Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column and Report

[fishingnewsman]

Weekly Fraser Valley Sport fishing column; Feb 2 to 9, 2015




Well Thanks to the works of Paul Shullery I have found my way down the rabbit hole of silence surrounding the origins of North American sport fishing. The trail leads back to the colonists, who got their start in our sport, on the other side of the Atlantic.

As it turns out sport fishing had been a well established pastime in Europe and the British Isles since the 1200?s. Britain became the leader in sport fish during the 15 and 1600?s by mass producing sporting equipment along with publishing sporting books and magazines. During this period Canada and the US were colonized by three counties Britain, France, and Spain; north eastern Canada and lands along the Mississippi River by the French. California by the Spanish and all other locations along both coasts by the British. With Britain having control of the sport fishing industry at the time, it is easy to see how all things concerning sport in the new world (before the American Revolution) were filtered through England.

Enter politics and religion; and at this time in history the two were very tightly aligned. One religious sect, the Puritans, who had a strong disdain for the pursuit of pleasure, held much influence both on England and the New World. While the Puritans could not control the well established press in England, they maintained tight control of materials printed in the Colonies, leaving these early anglers to practice their sport covertly. As the migration to the new world continued commercial colonies sprang up and opposing the strict religious ones. As populations increased people wanted to shake off the restraints of the stiff necked Puritans and taverns replaced churches as the focal point of town cultures. When the tight controls were thrown off, Sport fishing and recreation quickly came out of the closet. Publication of sporting material was still strictly controlled at this time but most anglers kept journals. The most noted anglers of this era are: Reverend Ebenezer Bridge of Massachusetts, John Rowe of Boston, Robert Beverly of Virginia, Colonel Henry Bouquet, and Richard Penn of Pennsylvania.


More next week.




The Report

Fishing on our lower mainland lakes is good. Try fishing dead slow close to shore, in and around the north east section of your favorite lake, with a: Bloodworm, Chironomid, Wooly Bugger, Leach, Dragon nymph, Halfback, or Baggy Shrimp.

The Fraser River is fair to good for cutthroat and dolly varden. For cutthroat try: Rolled Muddler, Flesh Fly, Anderson Stone, Eggo, Chez Nymph, Big Black, black Stonefly Nymph, or Micro Leach.

The Vedder River is good for steelhead. Try GP, Squamish Poacher, Polar Shrimp, Popsicle, Big black, Flat Black, Eggo, or black Stonefly Nymph.

The Harrison River is good for rainbow, and cutthroat. For rainbow try: Rolled Muddler, Zulu, Eggo, Chez Nymph, Big Black, Black Stone Nymph, Micro Leach.