the lake. The water was quite high and the bollards blocking the launch area were still in place. It's easy enough to get a small boat around them, but not a trailer.
There were several fish jumping at the west end and I was marking lots at 15 feet deep. I geared up with Chrome's pink bendable dodgers with 14 inches of leader. I had a Chrome's pink wiggle hoochie on one rod and a Chrome's orange and pink smile spinner on the other.
I started fishing the west end, 15 feet down in 50ish feet of water. Things got very busy! Often one rod was bouncing while I was trying to put the line out on the other. Up and down with the hand crank downriggers and sometimes fish were taking the line before I could clip it to the downrigger. The west end had lots of trout. In short order I had caught and released five rainbows while losing three other fish.
My next move was to venture away from the west end where all the fish were jumping because I figured the majority were trout. I trolled toward the bluff and caught two more rainbows on the way. When I got about 200 to 300 yards west of the bluff I started marking fish at 20 feet fairly consistently on the northern side of the lake. I lowered the downriggers to 20 feet and things got very busy again! Both the wiggle hoochie and the smile spinner worked very well with the edge given to the smile spinner but only because I was running the wiggle hoochie bait-less. In about 45 minutes I put five kokanee in the boat and released two more rainbows. The day ended with a double header! Unfortunately, I already had four kokanee in the boat so I had to release one of the kokanee from the double header to stay within my limit. What a day! Sixty foot setbacks and speeds from .8 to 1.4 mph was working well!
the Strategy
Rod one: a Chrome's pink and green bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink and orange smile spinner
Rod two: a Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink wiggle hoochie
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
A busy day on the hand crank downriggers, ending with a double header!
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 9
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE OFF!
April 26, 2023
I was happy to see the ice off today! Hopefully the fishing will pick up soon. I marked fish mostly towards the west end but I couldn't entice them today.
March 17, 2023
Another late season fishing day, and what a day it was. The west end of Paul Lake was absolutely on fire!
I parked at the west end and pulled my gear out to where the water was 65 feet deep (see the picture for my location). There was already an angler near this spot and he said the fishing was ridiculous! That couldn't have been more true!
I began setting up my gear and the second I powered on the fish finder I was marking fish at 60 feet. I stopped setting up and quickly sent down a 2" pink buzz bomb. I got the buzz bomb down to the fish and two jigs later I caught my first healthy-looking chromer. I sent the buzz bomb back down and two more jigs put fish number two on the ice!
I always bring four rods with different lure set ups so I grabbed a rod equipped with a new flasher I had made and a pink and chartreuse tungsten fly and gave it a try.
As I approached the fish that were marking at 60 feet one of them hammered the fly while I was still lowering it. I hadn't even set up my underwater camera yet and I had three kokanee on the ice in three minutes! UNREAL! I decided to take a couple minutes to get my camera down so I could watch the action. This time I grabbed a rod that with a copper and brass flasher with a size 10 pink and white glow jig. I didn't even bother baiting the hook. I sent the gear down as a much larger school of fish showed up on the finder spanning from 30 feet down to 60 feet. When the jig came into view on my camera there were four kokanee following it down. I paused to slowly pull the jig up and bam! Fish number four on the ice. Next I sent down a 1.5" swim jig that I had used at Stump Lake a few days earlier with a small piece of meal worm. You guessed it: the limit fish took the bait!
My limit of fish was on the ice in only 8 minutes! And that includes the time it took to set up my underwater camera. I have had plenty of good days out ice fishing, but today topped them all in terms of quick limits.
I wasn't ready to pack up so soon so I spent some time jigging a hook-less spoon in front of the camera. It was so fun!!! They hit the spoon over and over and over! I am quite sure that most types of kokanee jigs would have caught fish today! The water clarity was next to perfect, I could easily see my lures on the camera at 60 feet almost as if they were right in front of me. There was still about 12 inches of good ice!
the Strategy
The set up: a chrome and brass 4 inch wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
Second: A pink two inch buzz bomb.
I believe the kokanee would have taken any jig today!
THE CATCH
Five kokanee in 8 minutes!!! UNREAL!!!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
Fishing report from readers
February 28, 2023
I went to the bluffs on Paul Lake on Tuesday and ended up catching my 5 Kokanee. I’ll have to admit that day tested my patience. I first set up at 8:00am and no fish for an hour. Nothing on the screen. Was getting ready to pack up to move to another hole then a few fish came around. They swiped at my hook but no takers and swam away. Shortly after I got two and let one spawner go. Again it went dead for another hour. There were a few small schools that went by but they were down deep around 50ft. By the time I got down there, they were gone. Around 11:00am I caught a small single. Then around 11:30am a school came by and they were high and I was able to get one and it was the largest of the day at 15 inches. Shortly after I caught another one and I was finished at 12:00pm. It did test my patience looking down the hole and checking the screen and seeing nothing for an hour. So all in all, I got lucky and was happy.
