British Columbia Fishing Blog

If you enjoy fishing the Chilliwack River, this may interest you.

There is a proposal out (in progress) with the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources to have a largish (25 hectares/50 football fields) gravel mine in the location of Larson’s Bench. This proposal may threaten the viability of the recreation fishery in the Chilliwack River.
 
The Fraser Valley Regional District has opposed this, for many reasons, such as it is near Pierce Creek ponds – an important salmon spawning area. It is also in close (less than 1km) to Chipmunk Creek Caves and the Chilliwack River. Other likely environmental impacts include silt, run-off, 10 acres to be logged). Unfortunately, the FVRD’s opposition may not be enough to stop it. Residents, businesses, clubs and others who may be impacted could also have an effect on the outcome.

There will be siginificant impacts on local residents and businesses with gravel trucks on the road if this proposal goes through. It is estimated that 47 round trips per day would be made by gravel trucks between Monday and Saturday. 
 
There is a website for more information and a link where you can sign an online petition:
 
http://www.stopthegravelpit.com
 
http://www.gopetition.com/online/35764.html
 
A petition is also at On The Way store and Pointa Vista Cafe, both on the Chilliwack Lake Road.

Those who fish it regularly know how siltation can affect the fishing, so one can only imagine how the fishing might be if this proposal is approved and possible impacts take place. While this is simply at the proposal stage, I encourage others to get involved by visiting the above websites and staying informed so there would be no regrets in a couple of years from now.

Randy Morgan of Hatch Match’r Fly and Tackle in Maple Ridge has a passion in introducing flyfishing to high school students. Each year, he hosts an year-end competition for several high school flyfishing clubs in Southern British Columbia. On April 25th 2010, we followed eighteen students, their parents and teachers as they took part in this year’s event. The competition includes catching the most and largest rainbow trout, flycasting contest and a team relay. In the team relay, each participant has a specific task in his or her team, such as assembling the fly gear, tying knots, catching a fish with the assembled outfit or netting a fish. The team that catches and nets the first fish with the assembled flyfishing outfit wins the race. We produced this video to inspire other parents and teachers around the world. You also can set up a local youth flyfishing club so your flyfishing skills and fish knowledge could be passed onto the next generation.

Photographs from the event can now be seen on this page.

Southern British Columbia’s Chilliwack River is the most heavily used recreational river in this province. Unfortunately, that comes with a price. Each year, garbage from small litters to large abandoned items can be found along trails that lead to the river and its banks. Since 2002, local residents and recreational users have taken part in 28 Chilliwack River cleanups. On April 17th, we joined 150 other volunteers to remove garbage from this river so freshet would not wash them away into the Pacific Ocean later on this month. We hope this video can inspire other communities to get involved and keep their local watersheds clean. Please visit Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Coalition’s website for more information.

In this video blog, we followed Curt from the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery to Deer Lake in Burnaby, where he released 250 rainbow trout at catchable sizes (300g to 500g). Curt explains what anglers can expect this season from the Fishing in the City program.

Yesterday we made our way up to Squamish and took a look at a couple of lakes in the area. We had expected pretty good fishing at Browning Lake, which was stocked with 1,300 rainbow trout by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC last week, but it turned out to be rather challenging. We also took a look at Alice Lake where I had success in the past, but they were still too shy. Despite of a lack of catches, the nature surroundings at both lakes made up for the trip. This video is intended for those who are interested in getting into freshwater fishing in British Columbia but still not sure how to do so. Locally stocked lakes are the best places to start!