Weekly Fraser Valley Sport fishing column; Oct 28 to Nov 4, 2013

Kokanee are the second most popular freshwater game fish next to rainbow trout, swimming our Cascadian lakes. Yet since they first made press in 1875, there has been drastically little written (in book form) about sport fishing these land locked sockeye.

Fishing for these fish, which have been known the exceed six pound, in select lakes can be challenging. They tend to take lightly and are well know for their soft mouths which can tear easily. The challenge is not so much getting these fish to take, as it is holding on to them once they have been hooked. Finesse is required, which lends itself to light weight gear and rubber snubbers. One effective trick is to in a simple rubber band between your line and lure or line and leader. This simple trick provides a shock absorber, to buffer out sudden jerks and other fast movements. As for flies and lures; kokanee tend to have an affinity for the colors red, pink, orange, and chartreuse.

As for table quality? Kokanee are sockeye; need I say more.

The Report

Our lower mainland lake fishing is good. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try: Nations Black, Zulu, Wooly Bugger, Wooly Worm, Pumpkin Head, Micro Leach, Doc Spratley, Halfback, Sixpack, or Baggy Shrimp. For dry (floating) fly action try: Lady McConnel, Tom Thumb, Irresistible, Double Hackled Peacock, Royal Coachman, Black Gnat, Griffith Gnat, or Elk Hair Caddis.

Our lower Mainland bass and panfish waters are active. For Bass try: Wooly Bugger, Micro Leach, Pumpkinhead, Dragon Nymph, Crayfish, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Lefty's Deceiver, Dolly Whacker, Bucktail, Hair Frog, Poppers, (adult) Dragonfly, Chernobyl Ant, Optic, or Stimulator. For Panfish try smaller (size 10 to 16) versions of the above.

Fishing on our interior lakes is good. For wet fly fishing try: Chironomid, Halfback Nymph, Baggy Shrimp, Pumpkin Head, Wooly Bugger, Big Black, Dragon Nymph, Sixpack, 52 Buick, Soubou, or Doc Spratley. For dry fly fishing try: Lady McConnel, Tom Thumb, Adams, Irresistible, Renegade, Black Gnat, Backswimmer, or Elk Hair Caddis.

The Fraser River is fishing well for springs, chum, and coho. For spring try: Popsicle, Squamish Poacher, Big Black, Black Stone, Flat black, Eggo, black GP, or dark Bunny Leach. For chum try: Eggo, Christmas Tree, Met Green, Holliman, Dec 25th, Big Black, or pink & purple Bunny Leach. For coho try: Eggo, Rolled Muddler, Tied Down Minnow, Coho Blue, Bite Me, Christmas Tree, green Wooly Bugger, Egg Sucking Leach, or Big Black.

The Vedder River is good for coho, chum, and rainbow. For rainbow try: Czech nymph, Kaufmann Stone, Hares Ear, Big Black, Wooly Bugger, Eggo, Zulu, Soubou, Irresistible, Elk Hair Caddis, Tom Thumb, Black Gnat, or Renegade.

The Harrison River is good for cutthroat, coho, and spring. For cutthroat try: Professor, Anderson Stone, American Coachman, Rolled Muddler, Black Gnat, Griffith Gnat, Zulu, Hares Ear, Renegade, or Irresistible.

The Thompson River is good for steelhead, and rainbow. For steelhead try: Steelhead Nightmare, Big Black, Flat Black, Kaufmann Stone, Rolled Muddler, Steelhead Bee, Irresistible, October Caddis, or Stimulator.