Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column for Feb 8 to 15, 2016

It was called the roaring twenties and cash all across the land was at a surplus. If you had the money, and many did, great fishing was waiting for you to exploit. On Vancouver Island, BC, General Nole money was accommodating the rich and privileged from across the pond. In the BC Interior, former pharmacist Bill Nations was entertaining the well healed with British charm and multitudes of trophy trout; and Tommy Brayshaw was well on his way to becoming a legend in the BC Lower Mainland. South of the border, C James Pray and Harry Hornbrook, were following in the footsteps of Livingston and putting California on the map for trophy steelhead and salmon. In Oregon, Mooch Abraham, Mott, and Zane Gray were showcasing the world class fisheries of the Deschutes and Umpqua rivers. Over in Montana, Pott and Bunyan had the market for flies and were the go to guys if you wanted to catch fish. It seemed all eyes were looking west; but futures and fish are fickle, rarely following the patterns and edicts of men.

In 1922, a young Dan Bailey left Kentucky, to attend college in Charleston South Carolina. In 1926, after earning a master?s degree in physics and a few job changes, Bailey was teaching and working toward a Ph.D. at New York University. Those of you who are familiar with the, who?s who of angling are likely thinking, ?but Dan Bailey came to fame in Montana.? True, he did in the next decade, but it was here on the legendary waters of Upstate New York, that our tale makes the twist. Bailey was proficient with a fly rod so it is only natural that he began exploring the waters of the Adirondacks and the Catskills. During his exploring, he met and became friends with a young commercial artist, named Lee Wulff. The two perfected a successful series of fly patterns, while pounding the legendary water of the Beaver Kill, Neversink, Ausable, and Saranac. They also taught fly tying classes together, in Greenwich Village until Bailey headed to Montana. As for the famous fly patterns; Lee wanted to call them Ausable Gray, Coffin May, Royal Bucktail, etc, but Dan convinced him to call them, ?Wulffs.?

Both men became legends, one in the West and one in the East; we will have more next week.



The Report

Our lower mainland lakes are fishing well. Try: Chironomid, Bloodworm, Wooly Bugger, Doc Spratley, Halfback, Micro Leach, Pumpkinhead, or Baggy Shrimp. For ice fishing at our higher elevation lakes, try: Shrimp, Baggy Shrimp, Ice Flies, and Crappie Jigs.


The Fraser River along with its backwaters and sloughs are fishing well for cutthroat, rainbow, dolly Varden, and early steelhead. For cutthroat try: Rolled Muddler, Flesh Fly, Eggo, Professor, Silver Doctor, Borden Special, Zulu, or small black Stone Nymph. For dolly varden try: large Clouser?s Deep Minnow. Zonker, Eggo, Flesh Fly, Dolly Whacker, or Kauffman Stone. For rainbow try: Czech nymph, Cased Caddis, Coachman, Rolled Muddler, Mico Leach, or Zulu. For steelhead try: Big Black, Flat Black, Squamish Poacher, Polar Shrimp, Popsicle, GP, Steelhead Nightmare, or Kauffman Stone.

The Harrison River is good for cutthroat and rainbow.

The Vedder River is good for rainbow and steelhead.