British Columbia Fishing Blog

A few weeks ago, Nina and I decided to visit Alta lake in Whistler for a day of trout fishing. It is a lake that we have visited for several years now. We enjoy it for a couple of reasons – The good fishing for trout at various sizes and the calmness due to the absence of speed boats.

When we arrived at the launch around early afternoon, a RCMP officer and a conservation officer were getting ready to launch their boat. I decided to wait for them to finish as we had plenty of time. Once their boat was in the water to do their patrol, I eagerly approached them with our freshwater fishing licences and my pleasure craft licence just to demonstrate what a law abiding citizen I am.

Once the licences were checked and I was about to happily walk away to get our boat ready, the conservation officer started to do a check list.

“Do you have your life jacks?”
“Yep!”
“Do you have a sound signal device like a whistle?”
“Um, no…”
“Do you have a watertight flashlight?”
“Uh, no…”
“How about a 15m buoyant heaving line?”
“Yes but it’s in the car…”
“Finally, you need a bailer.”
“Yeah, we don’t have one of those either.”

The officer explained that these items are needed for our boat, which is measured 10′ in length and has an electric motor on it. The required items are listed in the boater exam, which I have conveniently forgotten since taking it a couple of years ago. Without these items while we were operating the boat, we could have been facing a potential fine of $300! The officer “suggested” that we should obtain those items before heading out and enjoying the day, so I took a detour to the hardware store and purchased what were needed for our trip. Although it was a slight convenience, the fault was ours for not following the rules after all.

This is a good reminder that you should be well prepared before you start your boating trip this summer, both for the safety and avoiding a large fine from enforcement, which seems to be stepping up on their patrol this season. If you have not taken your boater exam and obtained your pleasure craft licence, please do that first by going to this website! You can find a list of all the required items for your boat on this page.

This past week we visited sunny Southern Okanagan, where I have not stopped by in over a decade. A good friend of ours has a cottage on the shore of Okanagan Lake and invited us to stay there for a few days while it remained vacant. I of course happily accepted the invitation as I wanted to see how the fishing is in this area. I had actually not tried fishing in this area, so I had no expectations.

Penticton and Naramata have changed greatly since my last visit. Populated with vineyards, the landscape of this region now looks more like Southern Europe. Driving through this area on the narrow, twisty Naramata Road is truly a visual treat. It’s too bad that both Nina and I are not wine drinkers, otherwise we could have taken advantage of so many interesting stops.

Whenever we travel to a new part of this province, we always look for different wildlife that are found in the area. British Columbia is so large and its terrains are so diverse, just a few hours of driving can lead you to discovery of birds and animals which you would not normally see. Along the shores of Okanagan Lake, cedar waxwing seem to dominate the air.

The sky remained clear during the first night of our stay. That is quite unusual considering how terrible the weather has been this spring. I sat by the lake and watched the stars blinking away, which is a pretty rare sight if you live in the city.

The next morning we woke up to flat calm condition on the lake. I eagerly set the boat up, because I knew the wind could pick up easily on a large lake such as the Okanagan. The view was pretty breathtaking from the boat. We stayed close to shore to avoid any possible encounter with larger waterskiing boats. With only an electric motor on the boat, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Not knowing what we would catch, we slowly trolled around with our Rooster Tails and Little Shavers. A few northern pikeminnow liked the spinner in the shallower water, while small kokanee were occasionally fooled by the Little Shaver spoon in the deeper water where they were actively feeding.

Northern pikeminnow are plentiful in this lake. People tend to demonize them because they predate on gamefish that are more sought after by anglers, but we tend to forget these are native fish which act as natural selectors of the salmonid populations.

Just south of Okanagan Lake is Skaha Lake, where multiple species of fish are found. Prior to our trip, I got in touch with Jesse Martin, who is a Pure Fishing prostaff and a regular WFN blogger. Jesse is a local resident and fishes Skaha Regularly, so it only makes sense to have him showing us where the fish are.

