By Nick Basok

When most people think of flyfishing locally or in the Interior – they generally think of Cutthroat, Rainbows or Brook Trout. In this article I’m going to bring to your attention another interesting fishery – Kokanee on the fly. These beautiful landlocked descendants of the Sockeye Salmon can make for one of the most challenging and exciting fisheries that you can experience.

The food source that makes this fishery happen is the family „Chironomidae” or in layman’s terms chironomids. Though the main food source in the kokanee’s life cycle is plankton the other source which makes them vulnerable to the fly fisher is the chironomid. There are over 1000 genera of chironomids from size #32 „midges” to size #6 „brown bombers.” They come in every colour in the spectrum from black to bright orange, though preferences are generally in shades of black, brown, green and red.

In coastal lakes containing kokanee the most prolific hatches of chironomids are early in the season from ice off until around mid-May. In the Interior the hatches are larger, of longer duration during the day, and last from ice off to early fall in enough abundance to keep the kokanee’s interest in them as a food source.

Another key factor which adds a plus to this fishery is that kokanee are fall spawners and like their sea going cousins – the Sockeye – they can double or even triple in size from spring to fall in their fourth or spawning year of their life cycle. This usually means they will feed heavily even in the mid-summer months. In the coastal lakes the kokanee will have gone back to feeding on plankton during this time but in the Interior they will continue to feed on chironomids.

The best fishing locally for Kokanee is at Kawkawa Lake in Hope. From March 1 to around mid-April, Kokanee can be seen boiling on or near the surface feeding on chironomids, especially on cloudy days. Kokanee tend to be light sensitive so if the hatch is happening but you see few rises – adjust your indicator on your dry line to fish in 5 – 15 feet of water or try using an „intermediate” type of sinking line. The bulk of the fish early in the year will be in the top 15 feet of the water column. On the coastal lake after mid-May the kokanee return to deep water and feed on plankton. In the Interior lakes because of the long duration and extension right through the summer months of the chironomid hatches, the kokanee here will continue to feed on them. The trick is to adjust from early season shallow fishing techniques to deep water strategy such as sinking lines from „intermediate to fast sinking” rates that will keep you in the strike zone. Kokanee in lakes such as Kawkawa average from one half to three quarters of a pound. Interior lakes such as Stump, Horse and Bridge continually produce kokanee to three pounds plus on the fly. There are other good kokanee lakes but you’ll have to do some looking on your own to find them.

Bead head chironomids and bloodworms in sizes #10 – #16 work best for me in shades of black, green or light orange. Remember to try and find the strike zone and use the correct line to stay there. Once you have tried and had some success with this fishery you will add it to your list of „gotta do’s.”