Kokanee - The Redfish and the Kootenay Bioregion. By Don Gayton. New Star Books. From the Transmontanus series edited by Terry Glavin. $16 Cdn or $12 US. To order this book email orders@NewStarBooks.com

The Kootenay region of British Columbia is famous for its stunning scenery with steep forested mountains that pitch down into clear, icy blue lakes. Within the fishing community, it is known as the home of the incredible Gerrard rainbows, giant trout that are usually caught by trolling. Fishing for these big rainbows is not something that draws fly fisherman, because they are mostly caught on plugs that are dragged on long lines behind boats for hour after hour.

In the Kootenays fly fishermen prefer to concentrate on the smaller lakes, or at the mouths of streams that flow into Kootenay Lake. The side creeks can often produce fabulous dry fly action for relatively small trout, and in season, you can drift a streamer through the runs and catch huge bull trout.

Kokanee, the little, red landlocked sockeye salmon that are the major prey item of the giant Gerrard rainbows have not - until recently - been of much interest to fly fishermen.

But over the years, because of enhancement projects that have included fertilizing nutrient poor Kootenay Lake, the Kokanee have started to grow larger. These bigger fish have moved beyond feeding on plankton to take mayfly nymphs, and other insects that are easy to imitate. Fly fishermen who know the Kokanee say they can have incredible fishing, at times, by casting into the shallows where a school of the landlocked salmon are feeding. One report tells of 16-18 inch Kokanee being caught in the dozens on mayfly nymphs fished up against a reed bed in the spring.

Author Don Gayton doesn’t get into the fishing much, in his detailed account of Kokanee in the Kootenay bioregion, but he tells a fascinating story of the history of the little red fish that will be of interest to anyone who fishes in this area.
Kokanee tells the story of how the fish fit into the environment and of how Kootenay Lake has been managed - and shockingly mismanaged. The introduction of Mysis and Pontoporeia shrimp - which was intended to provide a stimulus to the trout and Kokanee populations - turned into a near disaster. The mistake, repeated as in a few other big lakes in B.C., sent shock waves through the ecosystem. Mr. Gayton provides a detailed account of how this happened, and explains the impact. (The shrimp, which seek out deep water during daylight, ended up effectively hiding from trout in deep water, while browsing off the Kokanee food sources at night.)
This little book is less than 100 pages in length, but it is jammed with details about the Kootenay bioregion. It will be of interest to any naturalist fisherman who visits this vast, mountain region in the southeastern corner of British Columbia.