His specialty is bass fishing and Skaha Lake’s smallmouth bass are supposed to be plentiful. We hopped onto his boat for a few hours during our third day of the visit and this fishery definitely did not disappoint us.

Jesse showed us why locals know best. He pulled out a couple of dozen bass by using both topwater hardbodies and soft plastic baits. Meanwhile, I showed how much I enjoy catching and releasing by only bringing in two of a dozen fish which I hooked. Our visit to this fishery was brief, but we surely will return for more!

During the rest of our stay at the cottage, the lake was choppier than my liking. With a 10ft pram, it was safer to have it parked on the beach when the wind blows and bigger boats are out. I still wanted to do some fishing, so we set up a couple of carp rods on the beach. I had brought along my rod holders so I could rest the rods properly on the beach. I rigged up boilies on the hair rig, which is just a tag extended from the hook.

Boilies are hard scented doughballs, which are designed to prevent smaller fish from pecking them. The idea is to have a carp sucking in a boilie and hooking itself as the entire rig enters its mouth. Once the fish is hooked, it will start swimming away so it is important to have the drag completely loose.

My Shimano Baitrunner is designed for this fishing method, because it allows you to have two different drag settings. The loosened drag is set while the rod remains in the holder. Once the fish begins swimming away with the bait, I simply have to pick up the rod, turn the reel handle so the reel changes to the second drag setting for fish fighting. While you don’t get to feel the bites when using this method, seeing and hearing the drag screaming in the holder can also gets the adrenaline pumping.

The waiting game was in fact quite long. Good thing that we were fishing directly in front of the cabin, so we could keep ourselves occupied. For once we were able to enjoy a properly cooked meal while fishing.

There were the odd bites but nothing grand enough to startle me. Finally at one point, when I was getting almost too relaxed in the chair, the rod tip wiggled a couple of times, followed by a powerful pull. The drag began feeding line out as the fish swam off with the bait. I rushed over to grab the rod.

The tightening of the drag did not slow this fish down. It continued peeling line off the reel for 20 more seconds. Just when I was starting to worry about losing this mad fish to an underwater branch or rock, it suddenly tired itself out. I began gaining my line back before it took another run, heading to the side where a tree became my obstacle.

This went on for another five minutes before it surrendered itself in the shallow water. As the fish approached shore, I could see another carp swimming beside it, which is not that rare because they have a tendency to school together. The one on the line was perhaps 5 or 6lb. I picked it up with some trouble, because unlike a salmonid, the body was so round and slippery. After taking a picture of it, we gladly sent it back so we could continue to enjoy our dinner.

We did not encounter another carp, but I found a few more northern pikeminnow. A large one took a boilie and gave me a good tussle before the sun set. These so-called coarse fish may not jump like a salmon, but they can be just as enjoyable to play with the correct tackle.

The Okanagan region offers plenty of fishing opportunities. While we were not able to experience its trout and char fisheries during our short stay, it was still very satisfying and we look forward to return for more.

Our trip to Ruddocks Ranch last year gave us a tease on what this fishery can offer. When it comes to any new fishery, it really takes a few days to get a hang of what is going on. Last year we spent three days there and on the last day we were finally into some quality fish, but still not as big as some of the photographs that we have seen. This year, we returned for another three-day trip and were determined to find those fish in the heavier weight class.

Whether fishing is good or not, this area truly is beautiful. It’s so remote, which is hard to believe since we are only three hour drive from Vancouver. The Fraser River Canyon makes you feel so incredibly tiny. The morning view from the ranch house can never get too old.

The drive to the lake is always an adventure because of all the animal encounters, even for late morning starters such as myself.  Last year we came across a black bear. This year we came across some young mule deer, which were just as curious as us. They paused and thought about coming toward us when I took some photographs of them.

The lakeside wildlife is just as rich, when you pay attention. When the fishing is slow, it keeps this amateur photographer entertained.

