I have lived in Port Coquitlam for 22 years. Years back, when the Coquitlam River was stocked, I used to take kids fishing there, and nobody talked much about Lafarge because it was much harder to catch a trout in the lake than the River. Then the stocking at Coquitlam River was stopped to the disappointment of those real young anglers (usually under 12). Even the local tackle store had to cancel a fishing contest of sort for the kids. Then Lafarge got busier, not because of the young kids, but many adult fishermen. But it still did not have the number of fishermen like now. Funny, if you look at those new fishermen there, there are no really young kids. The fishing is too physical for them with the long casts unless they are accompanied by adults. The new folks are mostly retired people, many are new immigrants, plus a lot more boat & tube fishermen.
The last 2 years saw literally an explosion of fishermen coming to fish Lafarge due to its productivity. I suspect many of these new comers are not even local residents. Hey, if there is a productive urban fishery, who needs to drive far out of town in this day & age of high cost of gas?
I tried to take some of the retired guys to experience some salmon fishing, but most just quit after one season - too physical and strenous for their aging bodies. So they are just happy to have a place to spend some time during the long day of retirement life. Perhaps they should set up some chess tables there, so those older folks can play chess and fish at the same time.
Lafarge fishing to me is just a quick in & out activity. A typical day out there is like this - drop my wife off to shopping/dancing, hop out to the lake for an hour or two, pick her up and probably eat something or shop for grocery and head home. It is not an exciting fishery, but a good past time, fish or no fish, and you can still spend time with your family. Many people head out there even after dinner in summer, as a way to spend the evening with the family. It is also a great place to start tubing for your trouts with flies, being close by, safe, and quite productive. So to each its own.
Enjoy the lake guys. I just wish Coquitlam River is stocked again, so the real young kids who can only cast 10 ft out with their beginner combo can still hook something, like they used to do below the Kingsway railway bridge.
They used to own that place, but now they have to elbow with the adults in a busy lake. Poor kids.