Family fears for Calgary fisherman missing since Tuesday in icy B.C. lake

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Family members of a missing Calgary man are enduring a grim vigil along the shores of Eagle Bay, on Shuswap Lake, about 100 kilometres east of Kamloops, B.C.

They have been gathering since earlier this week, after a small fishing boat ran aground in the bay, still in gear, with the down rigging and fishing lines still engaged.

The discovery was made shortly after 59-year-old John Poole was reported missing after failing to return from a fishing trip.

Poole’s stepson, Josh Crittenden, says Poole is an experience fishermen, but the family fears he fell from the skiff into the icy waters.

Crittenden says the temperature in that section of Shuswap Lake is just four degrees Celsius, and even an excellent swimmer would be unlikely to survive for long.

An air, shore and water search began Wednesday morning but has turned up no trace of Poole. (CFJC)