British Columbia Fishing Blog

2008 was a great year with many memorable fishing trips, which were documented by thousands of photographs. Out of the collection, I have picked the best photo for each month for 2008’s favorites. You can see each enlarged photograph on this page. Here are the brief background stories of each photograph.

January: Ten thousand casts later, big silver surrenders
At Copenhagen Harbour, persistence finally paid off when at this big sea trout surrendered itself. Sea trout has been the main target species during my visit in Denmark, but they are hard to come by in the winter months. Thousands of casts later often produce nothing, but it only takes one to pay off the effort. Read the full story…

February: Locals know best
Winter steelhead is a prized species in British Columbia. One early February morning on the Chilliwack River produced this fine specimen. The locals always find these fish more quickly than others. Read the full story…

March: Between rain clouds…
The weather in March 2008 was unpredictable as always, but gorgeous most of the time. Between patches of rain, we managed to get out for some kokanee fishing and had a fantastic time! Read the full story…

April: Good fishing at Lower Mainland lakes
April marks the beginning of spring but also a few months of good trout fishing in the Lower Mainland. Yes, they are stocked rainbow trout, but they can be just as fun to catch on light tackle. This rainbow trout was caught at Alice Lake in Squamish. Read the full story…

May: Long, fat and beautiful!
This gigantic cutthroat trout took a tiny brown fly while we fished at Alta Lake in Whistler. Lower Mainland lakes are commonly known to only produce small fish, but this is not entirely true. Both large cutthroat and rainbow trout are in fact available at some of the catch and release lakes. Read the full story…

June: First 2008 Interior BC trip
This lovely rainbow trout was just one of many that we caught and released during our first trip to a lake in Interior BC. In May and June, Interior BC lakes provide world class flyfishing for acrobatic rainbow trout. Sunshine, warmth, dozens of fish, what else can you ask for? Read the full story…

July: Summer evening on the pier
Pier fishing is fun, doesn’t matter how old you are. Watching the rod tip wiggle or the float dip in the water can be just as exciting. A July evening on a pier in the Tidal Fraser River produced this sculpin and several other coarse fish species. Read the full story…

August: Summer salmon, unexpected visitors, evening success
August is hot and there is no better way to spend it than dipping in the cold Thompson River and catching trout in the evening. This rainbow trout rose for a big dry fly. You can see how aggressive these fish are by looking at how deep it took down the fly. Read the full story…

September: Brief but fast fishing in the Tidal Fraser
September marks the beginning of the fall salmon season, but I enjoy fishing for alternative species from time to time before it gets too cold. At a last-minute trip to the Tidal Fraser River, we encountered numerous large northern pikeminnow such as this one. Read the full story…

October: Chumtastic on the Vedder
Chum salmon seems to get the bad rep from time to time. They shouldn’t, because fresh chum salmon are fantastic fighters and they taste great! Most chum salmon are often coloured by the time they reached the river, but this fish was as silver as it could get. Read the full story…

November: A very wet battle
A big bull trout swallows a spinner, a tug boat cruises by, a wet battle begins! This fish took me for a long ride while big waves pounded the beach. Eventually the best looking bull trout of the season was beached, after this fighting shot was taken. Read the full story…

December: Breath-taking surroundings, but connection short-lived
Catching a fish is only one component of a fishing trip. Travelling to new, exotic location is another. This is Stevns, Denmark, a beach known for big sea trout and chalky cliffs. Read the full story…

 

The Chilliwack River offers a good winter steelhead fishery between December and April. Unlike the fall salmon fishery, these fish are much more difficult to catch due to the lower abundance. I’ve put together a thread in the discussion forum for those who are interested. Throughout the season, we will once again provide updated river condition as well to save you from driving out when the river is not fishable.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=19442.0

Fishing with Rod welcomes our latest advertiser, Cleardrift Floats!

Developed in British Columbia, Cleardrift is a new line of river floats for BC Coastal River anglers. Its clear body keeps the fish unaware of your presence. Its strong design ensure that it does not break when stepped on or hit by rocks. Our 35 gram model is currently available in two different colours. Look for the upcoming release of our 8, 11, 20, 25 and 30 gram models. Cleardrift Floats retail for $3.99/each.

Cleardrift Floats are available at the following Lower Mainland fishing stores:
 

• Berry’s Bait and Tackle
• Fred’s Custom Tackle
• Hatch Match’r Fly and Tackle
• Hub Sports
• Pacific Angler
• Reaction Fly and Tackle
• Riverside Fly and Tackle
• Searun Fly and Tackle

As many readers know, I am a big fan of spinning outfits even though I have tried most types of fishing. In British Columbia, spinning outfits are often labeled as equipment employed by newbies. This attitude seems to reflect the availability of good light spinning rods. It seems that there is an expectation for anglers to use a flyfishing rod when targeting smaller game species such as rainbow trout. The reality is that a substantial percentage of the angling community is not interested to flyfish, yet it is hard to find spinning rods in similar weight ratings.

Recently I have been searching for a longer light spinning rod that would allow me to both spincast and float for trout, char and other species in the same weight range. My quest took me to one of our sponsors, Stryker Rods. Russ Goodwin, an experienced rod builder who resides in Surrey, picked up this idea by suggesting a 9′ spinning rod built from a 4 piece Rainshadow 4wt (IF904) blank. The end product looks fantastic!

This four piece spinning rod is fitted with silver stainless steel casting guides and zirconium insert, graphite casting reel seat and the finest cork one could find. Rated between 1 and 6lb test, it should be able to handle trout, char, carp and various coarse fish species. At 9 feet in length, it allows me to use a fixed float at a greater depth, which will be quite advantageous for Interior lake rainbow trout.

Please stay tuned, I shall keep you updated on its performance once being tested. Stryker Rods produces custom casting and flyfishing rods with your preference of colours and components. If you are interested in having one built, you can reach Russ Goodwin at 1-877-585-6958.

I’ve made some updates in our photo gallery this week. A new photo blog has been started and one new photo will be added on a daily basis, or as regularly as possible.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/photoblog

The album for Islander Precision Reels has also been updated. Islander Precision Reels is one of our major sponsors and we spend a considerable amount of time and effort to test out its products and capture the images of what these products can do.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/islander

We hope you enjoy the photographs!