We tackle popular Okanagan fall fishing myths

Tall tales and truth stretching are natural colleagues of fishing.

“I swear it was THIS big!” is a phrase often muttered from fishers returning home empty handed, adamant they actually caught the big one, but it just got away.

Eager to delve into the myths surrounding the sport, Kelowna10 caught up with Savas Koutsantonis, from TW Outdoors (previously Waters Fly & Tackle), who has been an fisherman his whole life.

Myth #1: Fall is a bad time to go fishing

“[Fall] is perfect, really good. Just before the ice comes on in the mountain lakes … the fish start getting up towards the surface as the water cools off,” he said.

“For the big lake, it’s the best time of year to fish from now until basically the spring.”

Because it’s colder than the popular summer fishing months, Koutsantonis advises dressing warm and limiting the time on the lake with the reduced sunlight hours.

Myth #2: Fish in Okanagan Lake are easier to catch while it’s raining

“For lakes, not really. It doesn’t make any difference,” he explained. “It can be worse if it’s a low barometric pressure coming in, it can push the fish down. They don’t feed as much”

The belief is that aquatic life mistake raindrops for insects touching the surface of the water. But in larger lakes, insects come from underneath, not above.

However, Koutsantonis added, rain may prove more favourable conditions on rivers and shallow bodies of water, where fish do eat flying insects landing on the surface.

Myth #3: You need a lot of flash for trolling the lake

Trolling involves dragging a lure through the water behind a slowly moving boat. Many lures are sparkly to, in many cases, look like scales on smaller fry.

“In reality, you don’t. The smaller the flash, the more it won’t scare the fish away and they’ll usually do better,” Koutsantonis said.

“Fish can see a long way, and they can detect movement a lot easier than what people think.”

Myth #4: You need bigger bait to catch bigger fish

“Depends. If you’re fishing for salmon or for the bigger rainbow lake trout in Okanagan Lake, you’ll use bigger for trolling that,” Koutsantonis said. “But for fly fishing, no.”

Exclusively using larger bait might limit the day’s catch because not every fish can swallow it. Plus, insects are typically smaller in autumn and lures are meant to imitate what they’re feeding on.

Koutsantonis often uses a size 16 hook for fly fishing, which only measures a few millimetres in size.

At the end of the day, the avid angler said it’s not just about the trophy catch.

“It’s relaxing. I like the whole experience of just getting out there. It’s not about catching the fish; it’s just getting out there.”