Fishing in the Okanagan
12 outdoor destinations for fishing across the Okanagan Valley.
Trout-fishing lodges, public fishing docks and guided charters on the valley’s lakes — licence required.
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Al-ways Fishing Charters
Al-ways Fishing Charters is Captain Al McPhail’s guided fishing operation on the North Okanagan’s lakes, based at 12075 Oceola Road in Lake Country. Trips depart from the dock at Wood Lake RV Park & Marina, 2930 Woodsdale Road, Lake Country — not from the Oceola Road address. The signature trip cruises across Wood Lake and runs up the connecting channel into Kalamalka Lake — the lake of a thousand colours — where the fishing is for kokanee and trout in some of the most scenic water in the valley. Guests praise his patience and local knowledge, and trips suit first-timers as much as regulars. Book directly with the operator; a BC freshwater fishing licence is required.
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Beaver Lake Mountain Resort
Beaver Lake Mountain Resort is a four-season lake resort at 1,402 metres on Beaver (Swalwell) Lake, reached by Beaver Lake Road above Lake Country. Fishing is the everyday activity here: the resort rents boats from its boat park and can supply a rod and tackle if you arrive without them, so a first-time angler can be on the water within the hour, while the trail network, swimming beach and wellness spa fill the rest of a stay. Accommodation includes cabins, suites and campsites in a park-like setting, with midweek off-season specials. Bring a BC freshwater fishing licence; the resort is about 17 km from the valley floor on a mountain road.
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Chute Lake Lodge
Chute Lake Lodge sits in the mountains above the Naramata Bench on the Kettle Valley Railway, at the end of a scenic drive where the final 8 km is a gravel mountain road once you leave the vineyards — check your mapping app’s route before you set out. Chute Lake is stocked with rainbow trout and has a boat launch, and the lodge rents fishing gear with aluminum boats, along with canoes and paddleboards, e-bikes for the rail trail and snowshoes in winter; it also has a restaurant, cabins and camping, so a fishing day can turn into a weekend. Motorboats are limited on the lake, so ask the lodge before bringing one, watch for moose on the road up, and bring a BC freshwater fishing licence.
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Dee Lake Wilderness Resort
Dee Lake Wilderness Resort is a heritage fishing resort established in 1926 on Dee Lake, one of the chain of trout lakes in the high country between Lake Country and Vernon. Guests spend their days fishing from the resort’s waters, paddling a canoe, kayak or paddleboard across the quiet lake, walking the forest trails or settling in around a campfire; two heritage lodges, rustic log cabins, full-service lakeside cottages and well-treed RV sites cover every kind of stay, and the resort runs an annual fishing derby. It opens for the summer season each year with all bookings handled online. A BC freshwater fishing licence is required.
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Headwaters Family Camp
Headwaters Family Camp is an old-fashioned fishing and camping camp on the Headwaters Lakes, less than 30 minutes above Peachland at the 21 km mark of Peachland Main forest service road. Summer here is fishing, boating and canoeing on the lakes — boats are available to rent — with swimming, hiking and quad trails all around, and the lakeside cabins come with wood stoves, propane cooktops and the basics, with a seasonal hot shower and outdoor toilets centrally located. Rates are deliberately affordable and the pace is quiet. Expect gravel road for the last stretch and bring a BC freshwater fishing licence.
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Mabel Lake Provincial Park
Mabel Lake is the North Okanagan’s big-beach detour: a very large fine-sand beach with a buoyed swim area, worth the 36 km drive up Mabel Lake Road from Lumby. Shaded picnic tables, a playground and 16 flush toilets take care of a long day, and a designated dog beach means the dog is welcome too. Boaters have a concrete launch. There are no lifeguards. The gate is open roughly April to October, and the lot holds about 45 vehicles. The campground is a destination in its own right: 114 reservable sites in three loops — Monashee, Trinity and Taylor Creek — plus a group site, with 16 flush toilets, nine water taps, fire rings and a concrete boat launch and dock beside the marina; the 1 km 'Changing Rainforest' interpretive trail winds through moss-carpeted cedar and hemlock between the sites, and painted turtles bask at Taylor Creek. Gate opening dates depend on snow.
🐾 Dog Friendly
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Okanagan Bucktail Co.
