Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column, Nov 16 to 25, 2015

?All my life, I have envied country boys, backwoodsman, native fishermen, and the hardy men who eke out a living from the deep. For they see nature?s wonders. They are always there, at daybreak and sunset, and they catch the most and biggest fish.? Zane Grey.

While the Tyee of British Columbia were calling adventures from Britain, Steelhead were firing the hearts of outdoorsmen in the east. One of those easterners was a Philadelphia dentist, with the unusual first name of Pearl.

In 1902, Pearl was the youngest member in the of the Camp Fire Club of America; rubbing shoulders with the likes of William Hornaday and Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt. Dentistry was a promising profession it did not fulfill the passion for adventure that had captured Pearl?s heart. The more he heard about the west, the more unsettled he became. With a knack for prose, he found an escape in writing about weekend hunting and fishing trips, as well as fiction stories.

After meeting Lina Elise Roth, who became his wife, and lifelong editor, Pearl opted for using his second name, Zane, and changed his last name from Gray to Grey. After published his first successful novel, ?The Spirit of the Border,? in 1906, Zane Grey left dentistry and set his sights on California. By the time, ?Riders of the Purple sage,? was published in 1912, Grey had moved his family to California. With his home base permanently in the west, Grey set many records as a salt water angler; but it was Steelhead that would become the passion, and have him haunting all the great rivers from California to Alaska, for the rest of his life.

?In my experience as a fisherman the greatest pleasure has been the certainty of something new to learn, to feel, to anticipate, to thrill over. An old proverb tells us that if you wish to bring back the wealth of the Indias you must go out with its equivalent. Surely the longer a man fishes the wealthier he becomes in experience, in reminiscence, in love of nature, if he goes out with harvest of a quiet eye, free from the plague of himself.?




The Report

Our lower mainland lakes are fishing slow. For your best watch your barometer and focus on any upward swings in air pressure. 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 fishing is slow. 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.

The Fraser River is good for coho, spring, chum. For coho try: Coho Blue, Christmas Tree, olive or black Wooly Bugger, Coho killer, Bite Me, or Rolled Muddler. 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, 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 fair to good for: coho and chum.