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Spring is here!!! Having some warm days finally and it feels great. The lake has been a bit behind because of the cool spring, but is turning on now. Usually it happens around mid or third week in April, but is a couple of weeks behind this year. The fish have turned on to hair and Lyman plugs, so you can pick up your speed. If your looking for some tackle, Miranda at Hook it Up Tackle in Nakusp can fix you up with Brownies flies, and Lyman plugs and ship them to your door. Ph# 250-265-0005. For flies I would start with the 215, 211, and 228, for Lymans 69, 10, 24, and the 32.

Around the first week of April our numbers of fish went down. We were getting 3 or 4 per day average with a few 8 fish days. The size was good though, with most of the fish 5 - 16 lbs. Numbers are starting to come up now as the water warms up. Fishing on Kootenay Lake will be excellent well into June this year.

Woodbury's annual Dolly derby was April 22 - 24 this year. Day one had the best fishing for us, landing 12 dollies, with 2 over ten lbs. The next two days numbers went down to 6 fish. We ended up being two pounds shy of first place, and about a pound shy of third. Winning fish was 13 lbs. Incredible weather and a great crew made for a fun derby.

I'll be fishing on Kootenay Lake this spring till June 11, then I'm off to Ucluelet for the summer. I have one trip left to book for salmon / halibut fishing so if your interested drop me a line. According to fisheries it will be another banner year. 500,000 Columbia River fish are expected to be swimming by as well as another run of 250,000 5 year old fish which are the big guys 40 - 50 lbs. Big plugs and spoons will take care of those guys. It's also looking like halibut limits will stay the same for this year, so that's good. I can hardly wait.

Tight Lines ... Brad Stubbs
www.kootenaykingfisher.com