Sport fishing column for August 29 to Sept 5, 2011

At dusk I paddled our canoe over to where I could talk to the man we had watched catch fish after fish all evening.

"My wife and I have been watching you all evening. If you don't mind me asking; how many fish have you landed and what pattern have you been using?"

"I quit counting at forty," said the man in the boat. My pattern it's one my Grandmother taught me; knit one pearl two."

I smiled and said, "Okay, I'll bite; what fly pattern have you been using?"

"Oh. You want to know my fly pattern. Well since I can see you are fly fishers and not lure draggers, I'll tell you. I started with a Black Gnat, but it was not producing enough so I switched to a Royal Coachman and well, you have seen the results."

Still thinking he was joking I said, "okay enough with the jokes, this is 1992 not 1932; now what fly were you really using?"

With that his countenance changed and he shot me a stern look saying "Young man I am going to give you a piece of advice. What works, works, and what doesn't, doesn't, period. And if you want to see success in this game you better except that fact? Now, do you have any Royal Coachman in your fly box?"

"Yes I do," I responded.

"Are you going to try them tomorrow," he asked?

"Yes," I answered.

"Good, I will be back in two days to see how you are making out."

The place was Kwotlenemo Lake, during the first week of July 1992. The man was Hal Staythers, the then owner of the IDA Drugstore in Lillooet. Hal did return, in fact he returned each evening for the balance of our vacation and coached us through some of the best fly we had experienced to that date.


The report

Fishing on our lower mainland lakes is fair. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try: Coachman, American Coachman, Professor, Wooly Bugger, Micro Leach, Sixpack, Dragonfly Nymph, Halfback, Doc Spratley, Baggy Shrimp, or Zulu. For dry (floating) fly action try: Tom Thumb, Irresistible, Black Gnat, Griffith Gnat, Royal Coachman, or Renegade.

Fishing on our interior lakes is good. For better success try early mornings and evenings with, Wooly Bugger, Micro Leach, Egg Sucking Leach, Pumpkinhead, Dragonfly Nymph, Halfback Nymph, 52 Buick, Doc Spratley, Green Spratley, Souboo, or Baggy Shrimp for wet fly fishing. For dry fly try: Irresistible, Black Gnat, Griffith Gnat, Tom Thumb, Renegade, Double Hackled Peacock, Goddard Caddis, or Elk Hair Caddis.

The Fraser River is fishing well for sockeye and spring, with some cutthroat and dolly Varden in the mix. For spring try: Popsicle, Big Black, Stonefly Nymph, Squamish Poacher, or Eggo. For sockeye try: patterns in lime green or Chartreuse. For cutthroat try: Eggo, Rolled Muddler, Tied Down Minnow, Mickey Finn, Stonefly Nymph, or American Coachman. For dolly Varden try: Zonker, Eggo, Clouser's Deep Minnow, dolly Whacker, or Bucktail.

The Stave River is fair for rainbow and cutthroat. For rainbow try: Elk Hair Caddis, Tom Thumb, Golden Stonefly Nymph, Irresistible, Stimulator, Coachman, Zulu, or Lioness.

The Harrison River is good for sockeye, cutthroat, and rainbow.

The Thompson and Nicola Rivers are good for rainbow and spring.