Fishing report for Jan 12 to 19, 2009



The 1960's saw a jump in the production of BC related sport fishing literature.

Roderick Haig-Brown was first out of the gate in 1961, with "The Living Land." While this work was primarily a book on conservation Haig-Brown did include chapters on both BC salmon and sport fishing.

John Fennelly was next in 1963, with "Steelhead Paradise." Fennelly's work includes some of the first documented accounts of steelhead fly fishing along some of the more famous Skeena River tributaries.

In 1964, The Province news paper's sport fishing columnist, Mike Cramond released his BC sport fishing book "Game Fishing In The West."

Roderick Haig-Brown was in print again with two books in 1964: "Fisherman's Fall," which was another addition to his famous fisherman's series and "A Primer of Fly Fishing." The latter is one of my all time favorite Haig-Brown books.
I feel it bears mentioning that, after making allowances for available equipment, I have found very few books that can compare with this solid down to earth instruction manual.

1965 saw two books: "Fresh Water Fishing- your questions answered," by Anthony Bristowe and "Flies of the Northwest," by the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club. While the latter book was not specifically on BC fly patterns many of the entries were BC flies.

Silvermere Lake is still covered with a soft coating of ice which means our lower mainland lakes are still not safe to fish yet. As I mentioned last week, a working alternative is the many beach fisheries found around the estuaries of our many lower mainland streams. Sea-run cutthroat trout can be found in abundances in these areas at this time while they await natures call to return to their natal streams. Flies to try include: American Coachman, Lioness, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Mickey Finn, Rolled Muddler, Peter Ross, Coachman, Professor, or Werner Shrimp.

The Fraser River backwaters and sloughs are fishing well for cutthroat and dolly varden. For cutthroat try: Eggo, Flesh Fly, Rolled Muddler, Tied Down Minnow, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Bucktail, Mickey Finn, Winter Stone, Coachman, American Coachman, Lioness, Zulu, Souboo, Big Black, Micro Leach, or Sixpack. For dolly varden try: large (#4 to #1) Flesh Fly, Eggo, Bucktail, Rolled Muddler, Zonker, Big Black, or Kaufmann's Black Stone.

The Vedder River is fair to good for rainbow, dolly varden, and Steelhead. For rainbow try: Eggo, Stonefly Nymph, Elk Hair Caddis, Tom Thumb, Zulu, Fire Ball, Irresistible, Adams, Renegade, Grasshopper, or Stimulator. For Steelhead try: Big Black, Flat Black, Squamish Poacher, Thor, Polar Shrimp, Popsicle, pink Eggo, Happy Hooker, or Kaufmann's Black Stone

The Harrison is good for cutthroat, rainbow, and whitefish. For cutthroat try: Eggo, Rolled Muddler, Tied Down Minnow, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Bucktail, Stonefly Nymph, Coachman, American Coachman, Fire Ball, Lioness, Zulu, Black Gnat, Souboo, or Sixpack. For whitefish try: small (size #16 to 12) Eggo, black Micro Leach, black Wooly Bugger, black Stonefly Nymph, or Flesh Fly.

The Chehalis River is fair for rainbow, and steelhead.

The Stave River is fair for cutthroat, rainbow, and whitefish.

The Squamish River is fair for rainbow, cutthroat, and dolly varden.

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