STAKE LAKE
fishing reports
Stake Lake has been a good rainbow fishery. In 2024 the lake was stocked with kokanee that have reached a catchable size by fall of 2025.
January 5, 2026
I was considering taking a run out to Stump Lake today but I'm almost certain the ice would not be good enough to walk on- or even existent- in the middle, where the kokanee are most likely to be. Instead, I decided to go to Stake where I knew I could get out on the ice. I caught two kokanee out of Stake Lake in the fall, but it was fairly slow; I hoped today would be different.
I arrived at around 8:30 a.m. and was the only angler at the lake. I had to drag the sled about half a mile to get to the deepest section of the lake, which is not very deep at around 30 feet. I got all set up and started marking the odd fish at around 25 feet. I sent my gear down right away and chased a couple of marks on the fish finder. The fish swam off so I propped up my rod and started to get my underwater camera set up. As I was setting it up my rod fell flat. I thought I had bumped it but when I went to prop it back up there was a kokanee pulling on it! My first kokanee of the day was on the ice and I was just getting started!
I thought I was in for a quick limit but I thought wrong. For the next two hours the kokanee were coming in at 25 feet every 5 to 10 minutes, just one or two at a time. I managed to get a little interest with a couple of light bites and I lost one about 5 feet from the hole. From 10:30 a.m.to 12:30 p.m. I saw very few fish come through and the ones that did were not interested in the meal worm. But fishing picked up just after 12:30 p.m.! The fish kept coming in and were on the finder and the camera more often then not. I changed out the meal worm to a pink tungsten Chirono-Bug (as seen in photos) and they couldn't seem to leave it alone! By 1:30 p.m. I caught four more kokanee and shook two small 7-inchers off at the hole.
A fairly aggressive jig seemed to bring them in and a slower jig would trigger the bite. My exact location can be seen in the photo gallery. The fish were similar of size to the ones I got through the ice at McConnell at 12.5 inches to 13.5 inches. There was 4 inches of clear ice and 5 inches of white ice out in the middle.
the Strategy
The setup: A 3.5 inch chrome with pink and chartreuse glow flasher with 12 inches of leader to a Chrome's pink Chirono-bug
The bait: Meal worms worked okay, but the bait-less jig worked better .
THE CATCH
I had to put in some time for the limit, but at the end of the day it happened quick!
kokanee: 5
rainbows: 0
PHOTO GALLERY
click to enlarge
ICE UPDATE
DECEMber 4, 2025
I took a run up to McConnell and Stake lakes today. Both lakes are completely covered with ice. The ice was about 3.5 inches thick near shore but further out the ice looked sketchy. I opted to try some fishing off of the dock at Stake Lake. I caught a couple of small rainbows and one fat spawning kokanee. I saw no other kokanee on the underwater camera which was not surprising because the water was only about 8 feet deep. There was one tent out on Stake Lake but I would not trust the ice quite yet.
ICE UPDATE
NOVEMber 26, 2025
I took a quick run up to McConnell and Stake lakes today. Both lakes are completely covered with a thin layer of ice. I poked a hole in the ice near shore and it was only about one inch thick. With the weather expected to stay mostly below freezing at McConnell for the next 10 days it shouldn't be long before ice fishing for kokanee is possible!
