Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column, Oct 12 to 19, 2015

For over a century, British Columbia has been noted as holding some of the world?s greatest fisheries, starting in 1906 with Sir Richard Musgrave, and his catches of record Chinook salmon. Following Musgrave in that same year was William T Hornady, the Director of the New York Zoological Park.

?The cut-throat trout is after all; a dainty biter although he takes an imitation mayfly swiftly, and even joyously, he does not greedily gulp it far down into his anatomy, and makes all kinds or trouble. He seizes with lips only; not his throat; and almost invariably the hook is found holding feebly in his lips?? Taken from Hornady?s book, Campfires in the Canadian Rockies.

A year later in 1907, Dr Thomas Wilson (TW) Lambert, would document the most incredible, substantiated, fish tale I have heard; in his book, Fishing in British Columbia.

?About twenty-three miles from Kamloops there is a lake known as Fish Lake, in which the fishing is so extraordinary as to border on the regions of romance, though locally it is considered a matter of course?

In the summer of 1897 an American proposed to me that we should go up and try what good tackle could do; in fact, he proposed that we should go up and try to make a record. We went up in the first week of August, and the result far surpassed our wildest imaginations. We fished three full days, and brought back 1500 trout, which weighed 700 lb, cleaned and salted.?



The Report

Our lower mainland lakes are fishing fair to good. 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.


Our local bass and panfish waters are fishing 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 fair to 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 Coho, spring, chum, and pink. For coho try: Coho Blue, Christmas Tree, olive or black Wooly Bugger, Coho killer, Bite Me, or Rolled Muddler. 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. For chum try: Popsicle, Flat Black, Christmas Tree, Dec 25th, Met Green, or Holliman.

The Harrison River is fair to good for cutthroat, coho, pink, spring, and chum . 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: Coho, spring, and chum.