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[Damien]

Hey fine folks,

I'm looking for experiences on Barriere Lake.  I'm heading up there in a couple of weeks with a bunch of guys.  We are staying on the lake and I'm looking for fishing tips.  Most of the guys i'm going with aren't really fishermen, I kinda know what i'm doing.  I will have fly gear and spin gear to lend out to the gents as most of them do not have any fishing stuff.

I would like to get them into a few fish, somehow, someway.

Any tips would be great.  PM is cool if there is anything you don't want to talk about publicly.  It will stay in the 'vault'.

I really don't know anything about this lake nor the area.  First time up there.  It is for a stag so it would be cool to help show the boys a good time.

Thanks.

D.

[Parasoul]

I assume by Barriere Lake you mean NORTH Barriere Lake?

[Damien]

East.

[Easywater]

I went there many years ago - 15 or so.

Don't think the fishing is all that great in the main lake.

Buddy who has a cabin there said there was a hike-in lake not too far away that had good fishing.

Looking at the map, it looks like we drove around the east side of the big lake and hit one of the small lakes on the John Creek forest service road.

[Damien]

Yeah, I didn't think there would be much.

I will hook up a few rods with some light trolling gear and tell the boys to put a worm on, drop it down, set the trolling motor on slow, drink a pop and relax.

Maybe find some creek mouths or a drop off and work those areas a bit.  I heard there are some bigger fish in there, but with most big lakes, its a bit needle in a haystack-ish.

Still open to suggestions though...

[quill]

This is a great lake for swimming, water skiing etc but not so great for fishing. The water warms up quickly. There are large numbers of pike minnows and you can see the occasional fish rise. I think you've probably got the style of fishing right, worm and trolling. I think I heard there are Kokanee in there but the system is not land-locked. ?

[skaha]

--used to be a ton of small sized kokanee in the lake.
--several points from old streams... some run in spring but not on surface mid summer. I have fly fished on these shallow points or troll over these shallow areas near the drop offs.

--for larger trout maybe a plug imitating kokanee... deep down the middle you would need a downrigger or lead line.

--far end of the lake inlet has some shallow water with drop offs into deeper.

--You have to work at it but there are fish available.

[skaha]

--really interested to see how the fishing goes.
--I just talked to a resident of east barriere who has fished the lake for at least 25 years.
--She claims fishing is the worst it has ever been.
--Kinda sounds like a challenge... I might give it a try this summer.  I fished the lake for many years but have never tried it with all the modern electronics and gear that I have now. I know where we used to fish.
--Seems like the kokanee numbers are down significantly... these were food for larger trout. Also an indication that there may be some problems with nutrient and plankton. I can't believe it is fishing pressure that is the effect unless there is a lack of pressure on the larger trout thus they're consuming more kokanee than fishers are.

[Damien]

Thanks for the info.  I will give it a whirl and report back.

I don't know how hard we will fishing, but I have a decent idea what I am doing on a lake and will give it a shot with a variety of set ups and presentation. 

There will be 18 of us up there for a stag.  We have access to a party boat of some sort and a tinny or two, so if anyone on the boat has a license I will rig up a rod get them to let a line out.  Different depths, different gear and or flies and see what happens.  I'm not shy about using worms either, lol.

I don't even know what part of the lake the cabin is on, so I don't know if we are close to any decent areas.  Will be shooting blind, which is part of the fun...I think.

[Damien]

annnnd I'm back.

I spent maybe 5-6 hours of actual fishing.  I caught 2 trout, one close to two pounds and a few small 8-10" Kokanee.  Small dick nights, wedding bands, silvex spinner with pink blade (this one got the 'big' trout).  Tons of fish jumping, lots of activity.  Everyone was into fish, good times on the water but not super fast action.

I didn't try to go bigger or deeper.  I had visions of trying a deep six and/or some heavy banana sinkers and larger apexes and small dodgers, but didn't have it in me to get up early or bother mixing it up. 

One trip out was running 4 lines out of a small tinny with people that had enjoyed a couple of pops before heading out, so it was damage control the whole time and some re-spooling and retying while running the boat in the wind.  Nightmarish, lol.