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
June 5, 2026
I made up some 3D printed flatfish and was super excited to try them out today! I tried to not be overly excited because I have made and tested a few lure designs that ended up not working as intended. But today the flatfish worked perfectly- and the fish thought so, too!
I arrived at around 9:30 and headed out scanning for fish. They seemed to be all over in small schools from 25 feet down to the bottom.
I already had my chironomid jigging gear set up so I set the bow mount to anchor mode and put a line in the water while I was setting up my downriggers. The chironomids were working well. The first fish I marked while jigging followed it up and took the chironomid!
I jigged for a while longer after getting my trolling gear ready. I had four more light bites and the fish were readily chasing the black with red ribbed chironomid with a white tungsten bead.
I was having tons of fun jigging but I also wanted to test out the new 3D printed flatfish. I reeled up the jigging gear and set out trolling.
On one rod I had a pink wiggle hoochie and on the other the pink 3D printed flatfish. The wiggle hoochie caught the first fish at 30 feet deep but shortly after the new flatfish got a nice kokanee, and a second one about 20 minutes later. Check out the video in the gallery to see the flatfish in action!
Trolling was working well, but still not as good as the chironomids. I caught three kokanee and lost two while trolling, and had a couple of bites. The best depths seemed to be 30 to 40 feet. But I was super happy with how well the flatfish worked! I will be making more in the near future to add to the shop page.
To catch the limit fish I put the trolling gear away and went back to jigging. It took all of five minutes to get the limit fish on the chironomid!
The chironomid jigging technique: Locate the biggest concentration of fish you can find. Anchor over the spot; if you don't have an anchor you can put your stern into the wind and use your trolling motor in reverse to stay as stationary as possible. This method is not ideal but it does work with some effort. Watch your fish finder closely- you should be able to see your gear going down on the screen. Get your gear right to the marks and begin to raise the chironomid very slowly. This is probably the most important part of the technique as kokanee will bite on the slow rise 95% of the time. If the kokanee marks are rising with your gear, continue raising the rod slowly until you can't reach any further. If the mark starts to chase your gear but goes back down, immediately get back down to the mark and raise again. This will happen often and many times they won't hit until the third or fourth time they chase the gear on the slow rise. If you find it's not working at all, try slowing down even more. I've seen a lot of people jig for kokanee but jig up too quickly. If you cannot see your gear on your fish finder, a quick jig will often reveal a small mark on the finder screen that indicates where your gear is. If that doesn't work, it may be time for an upgrade. I cannot say enough good things about the Garmin Striker 4 as it is currently the best, cost effective finder I know of that will get the job done.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink 3D printed flatfish
Rod two: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink wiggle hoochie with a 3D printed frosted white bill
THE CATCH
The 3D printed flatfish worked great! And so did chironomids!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
MAY 14, 2026
I have typically done very well jigging chironomids under a flasher in May, especially at Peter Hope Lake. Today I invited a friend to come along in hopes of jigging up a kokanee that breached the 3 pound mark. I have caught several kokanee out of Peter Hope that are 2.8 and 2.9 pounds but have yet to find one over 3 pounds.
We got on the water at 8:30 a.m. and went off in search of kokanee. There was a fairly strong south easterly wind making the north end pretty rough. With that in mind we headed right to the south end in hopes of finding calmer conditions as well as kokanee.
We scanned around the south end for a while and found that the fish were fairly evenly scattered in 50 to 70 feet of water. As we got deeper there were fewer fish marking.
We stopped in about 60 feet of water and sent our chironomid jigging setups to the bottom. After about 10 minutes of jigging I got into the first kokanee of the day. We jigged at this location for some time without further success.
We then headed to the the east side on the south end. Here we marked more fish than the previous location. I caught another and lost one and my friend got a nice one as well. There was a bit of a lull after that so we moved about 50 yards and were right back into some kokanee. We kept moving throughout the day and a slightly new location seemed to bring success every time.
I can't stress enough how important it is to have the right technique when catching kokanee on chironomids (see more on this below). My friend, who is one of the best fishers I know, was having a tough time dialing in the technique. I was getting far more fish at the beginning and even after we swapped gear it was still the same. However by midday my buddy was getting it dialed in and we both ended up catching our limits as well as a few lost and a couple of small ones released by the boat. All of the fish caught today were within 20 feet of the bottom. We also tried some trolling for about 45 minutes with pink micro hoochies at 35 feet and 45 feet deep. We both had a fish on while trolling but lost them. We didn't troll long because it was so windy that it was easier to set the bow mount to anchor mode and jig. Jigging was more productive anyway.
The throat samples revealed several different colours of chironomids. I tried several different chironomids but my usual chrome and red ribbed chironomid seemed best. We never found that 3 pound plus kokanee today but we got several over 2 pounds with the biggest being 2.7 pounds.
