Kelowna Fishing Charters

Getting to the boat from Kelowna

We run out of the West Kelowna Yacht Club at 4111 Gellatly Road. From downtown Kelowna that is straight over the William R. Bennett Bridge and south along the west side of the lake, somewhere between fifteen and twenty minutes depending on the hour and the season. There is parking at the yacht club and Geoff will tell you exactly where to meet when you book.

If you are coming from the Mission, Rutland or the university it is worth adding a little time in summer, because the bridge is the only crossing and it carries the whole valley.

Or skip the drive entirely

If you are staying anywhere on Okanagan Lake with a dock, we will come and get you. It costs nothing extra, and for a lot of Kelowna guests it is genuinely easier than driving across the bridge with a cooler and four people.

Lakefront rentals, a friend's place, a resort dock, they all work. Tell us where you are when you book and Geoff will sort the timing. It also means you step off your own deck and onto the boat, which is a nicer start to a morning than a car park.

The water straight out from Kelowna

Kelowna sits on the widest, deepest stretch of Okanagan Lake, and that is not a throwaway line. Big rainbows here follow kokanee through an enormous volume of open water, and the deep central basin off Kelowna is where a lot of that happens.

It also means you do not need to travel to fish well. What you need is to be in the right part of it, on the right day, with something in the water the fish actually want. That is the entire job.

When to come, if you have the choice

October through April is the trophy window. The big fish move up out of the depths to feed and a bucktail trolled a long way behind the boat is the most effective thing you can show them. The boat is heated and covered, which is the only reason fishing that season is pleasant.

Summer still fishes, particularly early and late in the day, and it suits families and visitors who want a few hours on the water rather than a hunt. If a genuinely big fish is the point of the trip, come when it is cold.

Which trip to book

Most people start with the half day at $500. If a genuinely big rainbow is the goal, book the full day at $800 and come between October and April. Either way you will want a BC freshwater licence before you arrive, and it is worth a look at the wind and feeding times when you are choosing a date.

If you want to understand what is happening behind the boat, the bucktail page explains the technique properly, and the latest report says what the lake is doing right now.