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[Happy Clam]

Hi Bros,

I'm a fly fisher from Hong Kong. Planned to spend my Chinese New Year
holiday to Vancouver. I wanna sneak a day for fly fishing there. Some fly
fisher from BC told me that I may fish in Chilliwack river without a guide.
I'll stay in Richmond. First of all, how far is that. I may not drive in BC coz
I don't have driving experience under snowing. The guides with pick up
service is far away from my budget i.e. C$ 700 per day. Found that there
are many fly fishing river in Vancouver island also. Please advise where I may
fish without a guide and necessary preparations. I've never been Canada
before and sorry for too many questions.

Paul

[dead head]

Hey my friend I will do it for half the price!

[Rodney]

Paul, there are many flyfishing opportunities beside the Chilliwack River around Chinese New Year, but a vehicle would definitely make a big difference because most destinations are fairly far from Richmond.

Chilliwack is at least 1 hour of driving from Richmond and there are no convenient public transportations between the two cities. Perhaps you will be able to make a request on the forum to see who would be interested in hooking up with you for the day because many forum members fish the Chilliwack River on a regular basis.

If you are not limiting your target species to just winter steelhead, then perhaps you maybe interested in fishing for cutthroat trout, bull trout and mountain whitefish. These three smaller species are fairly abundant in the winter months in the Lower Mainland.

Since you are in Richmond, you may also want to explore some of the places where I regularly fish in the area as well. Although the Fraser River around Richmond is not exactly scenic, it does offer pretty good fishing opportunities year-round. With some luck, you should be able to target bull trout on the fly. Take a look at these blog entries from last January and February when I had some success.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=79

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=93

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=94

Garry Point Park in Steveston is worth trying. MacDonald Beach on Iona Island is also good. Generally anywhere along the Fraser River in Richmond can be good as long as you can get your fly line out.

With these ideas, hopefully you can expand your plans. Feel free to post up more questions and perhaps others have some ideas too. Good luck.

[Happy Clam]

Paul, there are many flyfishing opportunities beside the Chilliwack River around Chinese New Year, but a vehicle would definitely make a big difference because most destinations are fairly far from Richmond.

With these ideas, hopefully you can expand your plans. Feel free to post up more questions and perhaps others have some ideas too. Good luck.

Hi Rodney, thanks for your usefull information. I guess I should rent a car for the fishing trip
to Chilliwack river. Since I didn't fish in BC before, I wish to know which kind of rod should be
used. I have a #9 Spey rod and some single handed rods. Should I bring 2-3 rods together with
me? Sinking lines or floating lines? I'm going to buy a pair of breathable waders (the existing one
not breathable), Simms G3 is it a good choice? Is there any particular skill for steelhead or
other spices in the river? Sorry again for questions. I feel so excited to fish there soon.

[WEEFISH]

You should try asking on the fly fishing page you may get some good advice. I don't fly fish the chilliwack myself but it will be good for Steelhead while your here ( if not too much rain)...and we spey fish , fly fish,or other casting methods on this river. It is worth finding a buddy ( with car) or renting a car for better access on the river. Hope you have a great time here <"((((><

[Easywater]

If you are lucky and you hit some nice weather, the river will be spectacular.
It will be warming up a bit by then (Feb 14) and be around 8-10C as a high temperature.

I think that you should bring a few rods, single handed included.
I don't know if there is a lot spey locations but the river is not very open from mid-river up.

Definitely get breathable waders, boots and a good rain/snow jacket incase the weather is not good.

You'll have to do some internet research on what flies to use.
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/salmonid/patterns2.html
http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/shflies.htm
http://www.adiposflytying.com/

Not sure how good any of the flies are, just giving you a place to start looking for some at home.

I'm sure others will add more useful information regarding gear and flies.

[Happy Clam]

You should try asking on the fly fishing page you may get some good advice. I don't fly fish the chilliwack myself but it will be good for Steelhead while your here ( if not too much rain)...and we spey fish , fly fish,or other casting methods on this river. It is worth finding a buddy ( with car) or renting a car for better access on the river. Hope you have a great time here <"((((><

Thanks! Weefish. Once the weather is bad, I may ask my friend to make me a drive to Chilliwack

[Happy Clam]

If you are lucky and you hit some nice weather, the river will be spectacular.
It will be warming up a bit by then (Feb 14) and be around 8-10C as a high temperature.

