Highway 97 provides spectacular views as it winds along the western shore of Kalamalka Lake. Its stunning appearance is matched by its exceptional recreational opportunities. Rainbows, kokanee and lake trout are all present in Kalamalka Lake. There is a large shoal area at the southern end of the lake, which is an ideal place to cast. Another productive spot is on the east side near the rock walls. In the past couple of years, the rainbow trout fishery has really done well. There are plenty of nutrients in the lake, which may explain the increase in productivity. Grasshoppers are good choices in the fall. The train tracks near the lake have often driven grasshoppers into the lake, making them available as food for the trout. LAKE ACCESS From Kelowna, head north along Highway 97 towards Vernon. The highway meets the south-west corner of the lake about 30 km from Kelowna, and the park entrance is roughly another 10 km after that. The park is located in a grassland area along a beautiful bay of Kalamalka Lake. There are 69 vehicle-accessible campsites, and a double lane, concrete boat launch. There are campgrounds at the north and south ends of the lake as well. Angler’s Atlas members have posted locations of boat launches on the web page for Kalamalka Lake at anglersatlas.com.

Kokanee fish at the kalamalka...

Kokanee fish at the kalamalka lake , bc

21lb13oz Laker...

21lb13oz Laker

Twelve Kokanee on Kalamalka

Reel Fishing Adventures' readers Randy and Dakota spent a glorious day at Kalamalka Lake, catching "12 kokanee, eight were 14-16 inches long.... We used Cowichan blades with black wedding rings baited with pink maggots at 35-39 feet." They also landed a lake trout on a black and chrome Apex at 130 feet. According to their report, "surface lake temperature varied from 19 to 22 degrees." http://www.reelfishingadventures.net

Kal gives up fat laker

Matt Van Dyke, posting on www.reelfishingadventures.com on May 20: "Well, I finally managed a 25+lb. laker out of Kal yesterday. Dad and I went out for a morning fish as he is working all the long weekend. Went back to our normal spot north of Kekuli with only a few fish marking. Tried jigging for them to no avail. Then we trolled around looking for fish on the sounder with not really finding any significant amounts of fish anywhere. One here, two there type thing. Plugs, spoons, hootchies with flashers. You name it, we threw it at 'em. Around 10 a.m., we marked a whole stack of fish at 105' and trolled through them a few times with no bites. The wind decided to die down so out came the jigging rods. My dad switched up between 3-4 different buzz bombs and I used bucktail jigs and a large white tube bait but no hits on anything. I had ordered an assortment of butterfly jigs from the states and decided to throw a 4-inch green and white one on. Took about 10 minutes and some expert boat manoeuvering to get back on the fish and this one hit my jig like a ton of bricks. The old ugly stick was buckled right over and he wasn't budging. After about 10 minutes I finally gained some line back and got his head turned up. This thing was FAT! I dunno what it was eating but it had a belly on him that would put a sumo wrestler to shame. It was also a very clean fish with no marks on him. Snapped some photos and then took another 10 minutes to revive him next to the boat. It was neat watching him swim down to the bottom on the finder. I think I'm going to be hard-pressed to beat this one for a while."