Fred
February 24, 2023
I have been fortunate lately to find myself with lots of fishing days! Maybe I should have stayed home today to get some things done, but the sun was shining and the lake was calling. Only one thing to do- get my ice gear together and head up to Paul Lake. Paul Lake has been on and off lately and for me it has been a little slow my last couple of times out, but my luck was about to change!
I headed out to one of my favourite spots a little east of the bluff, not so much for how it fishes but more for the view. The water was 185 deep. I began marking fish from 140 feet down to the bottom, just one or two fish at a time.
I wasn't really set up yet with the proper gear to try to chase the fish that deep, so I continued to get my camera ready. As I lowered the camera in there was a kokanee on the screen immediately just beneath the ice. After seeing this, I set my camera up at about 8 feet and started jigging.
I was able to get a few to come in and check out my lure. It was quickly apparent that they were very inquisitive today but also timid. Any big flash from my flasher when the fish were close would spook at least one of the fish and when one takes off the school often follows. I was seeing fish near the surface every 6 or 7 minutes for the first half hour followed by a lull for the next half hour. Finally a large school came in so I slowed my jigging down to where the flasher was no longer flashing but the jig was still dancing. This worked! I caught one and got the line back down as quick as I could. I didn't even re-bait the jig as the kokanee had plucked off the meal worm. It didn't matter- another fish grabbed the pink tungsten fly as soon as it was back in the water. After that school left, the fish were coming in every 6 to 7 minutes again, and I was able to catch another a few minutes later.
Next I wanted to try something I don't use often: a two-inch pink buzz bomb that I rigged up with wire. These lures are made to slide up and down the line. I find that they cause lots of damage to your line so you have to re-tie them frequently. I was very impressed at how aggressive the kokanee were with the buzz bomb dancing around. I caught two more quite quickly, one of which was a big spawner that I released, and I lost three others. In between kokanee surface action I chased some of the fish that were marking past 120 feet with the buzz bomb but they were not interested. After another 30 minute lull another small school came in and I lost another with the buzz bomb and then caught my limit fish moments later. I found that I was losing more fish with the treble hooked buzz bomb than with the small tungsten jig. By noon I had hooked into 10 kokanee, five on the ice, one spawner released and four kokanee lost. It was another great day!
the Strategy
The set up: a chrome and brass 4 inch wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
Second: A pink two inch buzz bomb.
The bait: Meal worms
THE CATCH
I caught five chrome kokanee and released a big spawner. I also lost four other chromers.
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
February 14, 2023
When I got close to the bluff I could see that there were no tents set up in front of it. I am guessing this means that fishing has been slow for many, but that wasn't going to deter me. When the the fishing is good, the weekends will often have dozens of tents out in front of the bluff. Today there was one tent on the west end, a few tents well east of the bluff, and one woman that was at the parking lot getting ready to head out on the ice.
Kokanee decoys
When I arrived at the day use area the trails and the stairs leading to the lake were sheer ice. I would like to give a shout out to whoever tied the rope to the top railing of the death stairs: thank you! It came in very handy. I would also like to thank the woman who was heading out who showed me how she gets down the stairs easily with a sled. I sat at the top of the stairs and pushed the sled out in front of me, holding on to its rope. The weight of the sled pulled me down the icy stairs of death and I used my other hand to hold the rope that was tied to the railing to semi-control my speed of decent.
As I was walking out onto the ice I ran into four anglers who were walking back from the the east end. I asked them how it went, and they told me it had been ok in the early morning when they had caught a couple, but the bite had now turned off.
I came out today with a couple of new things to try. I acquired two fake fish the look a lot like kokanee. I wanted to try to use these as a bit of a decoy to see if I could get the kokanee to stick around longer. I also came prepared with some hand-tied weighted scuds to try to catch some of the deeper fish because of my experience during my last outing at Paul Lake.
