Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column, Sept 14 to 21, 2015


?With two Indians, I went fishing, here the fly seemed useless? In the middle of the lake we saw two Indians,.. I signed to our men to join them, and we found at the bottom of their canoe about twenty four beautiful trout and char, varying in size from about two to six pounds. The owners of the boat were a man and his squaw, who lived at the Lake. The squaw showed me their spoil with evident pleasure. After looking at me as if I were a curiosity ? She devoted her attention to our flies which she regarded most contemptuously?? Mrs. Algernon St. Maur, Duchess of Somerset?s account of fishing Lake Cowichan, BC, taken from her book,
?Impressions of a Tenderfoot?, 1890.

By the 1890?s angling east of the continental divide was becoming increasingly more refined, while angling in the Pacific North west remained wild, backward, and parochial.

?Some persons connected with a survey of the line? informed me that they had angled with natural fly every evening? But had never succeeded in capturing more than one trout a piece? with artificial fly I took eleven, the largest about a pound in weight, on the only evening I was there.? Sir Henry Seton Karr, recounting his experience fishing the Thompson river at Spences Bridge, taken from his book, Bear hunting in the White Mountains or Alaska and British Columbia Revisited, 1891.



The Report

Our lower mainland lakes are fishing well. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try: Chironomid, Wooly Bugger, Doc Spratley, Halfback, Micro Leach, Six Pack, Souboo, Pumpkinhead, Damsel Nymph, American Coachman, or Baggy Shrimp. For dry (floating) fly fishing try: Lady McConnell, Big Ugly, Elk Hair Caddis, Griffith Gnat, Irresistible, or Royal Coachman. For kokanee try: Bloodworm, San Juan Worm, Red Spratley, Red Ibis, Double Trude, or small Red Zonker.

Our local bass and panfish waters are fishing very well. For bass try: Foam Frog, Poppers, Chernobyl Ant, Stimulator, Adult Damsel, Adult Dragon, Big Black, Wooly Bugger, Dragon Nymph, Pumpkinhead, Dolly Whacker, Lefty?s Deceiver, or Clouser?s Deep Minnow. For Panfish try Bloodworm, Chironomid, Micro Leach, Pumpkinhead, Popper, Black Gnat, Trico, Mosquito, or Royal Coachman.

Fishing on our interior lakes is good. For wet fly fishing try: Chironomid, Big Black, 52 Buick, Dragon Nymph, Halfback, Butler?s Bug, Doc Spratley, Green Spratley, Pumpkinhead, Green Carey, Damsel Nymph, Dragon Nymph, or Baggy Shrimp. For dry fly fishing try: Tom Thumb, Double Hackled Peacock, Elk hair Caddis, Goddard Caddis, Royal Wulff, or Irresistible.


The Fraser River is good for pink and spring. For pink try: Pink Eve, Cathy?s Coat, hot pink Wooly Bugger, or Happy Hooker. For spring try: Big Black, GP, Flat Black, Squamish Poacher, Popsicle, or Kauffman?s black Stone.

The Harrison River is fair to good for cutthroat and pink. For cutthroat try: Rolled Muddler, American Coachman, Tied Down Minnow, Stone Nymph, Eggo, Cased Caddis, Czech Nymph, Hares Ear Nymph, or Irresistible.

The Vedder River is good for: Pink and the odd spring.

The Thompson River is fair to good for spring, jack, and rainbow. For spring and jack try: try the spring patterns suggested above along with Kauffman's Golden Stone. Try: California Blond, Rolled Muddler, Kaufmanns Stone, Stimulator, Joe?s Hopper, Tom Thumb, Irresistible, or Elk Hair Caddis.