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Attached are some pictures of rainbows caught this past week at Kootenay. Several of you were interested in this fishery that is now "on fire", so I thought I'd share some more pics. They are having up to 15- fish days with all the fish running from 6-20 pounds. The pictures are of fish caught on one boat in a three-day period. Many others were caught. These fish will typically rip off over 500 feet of line on their initial run. These fish were caught on flies trolled on the surface. And all within a few hours of northern Idaho. Why aren't we utilizing this fishery more? I, for one, am going to! Mike
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Those things are incredible! Is that a special type of bow? How old are those fish?
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good lord.[crazy]
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What are they eating that is allowing them to get so big?
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Those define the phrase "HOGS!"
Thanks for sharing the pix. Holy COW! Now you say trolling flies on the surface (why is a beast that size wasting his time on flies?) - but it looks like you've got some rods bent down like they're pulling on downriggers.
Where you down-rigging too? What lures?
Man - ya'll grow 'em big up north, eh?
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Wow, that's nuts man... I feel a road trip coming on.
The Whizzle
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Wow!!! Does the lake freeze?
Windriver
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OK, let's answer some questions! First, the boat isn't mine. I have fished the lake twice, and have caught fish both times, but not in Dec., which is a really good month to fish it. The trout are Gerrard rainbows. The largest rainbow in the pics is a 24 pounder. They also catch a lot of Dolly Vardens, also up into the 20's, weight-wise. The Gerrard, or Kamploops, were used to plant Pend Oreille in northern Idaho years ago. They use streamer flies to imitate bait fish. They feed on kokanee primarily. When there is a chop on the lake, they troll the streamers at a very fast pace, around 3 mph, or faster. They like to use side planers to give the fly action when bouncing over the chop. I use the Sidewinders, at about $12 each, and they work great. TheyWhen the lake is dead calm, they troll with big Lyman plugs, big apex (which they call "hockey sticks"), or flashers and hoochies. They use the exact same techniques as they do at Pend Oreille. There are often one or two feeding periods per day, and sometimes red hot days and then nothing for a day or two. Thus, if you go up there, I would suggest at least three days of fishing. Next time, I might go out on one of the charters. For a lake this big (100 miles long!), there are very few charters. I know of three. Reel Adventures Charters, Kootenay Kingfisher, and Split Shot Charters. The lake doesn't freeze. We found Spring fishing a bit tricky in that the lake level was low, and launching was difficult. Hope I answered your questions. I can think of no other place where you have this kind of opportunity to catch that "fish of a lifetime". Mike
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I don't suppose anyone would dare fish that out of a tube would they (they might get eaten). sounds fun though...
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Man I would, but I am aware of Kamloop and their respect...LOL
Those are very nice fish not going to take away from that, but again, pictures do wonders...
Sticking most of those monsters straight arm out into the camera does help.[  ]
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At those sizes, they are almost certainly hatchery triploids.
Very nice fish. If I lived up in the northern part of the state, I'd sure be going after them. 
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Road Trip Stacy??????[ ]
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Maybe next year sometime.
Going to try and get some steelheading time in when I go visit my parents in Seattle over Christmas.
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Awesome pics. Where exactly is KootenaI Lake? Is it close to Pendoreille?
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Kootenay Lake is just over the border north of Idaho in BC.
Beautiful fish! Some of them look chrome enough to pass for steelheads.
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Actually, they aren't triploids. Almost all of them naturally spawn in the Lardeau River. They have tried to plant the Gerrards in hundreds of lakes all over the world, even New Zealand, but the only successes have been Pend Oreille and Jewel Lake. The main reason for the recent success is that they have dumped 47 metric tons of fertilizer in the lake for the last several years, trying to negate the planting of mysis shrimp years ago, and the zooplankton numbers have exploded, and the kokanee did the same, and finally, so did the Gerrard rainbows. The lake is about 15 miles north of Coeur d' Alene. The area is beautiful. Every time we have fished it, we have not seen more than a couple of boats the entire day. If you suspect tricky photography, utube "Kootenay Lake", and watch them coming to the boat. The guide sites have video also. Mike
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I noticed that, not another boat in your pictures.
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Just another reason to get that Passport[cool]
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Wow [cool] didnt expect to see those monsters when I clicked on the pics[fishin]
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[quote 4poundonly]Wow [cool] didnt expect to see those monsters when I clicked on the pics[fishin][/quote]
i hear u 4pound, dayuum!!! and those are wild? thats amazing, i need to get up north. [fishin] hows about one of them on an ul and 4lb test lol it would be over before it began lol. i bet a.c plugs would take those pigs.
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