I set up in front of the bluff and drilled my holes through 13 inches of ice and lowered the decoy fish in. When I sent my gear down there was already a fish marking at 20 feet. For the first hour I had fairly steady markings of one to two fish around 5 to 15 feet. I am quite certain that it was the same few fish, circling around. They were coming in and out taking only such tiny bites that there was no chance to set the hook. Eventually I managed to hook one but lost it. It seemed as though the decoys were helping to keep them around, but then for the next hour there was nothing. I moved my gear up to 3 feet and two fish came in right away and one of them took my jig. I thought maybe shallow water was the ticket but then it was another hour of nothing. I started to pack up my gear and two more kokanee came in just as I was about to pull my camera up. I madly grabbed my rod and put my gear in and one of the kokanee swam up within inches of the hole and inhaled my jig! Of course now I stayed longer but to no avail, 45 more minutes of nothing. Unlike last time there was almost nothing marking down deep so I never did put the scuds to the test. On my way out I talked to the lady from the parking lot and she too had found fishing was slow, she had a couple of bites but no 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 glow back jig
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
It was fairly slow but I wasn't skunked!
kokanee: 2
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
January 31, 2023
I was back at it today! You would think the novelty of fishing would start to wear off, but for me it never does.
Fishing is usually a little different each time I go and it seems like there is always something new to learn.
Like today.
When I arrived at the day use area the road and the trails were sheer ice. I was wearing studded snow boots and even so, I slid about 50 feet down the trail while holding onto my sled. Just something to watch for if you go.
I set up to the right of the bluff over 185 feet of water and started fishing at 15 feet deep. The fish finder was marking the odd fish at 120 to 160 feet. It took about 30 minutes for the first fish to show up on the camera, and then they came in a massive school. I was able to coax one to take my jig with shoepeg. I quickly got the gear back down but it was too late- the school had moved on.
Fishing was quiet, and it took a while before I marked another fish on the fish finder way down at 140 feet. I don't usually chase fish that deep because I've never had much luck at it, but I decided to give it a shot today. It took a long time and my entire spool of line to get down to 140 feet but it was worth it because I hooked the fish a few jigs later. At that depth I could barely tell that the fish was on. I reeled it all the way up and was surprised to see that it was a kokanee. I have never caught a kokanee that deep before.
Two more big schools came in at 15 feet, and a couple of the kokanee took a swipe at my jig but the schools moved on very quickly today. I also chased some more marks between 120 and 160 feet with no more success. I didn't mark a single fish between 20 to 120 feet all day. I was very curious to see if the kokanee that I caught at depth was eating only Daphnia or if it had a different food source down deep. It turns out that it was eating Gammarus, also know as scuds or freshwater shrimp. I will definitely be making up some weighted scuds to jig deep when I go back!
the Strategy
The set up: First, a Chrome's pink and green flasher with 12 inches of leader to a pink glow back jig
Second: a chrome and brass 4 inch wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
The bait: Scented shoepeg corn
THE CATCH
Only two kokanee today, caught 125 feet apart (depth).
kokanee: 2
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
January 23, 2023
I have been hearing that Paul Lake is producing kokanee again so I decided to check it out!
I arrived at the day use area across from the bluff at about 8:45 a.m. As I was wandering out on to the ice I could see many fish being caught. One angler pulled two kokanee through the same hole about 30 seconds apart.
Now I was getting antsy! I set up about half way between the bluff and day use area. It didn't take long- two minutes after sending my gear down to 12 feet I put a kokanee on the ice! I caught two more at the same depth not too long after. All three of my catches came in fast and furious and took my bait with little hesitation. I was starting to think I was going to catch a quick limit, but all of the sudden the fishing switch turned off and the fish vanished. Over the next four hours I didn't see or mark any fish. I tried three other spots, different flashers, and I even tried jigging a 3 leaf ford fender to get some attention. None of those things worked.
I talked to several others who were experiencing the same thing. The bite turned off at about 9:30 and didn't come back. Where do they go??? I was still happy to get three; other anglers who showed up later were catching nothing, but the early bird anglers were leaving the ice around 9:30 a.m., each with their limits.
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: Pink maggots
THE CATCH
Three quick ones on the ice before the bite ended.
kokanee: 3
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
The slow report
January 16, 2023
I don't have a lot to say other than it was very slow fishing on the north end. The fish would come in once in a while at 10 feet but they wouldn't even take a look at my gear. They were the least interested I have ever seen. There was no water on the ice and it was about 10 inches thick and very slippery. All the fishers I talked to on the north end were having the same experience.
Fishing report from readers
January 07, 2023
Paul Lake was very slow today, myself and two friends didn’t have a nibble in 4 hours. I’ve blanked five times now using krill and fake pink maggots with a pink flasher. I’m not quitting yet.