The chironomid jigging technique: Locate the biggest concentration of fish you can find. Anchor over the spot; if you don't have an anchor you can put your stern into the wind and use your trolling motor in reverse to stay as stationary as possible. This method is not ideal but it does work with some effort. Watch your fish finder closely- you should be able to see your gear going down on the screen. Get your gear right to the marks and begin to raise the chironomid very slowly. This is probably the most important part of the technique as kokanee will bite on the slow rise 95% of the time. If the kokanee marks are rising with your gear, continue raising the rod slowly until you can't reach any further. If the mark starts to chase your gear but goes back down, immediately get back down to the mark and raise again. This will happen often and many times they won't hit until the third or fourth time they chase the gear on the slow rise. If you find it's not working at all, try slowing down even more. I've seen a lot of people jig for kokanee but jig up too quickly. If you cannot see your gear on your fish finder, a quick jig will often reveal a small mark on the finder screen that indicates where your gear is. If that doesn't work, it may be time for an upgrade. I cannot say enough good things about the Garmin Striker 4 as it is currently the best, cost effective finder I know of that will get the job done.
the Strategy
Rod one: A 3.5 inch Williams wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed chironomid with a gun metal tungsten head.
Rod two:
A 3.5 inch Williams wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a double chrome and red ribbed chironomid with white tungsten heads.
THE CATCH
What an amazing day! Two limits filled and two small kokanee released.
kokanee: 12
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
may 1, 2026
My favourite time to be out jigging kokanee is in the early season when the chironomids start hatching. I had hoped that when I got out on the water I would see chironomid shucks, and I did!
I arrived at 9:30 a.m. and went searching for kokanee. I scanned in front of the launch and about one-third of the way up the west side and marked very little. The next spot I tried was at the northwest end nearish to the entrance to Little Peter Hope Lake. Again there was only a few marking. I then went across to the southeast side of the lake and I finally found a good amount of kokanee in 65 feet. They were marking from 30 feet down to the bottom.
I put my Minn Kota on anchor mode and started jigging. Once I got my gear down to the marks I started lifting it slowly and immediately got into my first kokanee of the day. It was a beauty weighing in at 2.85 pounds!
I set up my auto jigging rod holder and got my second rod down. The first 30 minutes were nothing short of awesome! I caught my second kokanee on the auto jigger and lost two others on it. I also caught one and lost two on the rod I was jigging manually. That was three kokanee caught and four lost in the first 30 minutes of jigging.
Thing slowed a little after this but it was still good. By noon I had filled my limit, released one small one, and lost six others. The kokanee had several chironomids in the throat samples and quite a variety of sizes and colours.
the Strategy
Rod one: A 3.5 inch Williams wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a chrome and red ribbed chironomid with a gun metal tungsten head.
Rod two:
A 3.5 inch Williams wobbler with 12 inches of leader to a double chrome and red ribbed chironomid with gun metal tungsten heads.
THE CATCH
Good size kokanee were taking the chironomids today! I filled my limit and released one small one.
kokanee: 6
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
April 10, 2026
It's been a long time coming! I was finally able to get the boat out on open water. I often find that early spring can be tough to catch kokanee, but today was different!
I arrived at the lake around 10 a.m. I headed straight out from the launch to about 55 feet of water and was marking a few fish on the bottom. I had expected most of the kokanee to be near the surface but that didn't seem to be the case. I brought my new 3D-printed automatic jigging rod holder and it worked awesome. I put on a 3.5 inch flasher paired with a chrome and red chironomid on both my jigging rods and sent them towards the bottom. I put one rod in the auto-jigger and jigged one myself. They were not too interested; over an hour and a half I caught one nice kokanee on the auto-jigger and had two bites on the other rod. I was super pleased at how well the automatic jigger worked!
At about 11:30 I reeled up and got my trolling gear ready. I used slim swing tail dodgers, one paired with a pink micro spinner hoochie and the other with a 3D-printed pink and purple wiggle hoochie.
I stayed on the north end of the lake and trolled the micro spinner hoochie at 55 feet and the wiggle hoochie near the surface. It took about 30 minutes of trolling to get it dialed in. I found them in the northwest corner in front of the cabins in 55 to 80 feet of water. They were mostly near-ish the bottom. I had slowed my speed down to 0.9 mph and put my gear between 55 to 60 feet. Soon after I caught a nice one on the pink micro hoochie. I put it back down and a few minutes later the wiggle hoochie had one on. As I was reeling that one in the other rod went off. Luckily I caught both of them. I soon after caught another on the pink micro hoochie.