Okanagan Bucktail Co. is Captain Geoff Hartland, one well-used boat and a fly box nobody else has: guided trolling charters for trophy rainbow trout and kokanee, fished with bucktail flies he ties by hand in West Kelowna and includes free on every trip. Okanagan Lake is the home water, fished year-round, with charters departing from the West Kelowna Yacht Club at 4111 Gellatly Road (the yacht club is the meeting point, with parking on site — the fishing itself is out on the lake) and the best trophy fishing from October through April when the big rainbows come up to chase bait near the surface; charters also run on Kalamalka, Skaha, Osoyoos and Mabel lakes. Rates are $500 for a half day and $800 for a full day per boat, all gear included, and if you are staying somewhere on Okanagan Lake with a dock he can pick you up there. Bookings are by call or text. A BC freshwater fishing licence is required.
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Oyama Lake Lodge
Oyama Lake Lodge is a fishing resort on Oyama Lake, an 800-acre volcanic lake with 27 islands to explore and depths to 87 feet, which is why it holds trout of all sizes. The lodge has 18 cabins of varying size, glamping tents, camping and small RV sites and even a converted school bus, and it rents 14-foot motorboats so you can reach the best fishing water; the boat launch is free for guests and $10 for day visitors, and the lake is also a good swim for kids. To get there, drive up the logging road from Oyama past the Oyama Zipline and keep going — there is no street address and 4WD is recommended, so follow the operator’s directions at oyamalake.com/info/. A BC freshwater fishing licence is required.
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Postill Lake Lodge
Postill Lake Lodge is a lakeside-cabin and fly-fishing resort in the hills north-east of Kelowna, at 11950 Postill Lake Road. Spring is the resort’s prime season: the lake’s nutrient-rich water makes for excellent fishing, especially fly fishing, for rainbow trout and speckled brook trout, and you can bring your own boat or rent one at the lodge. Beyond Postill Lake itself, guests have wilderness access to five nearby trout lakes, including Roddy Lake, for anyone who wants to explore. Accommodation runs from lakefront cottages and lodge suites to camping and seasonal rentals, with winter stays as well; reservations are taken online. A BC freshwater fishing licence is required on all of these waters.
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Rodney's REEL Outdoors – Ice Fishing Charters
Rodney's REEL Outdoors turns the Okanagan's frozen mountain lakes into a proper winter day out. Ice-fishing charters run from mid-December, once the ice is safe, through late March: you meet the guide in West Kelowna at 8 a.m., drive up to a trout lake — and, depending on the snow, either park at the shore or ride the last stretch in by snowmobile — and fish until the return around 5 p.m. Everything is supplied: rods rigged with tungsten jigs, spoons and flies, a gas auger, an underwater camera to watch the rainbow, brook trout and perch come in, a six-man ice hut for the cold or windy days, a fire on shore, and a hot lunch of smokies roasted over the coals with snacks and hot chocolate, plus fish cleaning and bagging at the end. Ice charters are full-day only and priced per trip rather than per person — $900 for one or two anglers and $1,000 for three or four, plus GST and gratuity, with a lunch upgrade available — and take up to four anglers per guide. A BC freshwater fishing licence is required and not included; buy it online before the day. The same outfitter runs open-water charters on the big lakes the rest of the year.
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Vaseux Lake Provincial Park
Vaseux Lake is the Okanagan beach for people who want the lake without the engines: as a Migratory Bird Sanctuary it bans motorized boats, so the beach, which runs the length of the campground and continues along the shore, belongs to swimmers, canoes and kayaks, birds and anglers. A day-use area off the Canadian Wildlife Service parking lot has two picnic tables down a short path to the water, and there are 12 first-come campsites. Facilities are basic: four pit toilets, no flush, and a permanent boil-water advisory. Dogs must stay leashed and out of the beach areas, and there are no lifeguards. Open year-round with the gate closed off-season; accessibility information is available. The 12 sites are first-come, first-served year-round; in the off-season the gate is closed and you walk in from it, with a winter fee and no services.
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Wood Lake Fishing Dock
The Wood Lake Fishing Dock is a fully accessible public fishing dock with an accessible kayak launch at the south end of Pelmewash Parkway in Lake Country, connected by a ramp to the dog off-leash beach beside the Four Food Chiefs sculpture. It was five years in the making: the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, the Oceola Fish and Game Club, the Rotary Club of Lake Country and the District of Lake Country funded it, crews floated the sections into place in October 2024, and the Society lists it as a completed featured project from the 2025 season. It gives anglers of every ability a place to fish Wood Lake’s kokanee and trout water from shore, with a parking lot at the access park. A BC freshwater fishing licence is required and Wood Lake regulations apply.