Pinaus lake is very good for trout, we used a Buzz Bomb with a fake worm and krill and caught 18 fish between four people. A snowmobile is needed to access the lake from the four kilometer marker.
Maurice
December 15, 2022
I am loving this early start to the hard water season! I wasn't sure if the ice would be good on Paul Lake. It turns out that not only was the ice good, but the fishing was pretty good too!
I went to the east end of the lake and found 6" of good clear ice. I walked out about 300 feet and set up my tent over 70 feet of water.
I got my fish finder set up and began marking fish almost right away between 20 and 30 feet deep. I sent my camera and gear down to 20 feet and within two minutes my first kokanee was on the ice. Back down went the gear, and then right back up came kokanee number two. I had two kokanee on the ice in about 3.5 minutes!
I thought this might turn out to be my fastest limit ever. Unfortunately that thought was wrong. Kokanee number three was caught 30 minutes later, and the last two kokanee really made me work for it.
The fish were coming in, but only in singles and pairs, no large schools. It took me almost two hours to put my fourth kokanee on the ice. In that time, I lost three others. They were very interested in my jig when they came in, but the problem was they weren't coming in! I went 30 minutes without marking a fish. It was time for a move. I grabbed my fish finder, auger, and ice rod and temporarily abandoned my tent. I wandered out another 75 feet and drilled another hole. I got the finder set up and lowered my gear down. Three fish came up from 30 feet and met me at 20 feet. I quickly hooked into one, but it got off. I put the gear back down to 20 feet and within about five minutes out came kokanee number five! It is amazing what a difference a small move can make. I went from hardly marking two fish over the course of an hour to continuous fish marking on the finder.
the Strategy
The set up: First, a Chromes's pink and green flasher with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
Second: a chrome and pink 3.5 inch flasher with 12 inches of leader to a pink tungsten jig
The bait: Meal worms
THE CATCH
They made me work for them, but it was worth it!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE UPDATE
I brought all my ice fishing gear with me knowing full well I would likely not be using it, but I didn't think it would still be 99% open water. Hopefully it won't be much longer!
November 9, 2022
June 1, 2022
It was another fairly calm day so I took this opportunity to take my little 10' aluminum Harbercraft out to Paul Lake. Unfortunately, this is the way I have to go since I can't launch my bigger boat due the yellow posts that block the public boat launches.
That being said, I really like my little boat and I had a great day on the water!
I launched my little boat near the west end of the lake and as I moved along the houses at water's edge I began marking lots of fish in 50 to 100 feet of water. The fish were mainly concentrated at 20 and 40 feet deep, and near the bottom.
I have had so much success recently jigging chironomids that this is the first thing I tried. I started jigging at 20 feet with the setup seen in the pictures below. I had no luck at 20 feet so I dropped to 40, but again no bites.
I was jigging over 90 feet of water and decided to go right near the bottom since the shallower fish were not biting. As I got close to 80 feet I got a bite and landed a nice kokanee. As I lowered my setup the second time I tried a few more jigs for the shallower fish but they were not interested. As I got down to 80 feet I could watch the marks on my finder rising to my falling lure. I slowly raised my rod and this triggered the bite- I caught my second kokanee. It ended up being a quick limit and I had all five kokanee in the boat within 40 minutes, all of them caught near the bottom on a chironomid. I never even got the chance to take out the trolling rods, but I am quite confident that trolling in the 20 to 40 foot range would have produced results as well.
the Strategy
The set up: a W50 Williams' wobbler with 10 inches of leader to a hand-tied tungsten chrome with orange rib chironomid
The trolling rod: I didn't get a chance to use it... chironomids were too good!
THE CATCH
Five kokanee caught in 40 minutes at 80 feet down!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
March 8, 2022
Since we're coming to the end of ice season, I took extra precautions and wore a PDF and ice picks in preparation for thinning and weakening ice. It turns out that there was 12 inches of clear hard ice. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that there was a different precaution I should have taken as well: wear some ice cleats. I shuffled slowly towards the bluff on a surface of smooth slick ice and managed to give the anglers walking out behind me a good chuckle when I did a spectacular cartoon-like, feet-out-from-under-me fall on my back. Turns out the PDF was good for a little extra padding at least!
Eventually I got out to where I wanted to fish without any more falls. I set up just east of the bluff and closer to the north side of the lake where the depth is 185 feet.