Our trip was once again challenged by the weather. The week before we were scheduled to leave, the forecast called for sunny days and I was of course quite excited. As the trip approached, sunny turned to cloudy, which turned to shower and eventually rain on the day we were leaving. The cool weather is never an ideal condition for lake fishing. It could turn the fish off completely and sitting in a boat that slowly evolves into a bath tub is no fun either. Nina and I brought along our good friends Carlo, Shane and Steve, who are all pretty experienced fly anglers. Steve is also a fish culturist so he was able to provide some knowledgable information on trout in this lake.

While it stayed cloudy, the forecasted heavy rain never occurred. We had the occasional drizzle, so fishing was quite manageable. As expected, the fish were moody. Chironomids were not really hatching so the bites were not consistent. We were able to get into the usual fish in the average size class (14 -18 inches) but the big ones were not really showing themselves. Despite of their smaller size, these fish fought as if they were twice as big.

Day one ended with a lakeside dinner before returning to the ranch for some needed rest. Nina and I took our time to the lake on day two after seeing the low clouds and rain outside the window. We arrived at the lake at 11:00am and fishing had not been hot as expected, according to companions who started much earlier. Indicator fishing with chironomids was really slow so I decided to stick to stripping a wooly bugger, which seems to work most of the time when everything else fails. The result was pretty satisfying. By mid afternoon, we were able to find some beautiful rainbow trout.

As the afternoon went on, we started seeing the odd much bigger fish surfacing. Carlo eventually had a big one taking him for a ride before spitting the hook. It was his last chance as he had to work on the following day.

An hour after Carlo packed up, Steve and I both spotted a rather large fish feeding on the surface near a branch. I managed to shoot my fly out there first and after a few strips, this fish grabbed it without any hesitation. The kicks in the rod immediately suggested that this fish was in a different category. It took several robust runs and circled around the boat while I could only hold onto the rod. At one point, it dove under and the leader was caught up on an underwater branch, but luckily it swam its way out after a few seconds. When this fish surfaced, I could see that I was going to have trouble netting it. Steve quickly lifted his anchors and made his way toward me with his bigger landing net. With a precise scoop, I landed one of my biggest rainbow trout ever! Steve took his weighing scale out and weighed the fish with the net. The weight of the fish was just over 6lb. After a few quick photographs, I sent its way back so future visitors can also enjoy the same experience.

With one infamous trophy bow from Onion Lake finally under my belt, I was ready to pack up and go home! We finished the evening early but coming back to the ranch for some much needed rest. On our last day, I did not care much about catching the smaller fish and only hoped for another big, or bigger one! Nina and I started the morning late again and we did not miss much as the weather was actually cooler than the previous days. Shane and Steve both reports the absence of activities except a few small trout. We circled around the area where I had my success, caught a couple of tiny fish before catching the sight of another big fish. It was the exact same scenario. This fish made a big splash near the branch where I hooked the big one yesterday. I swiftly and quietly made our way over, position the boat so I could present the fly to it. The first cast was just too short, but the second cast was well within its range. After about 20 strips, I felt another hard take. Nina had the video camera running the entire time, so I will leave the rest of this story to the video feature that will be available later this summer!

Despite of this year’s challenging condition, our visit to Ruddocks Ranch turned out to be another memorable one. While this is a private lake that requires you to pay to use, it can be well worth it. If you wish to fish with a group of close friends or family, then this is probably the ideal fishery for you. You can book the entire lake just for your group without being interrupted by other visitors. This leaves out the stress of getting the best campsites by a public-accessed lake and still being able to tangle with some high quality gamefish. If you would like more information, please check out Ruddocks Ranch’s website.

