So, you wanna catch and release 30 rainbows before lunch? Would it help you out of bed if they were all between 2 and 10lbs. Maybe the chance to catch a rainbow over 20 lbs gets you excited? Perhaps you just bought a new smoker and you want to take advantage of being able to keep 4 hatchery rainbows a day (no size limit). The net pens on Lois lake are a sure bet for catching tons of hatchery rainbows, along with some large wild fish as well.
Why all the hatchery fish you ask? Well, there has been a fish farming operation on Lois lake for some time and over the years many, many fish have escaped. I have heard stories of 10's of thousands of fish having escaped due to winter storms damaging the net pens the fish are raised in.
This is the first year these large fish have been able to be retained by sports fisherman, in previous years the rule has been 2 fish under 40 cm. The rule is now 4 fish, no size limit ( for clipped hatchery fish ). As a result, these fish have become huge. They may have escaped the pen, but they don't stray far with all the free food raining down on them daily.
If your intent on fishing Lois lake I'll leave it to you to find your way there and locate the net pens. Once you find yourself at the pens you can pretty much throw your favorite fishing method into play and enjoy success. Anywhere in the vicinity of the net pens will produce nice numbers of fish. We have a lot of fun with just a worm and a hook on a sinking flyline with a 4' 8 lbs leader and a 1/0 hook. Try getting fairly close to the pens when they are feeding the fish. Drop your worm down about 8' and keep an eye on it! You should end up seeing 100's of huge rainbows, with many of them competing for your worm. Expect to be kept busy, even when it was slow we were catching a fish every 10 min. Bring lots of worms and lots of sharp hooks and your small trout net just won't do, bring the salmon net.
We took a friend who had only ever caught four small trout. By the time the day was done she was an expert with her rod and reel and pretty excited about fishing!
The scenery on Lois is spectacular, it's well worth the trip if all you want to do is take pictures. We watched a bald eagle having a prolonged dogfight with an osprey. We watched the same eagle dive bomb a trout only to miss. Lots of funky floating cabins at the south end of the lake.
Be prepared when boating on Lois lake. It is remote and most of the time you will be the only boat on the lake. It can get windy suddenly and become quite rough. There can often times be a lot of wood on the water and in some areas there are submerged standing trees just below the surface. Lois lake is a reservoir created by a dam, complete with submerged forests. The level of the lake can fluctuate due the operation of the dam.
Cell phone coverage only at the very south end of the lake
What did we do with all of those fish? Lots and lots of fishcakes - delicious!
