It is almost the end of the summer, Nina and I hadn't had a chance to get away due to my heavy work load.
This week I finally convinced her to go for a camping trip.
We chose the Thompson River, because of the typical hot weather it gets during this time of the year, and also the great trout fishing it offers .
Our trip's first stop was the newly opened
Reaction Fly and Tackle. It is located just north of the Whatcom Road exit in Abbotsford. It's a convenient fishing stop because Tim Horton's, Subway, Burger King are all in the same complex.
I was in need of a fresh supply of flies, and Terry and his crew took care of that.
The new store looks fantastic! I like the interior design, a very refreshing look. I did not have a chance to take a closer glance at all the stocks because Nina wanted her Timmy's chilli combo, but it looks like the store caters to anglers of all types. I especially like the fly tying workshop near the back.
After a good supply of flies and coffee, we were ready to go. I decided to take the Merrit - Logan Lake - Savona route as we had never done it before. The section between Logan Lake and Savona was fantastic. The narrow road was peaceful and the view was great, it made the driving part much more relaxing.
By the time we arrived, it was already 5pm (a big portion of our morning was used to pack and load the car, even though it was a 2 night trip
). We quickly set up the tent so could get to the river and do a few casts.
Right in front of the campsites, there was a nice looking run. After three casts with my stonefly nymph, a huge tug almost pulled the rod out of my hand.
A quick hook-set, and I was into my first fish, first river rainbow on the fly in fact.
This fish took a few good runs and made the Islander LX3.4 scream. Both Nina and I were jumping with excitement. After a quick photo and release, I thought, "Now that was easy, it looks like we'll do just fine the next two days."
Was I ever wrong.
The first night in the tent was not that great. The campsite was great, but no one told me about the two train tracks that run on north and south of it.
Trains roamed by all night while we slept. That wasn't the bad part actually, as I can sleep under all conditions.
The wind picked up, the rain followed too! That's some good weather forecast Wayne Cox got....
The next morning, wind was even stronger. Flycasting was out of the question, but I gave it a go anyways. It was certainly frustrating. I managed to get two fish rising on the dry fly, but none were hooked because... it was so windy.
Nina managed to cheat a bit, enticed one nice trout on the spinner that I made.
Day two was pretty much a write-off.
The wind calmed down overnight, and Wednesday's (today) weather was fantastic! We woke up to a calm, clear morning. A quick breakfast around 6:30am and we were off to the river. I was back to myself, rusty as usual. Three casts, three drifts, three takes and three misses.
After lunch, Nina finally got into one on the fly, her first fish on the fly! The rainbow trout, around 18 inches in length, took a good run and even one big leap before being netted by me.
I was able to get one more fish just before we were leaving. Lots of bites, but too slow on the hookset today.
More photos to come in
next month's article section.
Related links
Region 3 freshwater regulations, scroll down to Thompson River
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Topic: Thompson River Rainbow Trout August 22 - 24 (Read 3477 times)