British Columbia Fishing Blog

May usually marks the stillwater fishing season in the Thompson-Nicola region. Like most lake fishing enthusiasts, we like to load up the boat and head up from Vancouver to catch some fine rainbow trout. There has been a delay this year, due to the late departure of winter, or late arrival of spring, whatever you want to call it. Most lakes had ice on them a couple weeks longer than usual.

A couple of weeks ago, Nina’s family was visiting from Denmark and they wanted us to travel to Lac Le Jeune with them. Several years ago, they visited the area by chance during a stopover to Banff and they really enjoyed the few hours while they were there. I have never been, but have constantly heard fly fishermen bringing it up over the years so was curiously to check it out.

A couple of days before we headed to the lake, I was informed that the lake was still frozen so I chose not to bring my fishing rods. What a mistake that was! I was ready to make a shuttle run back to Vancouver to get them when I saw no ice on the lake upon our arrival. Although I was not able to wet a line, it was going to be a good stay when I noticed the abundance of wildlife in the area.

Our accommodation for the trip was Lac Le Jeune Resort. Normally when we go lake fishing in the Thompson-Nicola region, we either camp or stay at a hotel in Merritt or Kamloops. Never had I expected to find a fine resort in the middle of no where. Lac Le Jeune Resort is not what you’d call a luxury resort, but you can sense its warmth as soon as you step into it. The resort provides two styles of accommodation. You can either stay at the lodge rooms or rent an entire cabin nearby. The resort sits slightly higher than the lake so the view is absolutely breath taking at anytime of the day.

The birds were being fed at the doorstep. One can just stand there and watch them for hours. Our host settled us in right away when we arrived and informed us that dinner would be served at 6:30pm. Already impressed, we were even more pleasantly surprised when it was time to dine. The dining room sits by the lake, so we could watch loons, beavers and of course, trout, splashing about while we ate.

At first Nina and I were concerned that we would not have anything to do at the lake without our fishing rods. The alternatives solved that problem pretty fast. We walked along the lake shore on both days and the wildlife kept us entertained. Nina’s family also thoroughly enjoyed their visit as the lake lived up to their expectation. They were most fascinated by these huge beavers that always seem so busy around the lake. I was able to practice my photography on the birds and squirrels that couldn’t get enough of the feeds on the resort’s patio.

Here is a short video of some of the wildlife footages from Lac Le Jeune.

After seeing some fine rainbow trout jumping on both evenings while we were there, I am now itching to return with my fishing rods.

We just finished producing a video feature for Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC‘s Learn to Fish program.



Learn to Fish is an exciting initiative designed to introduce participants to recreational fishing. The age specific, fun, and hands on lessons make it a perfect fit for youth and their families as well as organized groups of all ages and abilities. To date the program has been a tremendous success, and has been delivered to over 55,000 youth and their families across the province!

Currently the Learn to Fish program runs out of two of the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC’s Visitor Centres located in Abbotsford and Fort Steele (near Cranbrook), Greater Vancouver urban lakes, the Lower Mainland, Kamloops and Okanagan region Provincial Parks, and Southern Vancouver Island region lakes.[/p]

Last week Nina and I went to Alice Lake and Edith Lake in Squamish after they were just stocked with Fraser Valley rainbow trout by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC. The fishing was great, just as expected. The weather co-operated too for once.

Here is a video from the trip. It is in Danish as we made it for Nina’s new fishing blog, but subtitles are actually available in the video. To activate subtitles, simply click on the close caption option (a “CC” button at the bottom left corner of the video frame).

If you live in Vancouver BC, you really don’t have to venture too far to catch trophy-sized fish. That is one great thing about living in this city, I simply have to walk or drive to a nearby spot and I usually will not be disappointed.

The Fraser River drains into the ocean through Vancouver, where it is known for the large return of Pacific salmon every summer and fall. Most people, even anglers, are not very aware of another exciting event that goes on in this waterway every spring. Starting in late March, millions of juvenile salmon begin their out migration from the streams where they are hatched. These fish are followed by coastal cutthroat trout and bull trout, which are opportunistic predators that take advantage of this seasonal buffet.

The presence of these anadromous trout and char creates fantastic fishing opportunities. It is the time of the year that I always look forward to. If the water is clear, then fly fishing with small fry patterns usually results in aggressive chasers in shallow waters. That being said, this out migration unfortunately coincides with the start of freshet, so water is usually muddy when this fishery takes place.

When water clarity is poor, the alternative is to simply fish with bait such as salmon roe. It is a method that I do not enjoy as much because the wait can be dull and there are often lots of bait-stealing sculpin around. Nevertheless, I would still take it over no fishing at all.

We decided to give it a go this week. We caught the last hour of the incoming tide after work, so it was simply a short outing to wet our appetite. Visibility in the Fraser River is now no more than six inches, so we were limited to fishing with bait. Among hundreds of sculpin bites, one pull took me by surprise. Check out our latest video blog to see what ended up on the end of my line.

Spring is trout stocking season for the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC. Last week we followed one of the hatchery trucks around and filmed Buntzen and Como Lake being stocked. This is an new video project that we are doing with the society and you will be able to see the finished videos on their newly launched website later this month.