Since the weather has finally been as heated as the annual sockeye debate, it was time for me to dust off the river gear after two months of lake fishing and head for the Thompson River. Mark (Fishersak) had just returned from a long holiday in Japan, so I invited him along to see if we could play tug with a trout or two.
Sunday, July 29thBoth of us met at Reaction Fly and Tackle in the morning as planned. Mark was punctual as usual. We picked up a selection of river flies as we are too lazy, or not good enough, to tie them. The choices were stone fly nymphs in a variety of colours, as well as a few stimulators to see if we could tempt a few trout to rise. The shop was packed, with many anglers heading to the Skagit so the mosquitos could have a blood feast. Daryl said, "see? You guys are smart." when we mentioned where we were off to.
Our fly selection
The destination was Juniper Beach, where we camped for two nights. Located just east of Cache Creek, Juniper Beach Provincial Park offers affording and comfortable camping, with fishing available just steps away. That being said, if you are sensitive to noise when sleeping, it is probably wise not to camp there or simply bring ear plugs as trains continue to operate on both sides of the river throughout the night.
The drive route is long but scenic. The Fraser River continues choking mud. I now begin to fear that it might not clear in time before the arrival of pink salmon in early September.
The Thompson River between Lytton and Spences Bridge looked lovely. Water level remains high but its colour is ideal. The upcoming chinook jack fishery should be fantastic for those who are heading up, however finding those fish in such a large volume of water could be challenging.
The temperature change was apparently as we arrived at Juniper Beach. Mark actually brought along his waders after seeing rain drops back in Vancouver. I chuckled when he mentioned it.
After registering our campsite, it was time for an afternoon scouting session.
The water was still quite high, so places where we normally fished were still submerged. This means that casting from the high bank was rather challenging, especially for novices such as myself who really need to learn how to roll cast. After fetching the fly from branches a few times, I slowly adapted to the new condition and found places where I should be fishing.
Not long after we started our trek, I spotted Mark fighting a fish further downstream, which turned out to be a tiny 6 inch fish. He later on reported landing a rather bulky pikeminnow too. As I continued upstream, I spotted a fish making an appearance on the surface, which had me very excited. I stopped, figured out where I should be casting, and shot the fly out there so it would drift down to where the fish was. As calculated, some hungry bugger grabbed it with no hesitation and a silvery trout leaped out as soon as I set the hook. It eventually popped off by my feet.
Now I was even more excited. I sent the fly back out again, this time a bit further just to see what would happen. Another fish decided to like it. This time it went for a long powerful run down the river. The Islander reel screamed loudly and I frantically ran out of the water. The bigger trout eventually made its way back up to me. Mark arrived at my spot at the same time. Perfect timing for a photograph or two.
By this point I was quite motivated. I continued to work my way to other spots. Eventually I found a fast riffle where Shane had done well in the past. I decided to give it a shot, even though this type of water is completely alien to me. How a fish can spot a fly and attack it in such fast speed is beyond my imagination. After some hesitation, I sent the same fly that has been working to the edge of the fast water. The depth was only a couple of feet. It only took a few seconds for the fly to make its way to the end of the drift and to my surprise, I felt a rather strong pull on my rod. It wasn't a bite, the fish basically pulled, turned and started running. Meanwhile, I had line wrapped all over my hand. After the faster untangling job, the fish continued to shoot for the rapids. I turned around, turned the video camera on behind me. Just when the camera had captured a couple of seconds of the run, I felt a dreadful snap. My biggest one so far had just broken me off.
I was ready to snap the rod at that point.
That didn't happen of course.
A quick retie, I sent the fly back to the exact same spot to see if another fish would take it. With the video camera rolling behind me, the fish surely didn't disappoint. This time I set the hook precisely after a good tug. A 16 inch beauty came in after a good fight.
On our way back to the campsite, I found out Carlo and Shane's secret to their success.
It's pretty common to come across these on the rocks while fishing the Thompson River.
Monday, July 30thWith some satifactory result on the first day, we were excited to see what the second day would bring us. The weather continued to be nice, except it was rather gusty. It was difficult enough just to deal with high banks and branches, the wind would surely bring more frustration. The morning outing belonged to Mark, as I was unable to find any fish except one unexpected brief connection. Everytime I walked away to the next spot from Mark, I would hear a "Fish on!" behind me. With the camera in one hand, I would sprint back to see what he was bringing in. Some nice fish indeed, all on the nymph. While he had a few takers on the dry fly, they were just a bit too quick for him that morning.
At the office
Smile!
A two hour lunch break in the shade was really welcoming after a hot fishless morning for me. That afternoon we decided to find a new spot to fish. With Carlo and Shane's written guidance, we actually made our way to exactly where they wanted us to go. Good directions they were. The morning's performance had me worried if I was going to find a fish at all on this day. This worry quickly dissipated when I worked through a rather fishy run. Finally a brief tug on the line, it seemed like forever since the last bite. The following cast sent the golden stone back to the same piece of water. Another light tug had me set the hook. Just as I was about to call Mark, I heard "Fish on!" Behind me. I turned around and only to found Mark with a big smile on his face and a rather jumpy trout at the end of his line. A double header! Both fish were long and bright, but rather slender.
We worked our way through some very nice runs but somehow came up empty handed after our brief success. By the end we were quite tired mentally and physically, so we decided to make our way back to camp, refuel and prepare for a short evening outing.
More action photo of Mark
Grand river valley
A heavy meal and some rest, we were ready to tackle the same spot where Mark was having his success that morning. Both of us rushed to the spot as we were running out of light. I chose to work through the riffle where I lost the big one on the previous day first. It didn't take long before I connected with one, but only to find it swimming away freely after a few seconds. It seemed like I had to settle with the lone catch of the day.
Mark on the other hand, found his lucky spot. He finally connected with some fish on the dry fly. Again I found myself running down the river to photograph his catches.
A solid catch
Pretty colours
I decided to make my way down to another spot before the evening ended. It turned out to be a wise choice. While working through a deep slot, I finally connected with a good sized fish that went for two long runs. With this fish, I could finally sleep well. I didn't measure it, but it was my biggest one during this trip.
The reward after a long day
My sleeping arrangement, it pays to be a midget
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Topic: Thompson River with Fishersak, July 29th - 31st, 2007 (Read 6700 times)