Kootenay Lake Karma
In 1980 the residents of Kootenay Lake were facing a crisis of faith. Over the years they had seen a burgeoning fishing industry for a giant race of rainbows suddenly collapse. The misguided actions of the past had finally caught up to the present and the Gerrard Rainbow trout was on the brink of extinction. A variety of factors contributed to the collapse: nutrient overloading from a fertilization plant, nutrient starvation due to power dams (Duncan and Libby dams), the introduction of an exotic crustacean (mysid shrimp), and over-fishing impacted the fishery to the extent that only a few hundred females returned to spawn in the early 80’s. Something drastic had to be done to ensure the survival of the fishery and secure the destiny of Kootenay Lake.
Kootenay Lake Karma
The Law of Karma states that we are all responsible for our actions, and death is the crucial moment when mysterious forces acting according to this law work behind the scenes to determine our destiny.
I have a friend, who prefers I not mention his name, so I’ll just call him Bob. Bob lives on Kootenay Lake and spends a lot of time meditating in the Tara Shanti Retreat located just south of Riondel on Kootenay Lake. The rest of the time he fly fishes and reads, often at the same time. I am sure he does other things, like work, though I’ve never seen it. He likes to keep things simple, ‘an economy of choice’ as Bob describes it. It is a philosophy that extends right down to his compact casting method and sparse selection of flies - restrained but effective.
Bob attributes the collapse of the fishery in the 80’s to the actions of the Hindu Gods disseminating a type of Karmic justice (divine retribution in a more western theological sense). His theory is that ‘Shiva the destroyer’ lambasted the fishery due to the many people that had taken it for granted and ultimately placed it in peril.
Yet, after a period of penance and soul searching, with the aid of ‘Vishnu the preserver’, and a thorough fertilization program, the fishery was restored. “It was the Hindu big kahuna, Brahamin,” Bob insists, ‘who decided that all those pre-catch-and-release anglers who had dispatched more fish than an illegal Portuguese trawler, all those misguided fisheries biologist/technicians who introduced the mysid shrimp to such a fragile ecosystem, the dam builders, and polluters, in fact anyone who played a part in damaging the habitat would, in a consummation of cosmic irony, all be reincarnated as beautiful Kootenay Lake kokanee and Gerrard rainbow.” 
There must have been a lot of them because now the return of kokannee is in the millions and the Gerrard are thriving as never before. Bob catches many fish now, kokanee, bull trout and Gerrard rainbows, but he rarely keeps more than one. If it is a large Gerrard or bull trout he will smoke it or share it with friends. He has taken to calling these fish by different names and relating the histories of their past lives. “This one here”, Bob explains, pointing to a large ten-pound bull trout, “was once Harold Maloney, an American, I believe. See the big mouth, the big belly, the spotted jaundiced skin, he had a voracious appetite. Harry here used to come up every year from the states and catch fish after fish using large barbed treble hooks with gobs of bait impaled on each one. He never cared about limits. His appetite for fish was insatiable. Harry would freeze them all then take them home across the border. He killed everything he caught no matter the size or species of fish. Harry liked to kill more than he liked to fish.”
That’s the way my friend, Bob, tells it, and to some it all sounds a bit morbid and far fetched but for me I accept it, realizing there’s more in heaven ‘n earth and all that, and, admittedly, I’d just as soon not tempt the ire of Shiva.
For those of you not so timid and who prefer a more scientific approach…read on.
Biology 101
Mysis Relicta: In 1949, scientists introduced the Mysid shrimp (mysis relicta) to Kootenay Lake with the idea that they would provide an intermediate food source for Gerrard rainbows as they grew from eating phytoplankton to kokanee salmon. In the early fifties a plant run by Cominco in Kimberley began dumping tons of fertilizer (phosphorous) into Kootenay River which transported it to Kootenay Lake. Phytoplankton feed on this phosphorous, so as the lake became nutrient rich again, the phytoplankton population grew as did the kokanee which feed on these micro-organisms and so the Gerrard which feed on the kokanee. But an increase in the number and size of kokanee in the 1960’s was attributed not to the influx of nutrients, but to the introduction of mysid shrimp. As a result, scientists introduced the exotic crustacean into hundreds of lakes throughout North America and Scandinavia.
