PETER HOPE LAKE
Fishing Reports
Less than an hour outside of Kamloops, Peter Hope Lake is one of my favourite lakes- and not just for fishing! Beautiful cabins and hidden arms of the lake make this a great lake to explore. Read more about Peter Hope Lake
September 15, 2023
I was very happy to get out in the boat today! Not only was I excited to get out in the boat but I was also excited to try out some new custom dodgers I have been working on.
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The last time I attempted to go boating I got in a fight with my trailer tongue and I lost. What was supposed to be a nice boating day turned into a day at the ER getting nine stitches to close up my shin.
Today I made it to the lake safely. No more jumping over trailer tongues when it is hooked to the truck!
I arrived at the lake at 8:30 a.m. and it was perfectly calm. There was a large school of red kokanee cruising the shallows as there so often is this time of year. Since Peter Hope is stocked with triploids I knew there was a good chance of still finding some good sized chrome fish. However I was told that fishing was dead slow by two of the campers that had been skunked the day before.
I began marking fish right off the drop off near the boat launch so I began trolling here. I was using my new Chrome's Swing Tail dodger with custom Chrome Catchers decals that I made the day before. I paired it with a Chrome's pink wiggle hoochie. My other rod I had a Chromes pink bendable dodger with custom decals and a matching pink and glow spinner hoochie.
It took a while but I finally got one on the Chrome's spinner hoochie combo but ended up losing it. Fishing was very slow. Over several hours there was no particular place or time that seemed better than the other, it was just consistently slow the entire time I was there. I did, however, not go home empty-handed. I still caught three chromers and released a big spawner. I had three other bites as well. The spinner hoochie and wiggle hoochie seemed to work equally well. Considering I was there for about 5.5 hours that was one bite or one catch every 45 minutes. The fish were marking in the 40 to 50 foot range for the most part, and were not heavily schooled.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's custom Swing Tail dodger with 12 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie.
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Rod two: A Chrome's pink custom bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a matching pink and glow spinner hoochie
THE CATCH
It was a slow day but I still caught 4 kokanee, one of which was a spawner that I released
kokanee: 4
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JUly 31, 2023
Vacationing was amazing, but there was a part of me that missed sitting in my boat on the local kokanee lakes.
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I fixed that today by getting up early and heading to Peter Hope Lake. I've recently heard that Peter Hope has not been producing, but after reading reports about Monte Lake which suggested that early morning is by far the best time for fishing, I thought this may be true on Peter Hope as well.
The lake was quiet in the morning and the campsites were mostly empty. I headed straight out from the the first boat launch to the drop off and was marking several fish in the 35 foot range. I set the bow mount to anchor mode and jigged on and off while setting up the trolling rods and downriggers. I have caught more kokanee jigging in Peter Hope than trolling this year. Almost all of them actually!
Today was different, but this didn't surprise me because trolling is often a better method in the later season. I got no bites while jigging. I set up with a pink and chrome dodger and an orange and pink micro smile hoochie on one rod and a chrome and pink dodger with a pink wiggle hoochie on the other. Using a 30 foot setback I lowered the gear to 30 feet and 40 feet. I changed up the depth periodically but I kept them between 30 and 45 feet.
Fishing was slow but steady. I lost a kokanee beside the boat on both of my starting lures over the first hour. I changed up to a pink kokanee wobbler and a pink and purple wiggle hoochie. The pink and purple wiggle hoochie was best today. I caught four of my five kokanee on it while the kokanee wobbler caught one. It took five hours to catch my limit today and I lost as many. I didn't mind the slow fishing because I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in my boat!
Morning didn't seem to be any better, fishing was slow but consistent throughout the day. The fish were not schooled up very much and instead were mostly scattered through the lake, with a few exceptions. It didn't seem to matter where I was fishing, the fish would consistently mark around 30 to 45 feet.
As I was packing up, I put my rod down in the grass to catch a quick pic (see photo in the gallery). Unfortunately, that's likely exactly where I left it: lying in the grass at the first boat launch in front of the dock while I drove away! I realized when I got home that I no longer had it with me. Let me know if you see it :D
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's pink and chrome bendable dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink kokanee wobbler
Rod two: A Chrome's chrome and pink bendable dodger with 16 inches of leader to a pink and purple wiggle hoochie
THE CATCH
I lost as many as I caught today. Some of the kokes are showing their fall colours.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
JUne 15, 2023
It has been a windy week so I found myself choosing to fish offshore as opposed to getting battered by the 25 to 30 km winds that have been blowing for the past couple of days. Today the forecast looked much better so I headed out to Peter Hope.
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I fully expected that trolling was going to be the way to go, as the kokanee are often back to feeding exclusively on daphnia this time of year.
When I arrived the wind was blowing more than what had been forecast but it did eventually slow down. I headed to the south end and dropped down a jigging line while I set up my trolling rods. I jigged it a few times but I didn't give it a solid try before I was ready to start trolling.
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I was marking lots of fish in the 30 to to 50 foot range. I put a flasher and wiggle hoochie combo down to 35 feet and a flasher and spinner hoochie combo down to 40 feet. I was marking fish so frequently that I was sure one of the rods was going to go off. But I was wrong. I trolled the south end for an hour, and tried a few different speeds, depths, and setback lengths but no bites... nothing.
I gave up on trolling and set the bow mount to anchor mode in the southwest corner where I was marking lots of fish in 65 feet of water. I then armed up my jigging rods, one with a chrome and brass Williams Wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a tungsten weighted chrome and red ribbed chironomid, and the other with a pink and chartreuse 3.5 inch flasher with 14 inches of leader to a tungsten weighted chrome and black ribbed chironomid. (chironomids can be seen in the gallery). After about 20 minutes of jigging I got into a kokanee, and it would prove to be the smallest one of the day, but still a great fish!
I throat sampled the fish and found it was full of daphnia. For some reason it still took the chironomid. The fish were coming in steady but not biting often. I ended up catching my limit and losing one over the course of about two hours. I find often the bites come in waves, but not today- there were long waits with no bites between fish. I tried a few different chironomids but the chrome with red and the chrome with black seemed to be best.
I used quick jigs to attract the fish and then slowed down when the marks showed up. The kokanee ONLY hit the chironomid while I was lifting the rod slowly. I often left one rod in a holder while I jigged the other. The rod in the holder had no bites all day.
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I spoke to some other anglers who were out trolling and none of them had any success when I talked with them. Jigging still seems to be the way to go!
the Strategy
Rod one: A 3.5 inch chrome and brass Williams wobbler with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed tungsten chironomid
Rod two: A 3.5 inch pink and chartreuse ice flasher with 14 inches of leader to a chrome and black ribbed tungsten chironomid
THE CATCH
Chironomids! My favourite way to catch kokanee! It was slow but steady today.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge