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[Rodney]

After a rather busy coho salmon season, it was time to change the tune slightly. After all, variety is what makes fishing interesting. This afternoon, Nina and I took a trip to Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam for a few hours of down time. Lafarge Lake is one of the few community fishery projects that the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC has developed. The lake is regularly stocked, located in the middle of an urbanized area, so it is readily available for entry-level anglers. The lake can be fished from either shore or a small boat/float tube. Most of the rainbow trout available are 1lb or less, but the hatchery stocks some bigger fish (2lb+) from time to time. Since October, it has received just under 2,000 fish in four different stockings, including 50 Blackwater Dragon Lake fish that have an average weight of 2lb.

We started with either spincasting small spinners and spoons, or float fishing with pieces of small deli shrimp. Both techniques have produced well in the past, but they did not perform as well today, possibly due to the colder weather. After an hour of trying, we decided to switch both rods to bottom rigs. The setup is rather simple, a small sliding weight is threaded onto the main line, which is tied onto a swivel. A 2' leader with a size 4 or 6 hook is then tied onto the other end of the swivel. By casting a piece of shrimp out and letting it sink on the bottom, we hope that some lazier fish in the deeper, warmer part of the lake maybe enticed. Once casted, reel in the slack line, rest the rod down and watch for any movement on the rod tip.



The switch resulted in some immediate bites. The first few were missed, but one finally clinged onto the hook long enough for a few photographs.







That was the only fish landed today. Judging by the amount of bites we had in a short period of time, there seems to be lots of hungry fish still swimming in Lafarge Lake. Give it a go on these upcoming sunny days, since salmon season has come to an end.

Good luck.

[BladeKid]

Great report Rod, I guess it's time to switch it up now .

[oddjob]

If using spinners is your style ,go to sasamatt . Go to the second float [far corner if possible ] or by-pass the float and fish off the walk-way . Last week-end the fishermen off the walk-way using 2in. tails were catching them on almost every cast. [they were chasing raisers ]

[coryandtrevor]

Give it a go on these upcoming sunny days, since salmon season has come to an end.

Good luck.

Come to an end ? Lots of fresh coho to be had still.............tried your 'favorite' river yet Rod ?

I am 0 -3 at Lafarge since the BW stockings. I want one of those 2+lb'ers !

[coho_killer]

Thats cool to see i'mnot the only one to use cooked shrimp in stocked lakes! I get so many takes on them i'll have to try some on the local ditches around here to see if they work for sea run cutties! Nice lil trout Rodney!

                                                                                                                              CK

[Todd Oishi]

Nice report Rodney. Thanks for sharing the adventure!

I love fly fishing for trout of all sizes, but at times, I actually prefer targeting smaller fish with my light-weight fly rods (2- and 3-weights) in the cooler temperature lakes at this time of year as they offer better sport during the battle than some of the slightly more lethargic, larger trout that are found in the same waters.

Cheers,
Todd

[mastercaster]

Hey Rod...are you sure there's fish in the lake from Dragon Lake?  I have a very reliable source who told me all the larger fish (350 of them) came from Frisken L. because that lake is always prone to winterkill.  He said the last stocking put into the lake were fish that were supposed to go into Rolly L. but they couldn't get into the lake.  They were just small catchables.

[Rodney]

The larger fish were indeed from Frisken Lake. I think the Dragon Lake 3N is just the strain type designation. Here is the news release about that particular stocking:

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fishy_news/071011_1.html

This is experimental, and the society is planning to expand and create more community fisheries next year if this is effective.

That little minnow I caught was probably just one of the catchable Fraser Valley rainbow trout released.

Tyson you're right, sometimes smaller fish are just as entertaining, as long as the appropriate tackle is used.

[fishforever]

I'm 0-2 at Lafarge , i'll try it again with zach this weekend and than give an update. Hey rod I think I met you once I was fishing there last year out of a canoe, was it you that caught an accidentaly stocked kokanee??

[Rodney]

No that wasn't me, but someone else on the forum (the pic of the kokanee was posted). I've only fished Lafarge a couple of times.

[Zach]

I was out in the snow today at Lafarge Lake with fishforever. I was bottom fishing at the deep end of the lake with various baits (deli shrimp, power bait, worms, marshmellows) We stayed for a few hours and got nothing. There were many birds out on the lake and a few of them caught some fish. We also ran into some other fishermen who did not catch anything. It was a fun day but I guess the snow made the fish have lockjaw.

[fishseeker]

I fished at Lagarge about 2 weeks ago and had pretty much the same experience as Rodney reported earlier.

First I tried shrimp with a float and got nothing, I could also see that some people fly fishing from float tubes were not doing so well either.   After about an hour with nothing I switched to fishing off the bottom with a sliding sinker.   I tried shrimp and a curry dough recipe that I had used successfully with Chubs.

Interestigly I got some very hard takes on the curry dough but I missed the strikes every time.   I attempted to use a technique that I had used with carp in the past - leaving the line a little slack with some dough pinched on the line to act as a strike indicator.  It works well with carp but the trout strike so hard and so fast that I was not able to get to the rod quick enough.

Next time I will try the same technique with my fly rod because it has a soft tip and I will keep the line tight - that way I am hoping I will be able to react faster.   Any thoughts on best techniques for bottom fishing trout in this way?

(Not sure why the trout were more interested in taking off the bottom - maybe I needed to adjust my float depth a little deeper.)

[DAY AT THE RIVER]

it may not be trout,could be cat fish,cray fish...