A week of no fishing seemed like a month when it was mixed with a couple of snow days. Finally the sun decided to make a long appearance today, so the spinning rod went into the car and off we went.
Today's destination is a couple of lakes in Alice Lake Provincial Park. This is a lovely area to wet a line between April and June, before the crazy summer camping season kicks in. Both Alice and Edith Lakes, which probably have not been fished much since last year, were recently stocked by the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery, so I had expected the fishing to be quite good.
I left Richmond at 9:00am, to avoid the morning rush. No such luck, Granville Street was slow going at West 41st. Finally I picked up Erin at 9:30am, wiggled through Downtown and arrived at Alice Lake in Squamish at 11:00am. Today was quite gusty, but we managed to tuck ourselves to a sheltered corner on the lake. Beside a few hikers, the park was pretty empty.
Today's setup is simple and effective on stocked rainbow trout in lakes. Ultralight spinning rods rated 2 to 4lb test were used, coupled the smallest spinning reels that I can find. The main line is 4lb test, which is tied to a 1/8oz spoon that I have made up. The nickel spoon is either green, blue or orange striped. The spoon is casted from shore, allowed to sink and flutter for a few seconds before retrieved slowly. The fluttering, flashing, vibration make it irresistable for any trout that are nearby.
Once rigged up, I made the first demo cast to show Erin how to fish the spoon properly. Few seconds into the retrieve, I already felt a couple of quick taps. I handed the rod to Erin and a couple of casts later she connected with the first fish, which fell off before it reached shore. Her second fish came a few casts later, which also broke free before being landed.
The bites continued on basically every cast. Rainbow trout were landed, as well as some of the cutthroat trout that are native to the lake. These pretty cutthroat trout in Alice Lake are around 6 to 8 inches long, but some do grow beyond this size range. The average weight of stocked rainbow trout is around 250g.
After catching fish on and off for several hours, we decided to hike up to Edith Lake for a change of scenery. The hike from Alice Lake to Edith Lake takes about 20 minutes, via a steep yet well maintained trail. The trail crosses a creek that runs from Edith to Alice a couple of times, making the hike rather interesting.
We arrived at Edith Lake at 4:00pm, so it is mostly in the shade. Fish could be seen rising regularly. What a lovely little pond. Its shore access is limited but spincasting is doable at certain spots. I whipped out the spoon as soon as we settled at our spot. In no time, rainbow trout could not keep themselves off it. One after another were brought to shore in a short span of time. If a fish is lost, another would grab the spoon if I allowed it to sink again.
After an hour of action, we finally had enough of the mosquitos hovering around us. I wasn't totally done once we hiked down to the parking lot, where I made a few more casts on the floating dock and hooked two before we were really done.
If urban fisheries such as Lafarge, Rice, Green Timbers are not your cup of tea, then perhaps give Alice, Brohm, Edith, Stump in Squamish a try. The drive maybe slightly longer, but the experience is priceless.
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Topic: Alice and Edith Lakes, April 22nd 2008 (Read 3040 times)