White Lake near Salmon Arm (a two-hour drive from Kelowna) is another fishery in the magic zone for rainbow trout. After ice-out, this is one of the first lakes to open up for the soft-water season. The trout’s diet is stacked with freshwater shrimp so flies imitating them are popular. Other favourites include, dragonflies, damsel flies, caddies and leeches. 

At five kilometres long, White Lake tends to be on the small side, but don’t let the size of any of these B.C. lakes mislead you. The largest rainbow in B.C. was taken from the less than three-kilometre-long Jewel Lake in 1933. At 42 pounds, you can be sure the lake’s water level dropped when that fish was pulled out.