Sport fishing column for March 22 to 29, 2010
In the third year of the Terry Fox Club; our angler of the year, M M, competed as a member of Team Canada, at the World Youth Fly Fishing Championship in Ireland. His qualifying for the team was the culmination of a year long self improvement program for the members of our club.

As coordinator of the club I was not happy with reputation of our club, due to the fact the majority of our members to put it politely were not pillars of society. I knew that my boys were nothing more than misdirected, and needed motivation and goals. To remedy this we instated a point system. Points were awarded for attending club functions, each fish landed, size of fish, and weight of fish. Contact was made with each member's teachers and points were removed for missing classes or detentions. All points would be used to determine the angler of the year. Along with this competition we instituted the Fraser Valley Middle & High School Fly Fishing Championship to promote friendly competition between school based fly fishing clubs. By the end of the year everyone's attitude, marks, and attendance had all improved. For our angler of the year M M it was a metamorphosis, from Bad apple to ambassador. Was he perfect? No but he was trying; and in the end that is all we can ask.

I think our Team Canada Captain Todd Oishi called it right, before the National last year when he said Fly fishing is a gentleman's sport.

The report

Fishing on our lower mainland lakes are fishing well again. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try: Chironomid, Bloodworm, Big Black, Wooly bugger, Micro Leach, Baggy Shrimp, Coachman, Cased caddis, Zulu, or Doc Spratley. For dry (floating) fly fishing on sunny afternoons, try: Tom Thumb, Lady McConnel, Irresistible, Renegade, Black Gnat, Griffith Gnat, Royal Coachman, or Elk Hair Caddis. For kokanee try: Red Abbis, Red Spratley, Bloodworm, Royal Coachman, San Juan Worm, or red Micro Leach.

The Fraser River back waters and sloughs are fishing well for cutthroat, rainbow, and dolly varden. For cutthroat and rainbow try: Eggo, Rolled Muddler, Mickey Finn, Tied Down Minnow, Professor, Lioness, Kaufmann Stone Nymph, Royal Wullf Coachman, Zulu, Chez Nymph, Black Gnat, Souboo, irresistible, Elk Hair Caddis, or Stimulator. For dolly varden try: large (#4 to #2) Eggo, Flesh Fly, Rolled Muddler, Zonker, Clouser's Deep Minnow, black Popsicle, or Big Black.

The Stave River is good for cutthroat, rainbow, steelhead, and whitefish. For whitefish try: small (#14 to#20) Eggo, Flesh Fly, Griffith Gnat, Stone Nymph, Chironomid, or Caddis Nymph. For steelhead try: Squamish Poacher, Thor, GP, Popsicle, Big Black, Flat Black, Poplar Shrimp, Eggo, Purple Peril, Holliman, Steelhead Spratley, Steelhead Nightmare, or Kaufmann Stone.

The Harrison River is good for cutthroat, and rainbow.

The Chehalis River is good for steelhead, cutthroat, dolly varden, and rainbow.

The Vedder River is fair to for steelhead, cutthroat, and rainbow.

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