The Big Blunder
It was found later, once the fertilizer plant shut down and dams were constructed and the kokanee started disappearing, that the mysid shrimp were actually in direct competition with the kokanee for their primary food supply, phytoplankton – and the mysid shrimp seemed to be winning. While kokanee do feed on mysid, the mysid shrimp usually graze on plankton in the limnetic layer at night, and then migrate down the water column during the day. Kokanee are sight foragers and only feed in the limnetic layer by day and not at all at night. Therefore, mysid provide only a marginal food source as they are usually gone from this area when kokanee are feeding but serve to deplete the food source at night when kokanee are unable to feed.
The Damn Dams
The construction of the Duncan dam (1967) at the north end of the lake and the Libby dam (1973) on Kootenay River further hastened the kokanee demise. Originally, scientists thought the lake to be so rich with nutrients (at the time it was unknown that it was due to the fertilizer plant) that the dams would not affect it. Dams generally block the natural flow of nutrients into reservoirs but with the closing of the fertilizer plant, coupled with the addition of two dams blocking the natural flow, Kootenay Lake’s aquatic ecosystem crashed and with it the kokanee and Gerrard.
What to do?
In an effort to balance the scales scientists decided to increase the food supply not by adding more phytoplankton but more fertilizer. In 1992 fisheries biologists decided to re-introduce phosphorous into the lake until the kokanee rebounded. A five-year artificial fertilization experiment began, supplying phosphorous to phytoplankton. The experiment seems to have worked as phytoplankton biomass doubled after only two years and continues to grow. In 1991 the kokanee numbers were about 150/hectare; after fertilization the numbers increased to about 1000/hectare and the population of kokanee in the lake grew to over 25 million.
The amount of fertilizer artificially deposited in the North Arm of Kootenay Lake has been decreasing steadily. Since the comeback of the kokanee artificial fertilization is unnecessary as the lake retains more of its own natural nutrients from the remains of the millions of kokanee, which now spawn and die within the system.
Since fertilization began the average size of the Gerrard has increased by about two pounds per year. Catching rainbows over 20 pounds is not uncommon, and the odd 30-pounder has been landed as well.
Kootenay Lake Nirvana
This past May I joined some friends on one of the large tugs rented out of Kaslo for a weekend of fishing on Kootenay Lake. It was Mike LeRose, two Daves, a Dean, a Salvy, and the big show himself, Cory Ross. We were dragging polar bear hair flies in different colour combinations. The action was erratic. We would catch three large rainbows in an hour and then wait another four hours until the next hit. But when the bite was on the fishing was incredible.
Over the weekend we caught half-a-dozen Gerrards over 15 pounds, the largest being a 19-pound five-ounce monster fought and landed by Dave D. We caught a few bull trout, and some lighter Gerrards but none under nine pounds. It was fly fishing nirvana; the company, the scenery, and the fishing all made for a memorable weekend.
We lost a few too. One massive Gerrard took the fly just as Mike was connecting the line to the planer board – about 15 feet behind the boat. The mighty fish literally ripped the rod out of Mike’s hands, and as it slid along the railing, Mike lunged after it. Fortunately the other rod resting in the rod holder stopped it, but as Mike grabbed the rod, it was like a shotgun going off, the 20-pound braided line snapped and the fish was gone.
We also caught and released three seagulls and an osprey, which had mistaken our flies for baitfish – pretty incredible – no wonder the flies worked so well.
Kootenay Lake Legacy
Kootenay Lake continues to provide excellent fishing. Nowhere else on earth can you catch rainbows or bull trout of this size and quality. Fisheries technicians and conservation officers m
onitor the fishery, with fishermen reporting their catches and limiting the number of large Gerrards (those over 50 cm – 19inches) to only five per year as well as placing restrictions on kokanee. Recently, Kootenay Lake has become single barbless as well which makes landing these monsters even more challenging. If you’re like Bob the real joy comes from just hooking into one of these incredible fish and playing it no matter how fleeting the fight. It’s one way to preserve the fishery, and with the aid of Vishnu, it will remain productive for many years to come.