Corbett Lake

[parbuster]

I had the opportunity to fish Corbett Lake last week and was more than pleasantly surprised once my wallet was $100 lighter. I have always been hesitant about the "pay to fish" scheme but I thought..."What the hell why not?"

They supply the boat which is nice as it beats lugging your own boat up into the Interior and you can therefore drive much faster on the freeway.

There were a number of boats on the lake when i arrived but by noon I had it to myself. The lake has lare shoals and given the warm weather I figured ther would be little action on the shoals and all the fish would be deep so anchored about 10 feet from the drop off and cast my full sink line out into the depths then made a slow reteive.

I landed a total of 7 trout and lost 3 mid battle. 3 of the 7 were 25" and over with the largest at 27" or a tad over 7lbs (using the length/girth formula) 3 others were between 18" and 24" with the smallest (and the winner of the "triple jump" award) a small 15".

I went through the box trying about 20 different flies over the 8 hrs and 2 flies caught all 7 fish. A very sparkly Carey Special type fly and shockingly a #8 chartreusse bugger which I put on out of frustration in the last 2 hours of the day which drew 3 hits on the first 5 casts.

Has anyone else tried this lake and care to share their experiences?

Has anyonetried 7 1/2 Diamond Ranch which is another private lake in the area

[phearless]

I used to fish Corbett back when it was a public lake.
There was some excellant fishing.
Chironamids in the spring, an excellant mayfly hatch a little later, and all the usual suspects.
In the spring I loved to fish the south end amongst all the shoals and bullrushes.
I cut my teeth on mayfly fishing there.
Fished it once as a pay lake years ago.
My buddy and I found the fish to be, shall we say, Frankenfish.
Large, stubby, parts of fins missing etc.
Has that changed?
Does he still have those tiny little wood boats?
Try fishing two guys out of one of those.

[geoffvl]

Nice post. Sounds like you had lots of fun.

[jimmyray]

Did you pay the 100$ for a guiding service too? If you had your own belly boat and wanted to fish the lake could u do that ? And if so how much would that cost?

[phearless]

No we did not get a guide.
Just did it ourselves.
As for using your own boat and cost, contact Peter at Corbett Lake.

Let us know how it goes.

[parbuster]

No...the fish looked like any old fish looks. A little coloured and tired (perhaps tired due to the warm water). 2 fish were bright silver.

Yes you can bring your own watercraft but the price is the same so why bother. The only trick is getting into their little boats from the dock...I just about went for a swim. Exiting at the end of the day was almost comical but my fat ass and equipment made it onto the dock.

$100 is steep but to be honest I'm tired of spending $80- $100 in gas to get to Merritt/Kamloops, getting up at 4am and home at 10pm to catch 12 inch fish. It's worth every penny in my books.

Next time I'll bring a 4 wt rod and see how crazy that is!!

[Steelheadstalker]

sounds like an awesome time! is it 100 bucks per person, or can 2 people fish from the same boat form 100 bucks? what kind of boats do they have? i've been wanting to fish Corbett for a long time.

[11th Warrior]

If you thought $100 was steep, you should try buying the place

[johnk]

It should be obvious that, by reviving these old posts, I am trying to cling to fishing season and avoid a very long winter.
Fred, I too, used to fish Corbett back in the mid 80's when it was public and had some great days but never as good as the old guy we always saw there. He fished a size 12 hook wrapped with black thread and always outfished us.
Peter McVey is a shrewd businessman with very few people skills which is why he has staff to run the resort though he is a world class chef and bamboo rodmaker.
It doesn't matter what you fish out of, the price is $85 plus tax and if you're a cabin renting guest you will still pay a daily launch fee. I fish it once a year and it seems only the 15-16 lb'ers look like they've been in a battle. I do agree with the "Frankenfish" tag though as they tend to bulldog on the bottom once hooked. They are usually good for one 30 yd. run and that's it.
Early June is a great time to fish there as callibaetis, damsels and chironomids are all revving up.
I don't really think it is worth the money with all the other trophy class lakes around Merritt and just down the road is Kidd Lake with some hawgs of it's own.