Fishing Report December

It’s been a mild December so far with a combination of rain, freezing rain, and snow around the Columbia River, with temperatures consistently hovering around zero degrees. Whenever doubt creeps in that the fishing won’t be any good, a quick look at the Fishin in the Kootenays Facebook page reveals anglers posting numerous success stories; a pleasant reminder of the fact that no fish were ever caught while sitting at home complaining about the weather.

Regular contributors including Emile Contant, Daniel Williamson, and Scott JG Beauchamp are regularly landing impressive rainbow trout and sharing pictures and release videos. Rain or shine, there hasn’t been a week this year that people haven’t been able to hit some large trout and share the news. Another regular contributor, ChrisKingAngling, has meanwhile been bringing in impressive hauls of walleye that he has recently caught in the evenings when the temperature drops well below freezing. It’s amazing to see people limit out on one of the best tasting fish while other anglers have hung up their rods for the winter.

As we head towards winter solstice on December 21, there really isn’t much time to hit the river in any meaningful way after work, with sunset at around 4:00pm. But with the holidays and some extra free time, anglers in the area should consider giving it a go by foregoing hunting, skiing, Christmas shopping, and all the other activities competing for daylight.

I’ve stuck mostly to midday on the weekends, and after having the unfortunate luck of breaking my net I unexpectedly landed two massive rainbow in a just a few casts. After getting skunked and owing my failure to this week’s wild fluctuations in water levels, I saw numerous posts online about others catching beautiful chrome and purple or spawning red rainbow. So much for excuses.

With more snow falling, the scenery at any regular fishing hole is wildly different and absolutely breathtaking. Between the stories shared by local anglers here and elsewhere, its clear that the river produces action all year without interruption. The biggest barriers to catching fish are just those we impose on our selves.