Kamloops Rainbows ~ Lake Pend Orielle, ID

This is the first season that I have tried to get into the big trout game. The Kamloops Rainbows of Lake Pend Orielle are the type of fish that can leave you shaking in your boots. The big fish and the methods of catch date back to the 1940’s where fish over 30 pounds were not unusual. This year in 2025, a recent derby winning fish was caught and released, it weighed 26 pounds. After returning from a 40 day trip to europe and then a couple of weeks in Kansas, I made my way back to Idaho.

After a half dozen days on the water under varying conditions, I am beginning to figure a few things out. To date the season has produced a 6# solo caught female, an epic loss of a 20+ pound male on the same day in early November. Later trips produced a half dozen smaller fish in to 18” class, both rainbow and cutthroat trout. Before coming back to Kansas, a day on the Lake with Hunter Kittleson produced a double where Hunter landed a 6 pounder and I lost and 10+ at the boat.