Sport fishing column for Jan 18 to 25, 2010


What a change from a year ago; here we are at what is usually the coldest week of the year and the birds are singing in the back yard. Spring has started, in spite of what some are hoping for. All the signs are saying it: the Sea Gulls are gathering at various points along the Fraser for their annual fry feast, the boys at the maintenance shop where I earn my daily bread have already started their daily spring sneeze off, first truck this year has gone through the ice on one of the interior lakes, and I'm already hearing complaints about mosquitoes. To a fisherman's these signs are "all good." Aside from a bit more rain than we would like, the fishing has held up well, right through late fall and winter, and now that el Ni?o is here it's going to get even better. Warm water means active fish and no-one knows that better than Master Al who marked his first fish of the year at 7:58 AM, January 1. If this warm trend continues, which I believe it will, we can expect our local lakes to turn over within two weeks, from there it will be nothing but taillights right through to July. Get ready to fish hard folks, this year's is going to be a good one.

The Report

Our lower mainland lakes are offering good winter fishing. Concentrate on the warmer water, close to shore, in the north eastern sections, of your favorite lake, from mid morning through mid after noon. Try a slow retrieve or troll with Big Black, Wooly bugger, Micro Leach, Baggy Shrimp, Coachman, Bloodworm, Chironomid, Cased caddis, Zulu, or Doc Spratley.

The Fraser River back waters and sloughs are fishing well for cutthroat and rainbow. For cutthroat try: Flesh Fly, Eggo, Egg & Eye Alevin, Rolled Muddler, Mickey Finn, Tied Down Minnow, Professor, Lioness, Winter Stone, Coachman, Zulu, Chez Nymph, or Souboo. For rainbow try the above along with red Spratley, red Carey, Kaufmann Stone, Royal Coachman or Black Gnat.

The Stave River is good for cutthroat, rainbow, and whitefish. For whitefish try: small (#14 to#20) Eggo, Flesh Fly, Griffith Gnat, Stone Nymph, Chironomid, or Caddis Nymph.

The Harrison River is good for cutthroat.

The Chehalis River is fair for steelhead, cutthroat and rainbow. For steelhead try: Squamish Poacher, Thor, GP, Popsicle, Big Black, Flat Black, polar Shrimp, Eggo, Steelhead Nightmare, Purple Peril, Holliman, Kaufmann Stone, or Steelhead Spratley.

The Vedder River is good for steelhead, cutthroat, and rainbow.

The Squamish River is good for cutthroat, and dolly varden. For dolly varden try: large #4 to #2, Zonker, Eggo, Bucktail, Big Black, or Clouser's Deep Minnow.

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