The fish were of good size. The smallest was 1.4 pounds and the biggest was 2.2 pounds. I chatted with a couple other fishers who had not caught any. I filled them in on what was working- hopefully they got into some action.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink micro spinner hoochie
Rod two: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink and purple 3D-printed wiggle hoochie
THE CATCH
An early spring limit! what a great day.
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
August 10, 2025
I have been trying to get out fishing with my cousin for a long time and today we finally made it happen! I decided to take him to Peter Hope to try to get after some big kokanee. We did get a couple of good-sized kokanee but for many fishers on the water the day was very slow.
I started off the day by finding out that my boat battery was completely dead. It's a good thing I had two fully-charged deep cycles and was able to boost my boat and get it going.
I just picked up some new pink and blue hoochies that I thought looked real fishy. I was sure to tie one up with a wiggle bill before I left home, and it's a good thing I did!
We started marking lots of fish on the north end of the lake from 30 to 60 feet deep. I geared the rods with swing tail dodgers and about 14 inches of leader, one with the pink and blue wiggle hoochie and one with a silver, pink and blue wiggle hoochie. I did very well with the silver pink and blue hoochie last time I was out.
It did not take too long before the pink and blue hoochie was into a nice kokanee at about 40 feet deep. This was followed by another small one that we shook off by the boat and another that we lost. The pink and blue was getting it done! I had one on the the silver, blue and pink but it didn't seem to be working as well as the pink and blue.
I changed out the silver, pink and blue hoochie to a gold hoochie, but to no success. I then tried a pink wiggle hoochie and a pink micro smile hoochie but again without success. Meanwhile the pink and blue wiggle hoochie had caught another good kokanee and two more small ones that we shook off at the boat. I only had the one pink and blue hoochie with me so I couldn't run a second one. I went back to the same wiggle hoochie that I started with since it had been getting some attention.
We trolled the entire lake from north to south twice but the north end was the most productive. After 5 hours of fishing the pink and blue had ten fish on (three of which we kept) while the silver, pink and blue had four (only one of which we kept). The best depths were 35 to 50 feet. There were about 10 other boats out on the lake. Everyone I talked to was catching nothing with the exception of one angler who had caught two kokanee on a pink and blue plug.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a pink and blue wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a silver pink and blue wiggle hoochie
The pink and blue wiggle hoochie ended up being best!
THE CATCH
4 kokanee caught and kept, 4 small kokanee released without handling, and 6 kokanee lost
kokanee: 8
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
july 23, 2025
I am always excited for a fishing day and when it is a Peter Hope day I get even a little more excited! But I've found that later into the season the kokanee fishing can sometimes slow a little. You sometimes have to throw all kinds of gear at them to find something they like. Today was one of those days.
I headed straight to the south end of the lake and began trolling my gear at 40 and 45 feet.
Today's starting line up was slim swing tail dodgers, one paired with a chartreuse wiggle hoochie and the other with a gold wiggle hoochie. The fish were marking fairly consistently between 30 to 60 feet deep. It took about 30 minutes to get my first kokanee on the line, using the gold wiggle hoochie. Shortly after this, I lost another one, also on the gold.
This seemed like a good indication that I should switch out the chartreuse wiggle hoochie. I didn't put a gold one on because I wanted to see if I could find a lure that would work even better. Instead, I went for an orange micro spinner hoochie, followed by a pink and purple micro smile hoochie and then a pink wiggle hoochie. I had one bite on the pink and purple but nothing on the others.
Meanwhile, the gold wiggle hoochie remained popular, catching one more kokanee and losing three others. I finally decided to double up on the gold wiggle hoochie and run one on both rods.
I was thinking the action would pick up from here but there was a sudden lull in the action, with 45 minutes elapsing without a bite. I started trolling back towards the north end and about halfway down the lake I changed out one of the gold hoochies to a lure I have never tried before: a silver wiggle hoochie with a single strip of blue and a single stripe of pink.
It only took about 5 minutes with the new lure before kokanee number three was landed. I was about to put my line back down when I noticed that the gold wiggle hoochie finally got hit again, but I lost that one. When I got to the northwest corner of the lake I started marking a few more fish. I was actually about to head in without my limit but the silver wiggle hoochie had other plans. Within just 15 minutes of trolling in the northwest corner at 40 feet down I lost two kokanee (one very nice one by the boat) and caught my two limit fish, all on the silver wiggle hoochie! Most of the bites came at about 40 to 45 feet deep and my trolling speed varied from 1.0 to 1.4 MPH.
the Strategy
Rod one: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a gold wiggle hoochie
Rod two: A Chrome's custom slim swing tail dodger with 14 inches of leader to a silver wiggle hoochie
The silver wiggle hoochie ended up being best!
THE CATCH
5 kokanee caught and 7 kokanee lost
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
