Sport fishing column for August 2 to 9, 2010

I am back from my short vacation, with some lessons learned. Safety is #1. While some of us teach water safety, general safety is often taken for granted. My lesson was administered as it often is, through experience when I slipped on a wet step coming out of my father's motor home. Landing flat on my back, on those steps kept me from fishing for the first four days; traveling was challenging. Fortunately I stay in shape enough and maintain good back health which helped in keeping a painful circumstance from being a catastrophe. The fishing was good when we finally got to it; more on that next week. The moral for this week's column: stay safe and stay in shape, for good fishing.


The report

Our lower mainland lake fishing (trout and kokanee) remains good. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try: Big Black, Nation's Black, Baggy Shrimp, Coachman, Cased Caddis, Halfback, Dragon Nymph, Carey Special, Zulu, or Doc Spratley. For dry (floating) fly fishing try: Tom Thumb, Renegade, Black Gnat, Foam Ant, 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.

Local bass and crappie dry fly fishing is good. For bass try: Size #4 to #1 Wooly Bugger, Big Black, Blood Leach, Matuka, Popin Bugs, Chernobyl Ants, Turks Tarantula, Crayfish, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Epoxy Minnow, Deceiver, Muddler Minnow, Dolly Whacker, Bucktail, Hair Frog, Irresistible, or Tom Thumb. For crappie try: Black Gnat, Lady McConnel, Coachman, Royal Coachman, Ant, chartreuse Boobie, Wooly Bugger, Trico, Griffith Gnat, or Irresistible.

Fishing on our interior lakes is slowing down. Mornings and evening are the ticket now. For wet fly fishing try: Chironomid, Pumpkinhead, 52 Buick, Wooly Bugger, Micro Leach, olive Matuka, Butler's Bug, Halfback, Baggy Shrimp, Sooboo, Sixpack, or Green Spratley. For dry fly fishing try: Lady McConnel, Irresistible, Big Ugly, Double Hackled Peacock, Tom Thumb, Royal Wulff, Goddard Sedge, Sofa Pillow, or Elk Hair Caddis.

The Fraser River is high but fishable for spring, dolly varden, cutthroat, and rainbow. Looks like sockeye will open soon. For spring try: Kaufmann Stone, Eggo, Popsicle, Squamish Poacher, GP, Big Black or Flat Black. For cutthroat and rainbow try: Rolled Muddler, Mickey Finn, Tied Down Minnow, Professor, Lioness, Kaufmann Stone, Coachman, Zulu, Chez Nymph, Black Gnat, Sooboo, Irresistible, Elk Hair Caddis, or Stimulator. For dolly varden try: large (#4 to #2) Rolled Muddler, Zonker, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Dolly Whacker, black Popsicle, or Big Black.

The Vedder River is good for spring and rainbow.

The Stave River is good for cutthroat and rainbow.

The Harrison River is high but fishable with a water craft.

The Thompson and Nicola rivers are both fishing well for rainbow. Try Kaufmann Stone, Chez Nymph, Hairs Ear, Roller Muddler, Tom Thumb (standard or red bodied), Grass Hopper, Stimulator, Chernobyl Ant, Irresistible, or Elk Hair Caddis.

You can find more on my blog; The Reel Life Press.