British Columbia Fishing Blog

Many of you have been asking questions since our Chilliwack location was closed. Here is a video from Fred who explains the move and an update on future plans. Fred will be working closely with Rod and hopefully provide a couple of video updates per month from now on. These updates can either be fishing overviews/reports, some tips for current fisheries in the Fraser Valley, upcoming events, etc. If there are suggestions, please let us know. Thank you!

So we have been off the radar for a few days again, but for once it has not been fishing related. My rule on Fishing with Rod is usually to keep our personal life events private but over the years many of you have developed a relationship with us so once awhile we’d like to share our special moments with you.

Since FWR started in 2001, I’ve watched many young fans growing up from as early as elementary school to grown men and women. Many learned how to fish through the website, and some gained advices from me personally when it comes to career choice. Beside making me feel like a dinosaur, it has been a very rewarding process. 

Back in March and April 2016, Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (GoFishBC) hosted a series of public information sessions so you can find out more about what FFSBC is doing to maintain and improve recreational freshwater fisheries in this province. During the sessions, VP of Science from FFSBC made two presentations and they can now be viewed here if you missed the sessions. The first video is an overview on who FFSBC is and what they do. The second video is about developing new freshwater fishing licencing products.

Last weekend was the annual BC Family Fishing Weekend, and Berry’s Bait and Tackle in Richmond hosted another free kids fishing event during their Fathers Day Sale. As a way to show their appreciation to the loyal customers and give back to the recreational fishing community, the store set up two trout fishing ponds and purchased 600 rainbow trout for all the kids to catch in two days. Included in the ponds were ten fish that weighed 6 to 8lb each! The weather was a little wet, but that certainly didn’t dampen all the little anglers’ spirit. Here are some photographs I captured from the event. If you plan on going fishing make sure you bring your spinning reel.

Since last year, we have committed to bring one young angler along with us to at least one of our filming projects every year. Last year, we took Wyatt who managed to land a huge white sturgeon with Lang’s Fishing Adventures.

This year, we’ve picked young Jacob, who helped out at “Chilliwack’s All About Fishing” back in March by teaching people how to tie knots. Last week, Jacob came along with me on a brook trout fishing trip in the Thompson-Nicola Region. We picked a lake near Merritt so a day trip was possible.

The method of choice was suspending a chironomid fly pattern under an indicator as these fish are busy feeding on the larvae which emerge from the bottom of the lake.

At first, we managed to miss most of the bites and caught the odd small ones.

After some adjustments to the fly patterns and depth they were suspended at, we quickly connected with multiple fish.

Jacob managed to catch several beauties which weighed between 1 and 2lb. Not only did he catch fish, he also learned how to adjust the float depth properly, and pick the right fly by observing the chironomids he pumped.

June 17th to 19th is BC Family Fishing Weekend. During this weekend, fishing licences are free for anyone who wants to try out fishing for the first time. This is a great opportunity to introduce this fantastic recreation to your family and friends.