I'm sure others will add more useful information regarding gear and flies.

Thanks! Easywater. Hopefully the weather is nice during the days I stay.

[Rodney]

Paul, I cannot provide any advice on speyfishing as I have zero experience in it. I'm sure others will give you advices on setup etc.

When fishing for trout (cutthroat trout, rainbow trout) and char (bull trout) in Lower Mainland rivers, I usually use a 4 or 5wt single hand flyrod. For line, I just use a floating line.

For gear such as waders etc, I'm not sure how much more or less they cost in Hong Kong, but it maybe worth looking into buying them in Vancouver. In the past, some of my friends from overseas who came to Vancouver to fish chose to buy in Vancouver. They usually contacted the stores for prices before arriving and made the orders if the prices were right, then picked them up when arriving.

Since you are in Richmond, a few stores that I recommend include Berry's Bait and Tackle (Just east of No. 6 Road on Westminster Highway), Pacific Angler (a convenient ride on sky train from Richmond).

[Happy Clam]

Hi Rodney, regarding the fishing spot in Chilliwack River,
I found that river in Google Map and don't know whether
it's the one you mentioned. If it's right, should I fish up
stream or down stream?

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=zh-TW&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104173991377113649877.00047ae40bf4fdee5d614&ll=49.120203,-122.103982&spn=0.003153,0.009602&t=h&z=17

Cheers.

[Kristopher]

Hi Rodney, regarding the fishing spot in Chilliwack River,
I found that river in Google Map and don't know whether
it's the one you mentioned. If it's right, should I fish up
stream or down stream?

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=zh-TW&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104173991377113649877.00047ae40bf4fdee5d614&ll=49.120203,-122.103982&spn=0.003153,0.009602&t=h&z=17

Cheers.

I would explore the whole river if you rent a car.  Lots of fishy water. 
It would be nice to have a single hander and a spey rod but I don't reccomend leaving anything in your car because it may be stolen.  If I had to choose one rod, I would go with the spey.

[Happy Clam]

Hi Fristopher, thanks for your comment. You mean I may park right
in the spot on the map? I read some post talking about Vedder crossing.
is that close by the spot? I may bring 2-3 rods together with me,
the #9 Spey rod & #6&#8 single handed. Cheers.

[canso]

you will be fishing up river from the area on the map you are showing. Start around Yarrow

here is another

http://www.sfu.ca/geography/map_gallery/Geog351/Fall00/images/vedder_river_salmon_jpg.jpg


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=richmond,+bc&daddr=Vedder+Canal,+Chilliwack,+Fraser+Valley+Regional+District,+British+Columbia,+Canada&hl=en&geocode=FftG7gIdvRWp-CmXdGldzNiFVDGdwdiLGU9GLw%3BFWQR7QId8GW5-CkfV0K0w0eEVDG_FDzkt3SdTw&mra=pe&mrcr=0&sll=49.238893,-122.373058&sspn=1.563734,3.477173&ie=UTF8&ll=49.093204,-122.050037&spn=0.04901,0.108662&t=h&z=13

[dennyman]

In my opinion, by the time you factor in all the things that you will need, such as appropriate licences and tags, plus flies, lines, fly rod, and reels, and other tackle you would be better off spending a day on the water with a fishing guide.  Look through some of the information  that has been emailed to you, but the guides spend a fair amount of time on the water and will know which river and spots are producing. Some will also look after all your tackle needs for the day so all you have to do is choose the date and time you wish to fish.  My two cents worth.

[Rodney]

Dennyman has a good point. I'm not sure which guided trips cost $700/day, because that's a lot higher than the average cost of most Fraser Valley guided trip.

Take STS Guiding Service for example, I just put this up today:

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fishy_news/091217-1.html

One-Day steelhead Fishing

This includes all gear and instructional fishing with one of our very own expert steelhead anglers. Our expert guide will show you the tricks of the trade and how to hunt those elusive steelhead down. This will be our 12th year offering one on one and small group steelhead instruction.

Total cost is $375 for 2 anglers fishing 6 - 8 hours

It maybe a good idea to have one guided trip/course, gather as much information from the guide/instructor as possible, then return for future trips alone.

Exploring on your own is always a good way to go, but if time is a factor, then the above option is worth to be considered.