I used my pink and chartreuse ice flasher with 13 inches of leader to a pink tungsten kokanee jig I made. These jigs are my new favourite for jigging kokanee. The kokanee will still take the jig without bait, or when the bait has come off.
I began jigging at about 18 feet deep and caught my first kokanee after only 5 minutes. Forty minutes later I had three kokanee on the ice. It was now 11 a.m. and the fishing seemed to die right off. The fish became less frequent, and were less interested in my set up. I stayed until 1:30 p.m. and only caught one more kokanee and one rainbow that had showed up on the fish finder at 50 feet deep during that time. Through out the day, the majority of the fish were in the top 20 feet of water and the odd fish was marking between 50 feet and 150 feet.
the Strategy
The set up: a 3.5 inch pink and chartruese flasher with 13 inches of leader to a hand-tied pink tungsten kokanee jig
The bait: pink maggots
THE CATCH
Four chromers on the ice, and one rainbow trout that was released.
kokanee: 4
rainbows: 1
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
January 25, 2022
Paul Lake is probably the easiest lake to catch kokanee around Kamloops, but sometimes they can be a challenge. Today was good, but not nearly as good as my last time at the lake when my kids and I caught nine kokanee in only 45 minutes!
The schools were coming in only every so often, and for only a couple of minutes at a time. Last time I was out we had a school below us for 45 minutes straight.
I fished the east end of the lake over 125 feet of water and concentrated my efforts at 20 feet deep. The fish finder showed that the vast majority of fish were coming in at 20 to 25 feet, and the odd fish was at 80 to 110 feet deep.
I used a small pink ice fly and threaded a small pink tungsten bead to my leader. I also added one piece of scented shoepeg corn. I caught the first two kokanee fairly quickly, and another two over the next hour.
I spent four hours at the lake, hoping to get my limit. That final fish just didn't want to bite! Finally, the largest school of the day came in, but I still couldn't entice a solid bite- just a couple of nose-to-hook encounters. I waited for almost two hours for the next fish to show up, and I wasn't going to let this one get away! A couple of well-time slow jigs got that fish on the ice.
All five kokanee were caught at 20 feet deep. Several times during the day I chased the deep marks on the fish finder down at 90 feet, but these fish at depths were not interested.
I noticed a large group of anglers who were fishing a little closer to shore in 105 feet of water. They seemed to be putting many fish on the ice as well. I feel like I may have been set up just on the edge of the path that the schools of kokanee were taking. Sometimes it pays to move a little, but that always feels like such a big job when you have all of your gear set up.
the Strategy
The set up: a 3.5 inch pink, glow, green and silver flasher with 10 inches of leader to a small pink ice fly with a pink tungsten bead
The bait: scented shoe peg corn was the choice bait today.
THE CATCH
I had a fun day catching my limit! The last one was hard to get, but with some persistence I caught it!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
January 6, 2022
Today was a very memorable day. My kids actually asked to go fishing! This does not happen often so I jumped on the opportunity. My younger son had painted his own flasher and jig with my new glow heat powder paint and was eager to test it out.
We got a bit of a late start. It was close to noon before we started fishing, but today was the best day of kokanee fishing I have ever had! Not only were my kids with me but it proved to be the most productive one hour of kokanee ice fishing ever!
I set up the kids with fishing rods in front of the fishing camera while I shoveled off a skating rink. Ten minutes into shoveling, my boys called me into the tent, saying that there were lots of marks on the fish finder.
I got into the tent just in time to watch the school swim into view of the underwater camera. We saw loads of kokanee and the flurry of action didn't let up. Check out the video to take a look at what we were seeing!
Over the course of 45 minutes we caught 7 kokanee and released another two small ones without handling them. All of the action was at 20 feet. It was amazing! The scented shoe peg corn easily out-fished the pink gulp maggots and meal worms, and the small glow jigs were key to turning the nibbles into catches.
At this point, the kids wanted to play some hockey so I took my own advice and packed it up while they were still having a good time. Playing a game of hockey was just as fun as fishing, anyway!
My son's hand-painted gear with his catch!
the Strategy
Both ice rods: a 3.5 inch pink, glow, green and silver flasher with 12 inches of leader to a small glow jig
The bait: we tried meal worms and pink gulp maggots, but the scented shoe peg corn was the choice bait today.
THE CATCH
Easily the best kokanee ice fishing day I have ever had! Nine fish in 45 minutes!
kokanee: 9
rainbows: 0
click to enlarge
PHOTO GALLERY
