Mid-Summer Lake Fishing

Despite growing up on Francois Lake, I have actually fished very little of it over the years. Home was the “middle” of the lake, and as an adult home is at the very east end, with both the Nithi and Stellako rivers nearby. Now, I frequent my childhood fishing spots very rarely, having traded them in for the spots of my partner’s youth.

 

When the wind co-operates and we have a little more time, though, we are able to head up the lake to a spot that both of us fished as kids – Uncha Bay. An almost halfway point between where we launch the boat now and the boat launch at the Francois Lake ferry landing, it has become a spot that we can meet up with my parents as they come from the opposite direction to us for some fishing and a shore lunch.

This past time we headed up to Uncha Bay, we didn’t have any success to speak of fishing wise, but we did lots of exploring on the beach and reminiscing about childhood adventures in the area. By the time we actually started trolling, it was mid-afternoon and hot, hot, hot – not exactly my favourite conditions to fish for lakers in.

 

Not to be thwarted by those fishing conditions, we headed back up the following day, staying a bit further east than the day prior. An early morning start allowed us to get more fishing in, and after trolling with a black sparkle apex right near the bottom of the lake, we were finally rewarded with a nice lake trout! We went on shore for a beach lunch with friends, then hopped back into the boat for some more fishing. We had a couple more bites, but the fish eluded us for the remainder of the day. All in all, not a bad way to burn up a couple beautiful days on the water while summer’s still here.

With still a few more weeks of summer left, here’s to making the most of it before hunting season starts to consume our time. Lots of new memories to be created, all while looking back at fishing adventures in the past.