British Columbia Fishing Blog

The August heat usually means it is time to move the office to the Thompson River valley. After the long weekend crowd had dispersed, Mark and I decided to pay those aggressive rainbow trout a visit. Stubborn trout and slippery boulders can make these excursions very frustrating at times, but past trips have always brought unexpected excitement and new findings that keep drawing us back.

We arrived in Spences Bridge on August 6th and were greeted by Roy and Sarah at Acacia Grove RV Park and Cabins. Acacia Grove makes camping luxurious. Our campsite is just a short walk from the river. The park also has showering facility, which makes sleeping much easier at the end of a long hot fishing day.

Silver twins, ready for action

 
Casting and hoping for a tug under the bright sun

The first afternoon scouting under the scorching sun was not rewarding as expected. A few tugs were felt, but they were from tinies that did not know any better. The only wiggly object that was unfortunately brought back with the stonefly nymph was this juvenile salmon.

After dinner, it was time for some serious business. The evening hours usually bring out the biggest trout that are seeking for a surface feed. Upon our arrival at a new spot, I sent out a golden stonefly nymph to see if I could be tugged. Meanwhile, Mark immediately generated some splashes further downstream but none stayed on his hook. After three or four connections, I decided to find out what the secret was. It turned out that he had been teasing them with a dry fly. I chose to walk downstream from both of them where I spotted some rises. A few drifts later, a tiny bob beneath the surface buried the fly. My dry fly experience is minimal, so even though I was staring at it intently, it took two more seconds to register that some fish had gotten it in its mouth. I set the hook, which was actually unnecessary because the trout was already swimming away with it. It took a few robust runs like what most rainbow trout from Interior BC would do before surrendering itself in the shallows. The scar at the edge of its jaw indicates that this fish was already caught before, a pretty typical sign in a fishery where catch and release is primarily practiced.

Ready to be released

Rising moon at dusk and a quiet river make a peaceful setting

Continue…

The newbie who lost the fish can file a report.

Five things to do while barfishing…

1) Sit, wait and stare.

2) Start a fire.

3) Roast a toast.

4) Attempt to net the bell that you have lost while demonstrating in a video on how not to lose a bell.

5) Snooze.

When these five tasks are complete, one may move onto the sixth task.

Catch a pikeminnow.

And another dozen.

The hands may get smelly after awhile.

Taking advantage of the splendid weather that we are currently enjoying in Vancouver, we took a short trip down to London’s Landing in Steveston to see how the fishing is before our big event on Saturday. The water remains muddy, due to this year’s late freshet. Fish were co-operating at times. We connected with three common species that are found in the tidal portion of the Fraser River.

Peamouth chub

Northern pikeminnow

Pacific staghorn Sculpin

We also had some feathery visitors that kept the evening very entertaining.

We took advantage of the sunny weather that was expected in Merritt by doing an overnight lake trip several days ago. Interior British Columbia offers excellent stillwater trout fishing in May and June. Those who have tried it always make sure their holiday is planned around this time of the year. The trip was short but very successful, with plenty of fish in the 2 to 4lb range landed. Here are some photographs that I wish to share with our readers.

This trip allowed us to try out our new products from Stryker Rods. Stryker Rods is based in Surrey and its custom built fishing rods are first-class. This is a 9′ 5wt flyfishing rod, nicely coupled with an Islander LX 3.4.

Expect this to happen from time to time when using two rods. Interior rainbow trout have a tendency to make a mess when the angler is not paying attention.

Dress for all types of weather when fishing in Interior BC during spring.

Monstrous northern pikeminnow take a fly from time to time when they can get to it before hungry rainbow trout.

Interior BC rainbow trout in the 14″ to 20″ size range is probably the most popular gamefish in this province.

A quiet boat companion. Hatches take place during the day while fishing. It is a good idea to pay attention to what land on your boat to understand what the fish are biting on.

A casualty. After numerous tough battles, this fly finally retires.

Today’s outing on a Lower Mainland lake was the best one so far this season. After hooking numerous fish on a brown leech pattern, I rigged up a flyfishing rod with an indicator for my friend Erin who has never flyfished before. After several misses, the indicator took a dip and remained under for a long time. Without being alerted, Erin yanked the rod back and the full bend suggested a much larger fish at the other end. I had to stop Erin from stripping in the line so quickly because the fish was pulling just as hard at the other end. With constant headshakes, this fish remained in the deep as it made its way to the boat.

Its first surfacing had me looking for the landing net frantically. It was easily the biggest cutthroat trout that I have seen from this lake! I leaned over to see where it was. A couple of times it made us hold our breath as it went for the anchor rope. The fly line’s loop connector to the leader was now caught at the rod tip. She had no way to bring the fish to the surface and I was too afraid to grab the line. Finally with some pulling the loop freed itself from the tip and the fish resurfaced. On my third try, I managed to slipped the entire fish into the net.  Not only was it long, it was fat unlike some of the early season fish that we often see. The semi-silvery, heavily spotted body also made it the prettiest specimen I have seen to date.

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC produces and stocks a strain of cutthroat trout that are known as Taylor 3N. Even though most Southern Coastal BC lakes’ low nutrient productivity is unable to yield large trout, these ferocious cutthroat trout often grow rapidly by feeding on larger food items such as leeches and sticklebacks. Released as yearlings, their average size can reach 5lb in two to three years. The fishing is especially good at lakes that are stocked with Taylor 3Ns and designated as a catch and release fishery. Look out for these lakes by searching the stocking history and take advantage of the first class fisheries around you.