The Key To Opening Day Success Is To Be Prepared For Anything Mother Nature May Throw At You.

All winter we prepare our gear and patiently wait for May 1 and the opening of British Columbia’s interior lakes. With the exception of a handful of lakes that are open year-round, the majority of the lakes close on Dec. 1 and remain closed until the long-awaited May 1 opening.

Like many other anglers, I find the biggest problem with opening day is deciding where to make that first cast. The last thing we want to hear once back in the city is that fishing was great in lakes other than the ones we fished in. One of the most productive times of the year to catch large rainbows is during the first few weeks after ice-off. The main reason for this is the fact the large trout have been in a hibernation state for months, only feeding on zooplankton. When the ice leaves the lakes, the insects start moving, which in return gets the fish cruising around looking for a meal of substance.

A few years ago I kept a beautiful three-pound rainbow for breakfast that I caught at first light. While cleaning it I checked the contents of its stomach and was a little surprised to see about 50 individual pieces of food. This fish had found shrimp, dragons, damsels, leeches and caddis pupa all by 8 a.m.

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