Fishing report for Sept 29 to Oct 6, 2008

Sport fishing in the era of the 1940's began much the same as it had in previous times with fly fishing in the for front. The BC flies produced during this era are as follows:

Lioness; fashioned by Terry Maunsell for rainbow and cutthroat trout.

Boulton's Special; fashioned by Denny Boulton for Capilano River Steelhead.

Cowichan Special; created by Ron Saysell for Cowichan River Steelhead.

Golden Girl; created by Roderick Haig-Brown for Vancouver Island Steelhead.

Doc Spratley; produced by Dick Prankard for Kamloops Trout. This famous BC fly originated in 1948 as a special order request for Mt Vernon dentist; Dr. Donald Spratley.

Last on the list are two of Tommy Brayshaw's trout flies; Dusk and Maggot, along with the first of his Coquihala Steelhead patterns: Coquihala Orange, Coquihala Silver, and Coquihala Dark Orange. It would be these Coquihala Steelhead flies and his intimate knowledge of the Coquihala River that would soon earn Brayshaw international fame.

Fishing on our lower mainland lakes is good. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try Chironomid, Bloodworm, Micro Leach, Pheasant Tail Nymph, Doc Spratley, Green Spratley, Dragonfly Nymph, Coachman, Carey Special, Zulu, or Baggy Shrimp. For dry (floating) fly fishing try Tom Thumb, Renegade, Lady McConnel, Elk Hair Caddis, Adams, Griffith Gnat, Royal Coachman, or Brayshaw's Fancy.

Our interior lakes are fishing well also. For wet fly fishing try: Big Black, Wooly Bugger, chironomid, Bloodworm, Nations Silver Tip Sedge, Halfback, Souboo, Sixpack, Butlers Bug, 52 Buick, olive Matuka, or Baggy Shrimp. For dry fly, try: Lady McConnel, Irresistible, Double Hackled Peacock, Goddard Sedge, Tom Thumb, Adams, Royal Wulff, or Black Gnat.

The Fraser River is good for spring. Try large (#1 or #2) Eggo, Popsicle, GP, Flat Black, Big Black, or Kaufman Stone.

The Vedder River is good for rainbow, spring, coho, and early chum. For rainbow try Stonefly Nymph, Elk Hair Caddis, Tom Thumb, Zulu, Irresistible, Adams, Renegade, Grasshopper, or Stimulator. For coho try Christmas Tree, Coho Blue, olive Wooly Bugger, Egg sucking Leach, Bite Me, or Roller Muddler. For early chum try Christmas Tree, Squamish Poacher, Happy Hooker, Flat Black, green Wooly Bugger, or Met Green.

The Harrison is good for cutthroat and spring. For cutthroat try Rolled Muddler, Tied Down Minnow, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Bucktail, Stonefly Nymph, Coachman, American Coachman, Lioness, Zulu, Black Gnat, Souboo, or Sixpack.

The Chehalis River is slow to fair for rainbow, with the odd early spring, and coho.

The Stave River is fair for early coho and chum.

The Thompson is good for rainbow. Try Joe's Hopper, Tom Thumb, Irresistible, Chernobyl Ant, Elk Hair Caddis, or Stimulator.

The BC Outdoors Magazine, BC Back Roads Tour, will be on location at Abbotsford Toyota on Oct 3, White Rock Toyota Oct 4, and Pitt Meadows Toyota Oct 5. Come out and hear the likes of Rick Passek, Percy Williamson, Art Lingren, Rob Voldala, Jason Ofner, and Chris Blake.

Until the next time, "Keep your fly in the water".