The weather has not been exactly very predictable lately. Sunny forecast often turned into heavy rain at times in the last minute, making our fishing plan rather difficult. Yesterday morning, Jason at Bon Chovy Fishing Charters and us decided to head out for a last-minute short trip in the morning. He phoned the night before and urged us to come out. Being fair-weather fishermen, we hesitated a bit but were glad that we went after all. It turned out to be a pretty productive day!

Bon Chovy Fishing Charters offers saltwater guiding services from Downtown Vancouver and Granville Island. Their trips happen year-round and primarily focus on the salmon fisheries in Vancouver Harbour, Howe Sound, Fraser River Mouth and Gulf Islands. Depending on the season, there is always a fishery available without having to travel too far.

We dropped the crab traps off as we ventured out from Granville Island. Our first stop was the southern end of Bowen Island, where fish have a tendency to hold and feed during the outgoing tide. The target species is chinook salmon. Jason set the rods up on the downrigger, and suddenly one fish hit before the second rod was even in the holder! It was an undersized fish, but that certainly made it an exciting start. We trolled around for an hour after that without much success, so it was time for a move.

Jason decided to try the area closer to home, as it can be good at times during the incoming tide. Baitfish are pushed inshore by the current, luring salmon in at the same time. Again, the second rod went off before all the rods were in the holders! This time it was a much larger fish. Being a rookie as I was, I had trouble yanking the line out of the downrigger release clip. It took a few tries before the line was released and thankfully the fish was still on the line. With three other rods still in the water, it made the battle that much more interesting. The fish had full control on which way it wanted to go and I was doing my best to avoid the other lines. After several minutes, it surfaced and approached the boat. Jason reached the landing net out and scooped up our first keeper of the day, a beautiful feeding chinook weighing roughly around 13lb.

We managed to pick up one other keeper and lost another before the day ended. On our way back, we picked up the crab traps and also found a few keepers to go with our salmon. Crabbing is another highlight when saltwater fishing in BC. Each licenced angler is allowed to keep four per day, as long as they are males and their carapace is wider than 6.5 inches.

Overall it was a fantastic trip for our first saltwater experience from Downtown Vancouver. Jason made it seem so effortless, most likely due to his years of saltwater guiding experience. His charters currently take clients to the same fisheries as well as Gulf Islands, which have been very productive in the past week. If you are interested, please visit Bon Chovy Fishing Charters’ website or phone 604-763-5460. Our video feature for this trip is now available!

I was hoping to tangle with a steelhead on my birthday this past Wednesday, but the river did not want to cooperate. Heavy rain deteriorated river condition so we had to wait until Thursday when condition was more favourable. I gave Chris a phone call in the morning for the usual early report before venturing out for the afternoon excursion. The morning crowd seemed pretty thick but it quickly thinned off as expected after we arrived at 12:30pm.  We saw a few fish landed and lost, a good indication there was a pretty good push so I was quite optimistic.

After trying for two hours, there finally was some action. We waited for two anglers finishing a stretch that produced for me two weeks ago. One of them already had a fish on the beach while the other worked his way through. Once they were done, we moved in to give it a go. It took me three casts for the float to disappear. Actually, the float didn’t really disappear, the fish grabbed the pink worm just as I started retrieving it. The sudden tug felt almost better than the sight of a float dive.

It was a hatchery marked fish, not a mis-clipped this time. The fish was estimated to be over 10lb, but not much bigger. It was short, but broad. The tail was quite thick so my hand couldn’t get a good grip of it. Although it was a retainable fish, I noticed it was not that silver. The body had a bit of coppery shine to it and the pink cheeks were starting to show. I kept it in the water while deciding for a few seconds whether I wanted to retain it or not.  Nina took a few photographs. I decided not to keep it and was about to hold it up for one good shot of the fish, but it slipped away from my hands easily and swam away quickly.

The float went down for the second time half an hour later, almost at the same spot, but this time it came up empty. The rest of the afternoon produced nothing for us, but it was once again very nice to be fishing without many anglers in sight. Being able to land my first fish of the year and a late birthday present was a rewarding bonus.