Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column for March 14 to 21, 2016

As the 1920?s drew to a close, the North American public was becoming less and less care free in their spending. In response to this new trend anglers were traveling shorter distances and looking for more affordable fishing opportunities closer to home. For many the west had lost its luster. There were still those places of awe and adventure, in the uncharted expanses of northern British Columbia and Alaska, but for the most part angling was transcending backward to a slower pace and pursuit of rest and relaxation.

One of the new budget minded anglers was a fellow named Ernest H Rosborough, who went by the handle of Polly. Rosborough was a box maker which would be equivalent to a pallet maker today. This line of work had him traveling from factory to factory, throughout California and much of Oregon, during much of the 1920?s. Rosborough came to fly fishing in 1922, as is today fly fishing equipment was expensive compared to other methods of fishing, which he quickly remedied by repairing rods and equipment for himself and his friends. After being introduced to dry fly fishing in 1926, he soon found himself unsatisfied with both the patterns and durability of local dry flies. In 1929, he decided he needed to start making his own flies, and began tying on fly tying equipment he engineered himself, and wrote his first magazine article. Fly tying was the catalyst which brought Rosborough to the science of entomology or bugs as he liked to put it. Over the rest of his life Rosborough tried his hand at many different career fields but never left his passion for perfecting fly patterns that work.

Polly Rosborough, from a struggling box maker in the late 1920?s to fly fishing patriarch of the west: he pioneered western nymphs and tying techniques that are common place today. Wrote for many sport fishing magazines, authored five books, taught many of today?s masters how to tie flies, and rubbed shoulders with many of the who?s who of fly fishing throughout North America. After his passing in 1997, former student of his, Randall Kaufmann, said of Rosborough,

?He was an originator, and didn?t worry about what the angler downstream was doing. He was too busy creating.?


The Report

Our lower mainland lakes are still fishing slow to fair, due to continuing unsettled weather. For better success try to focus your fishing around the upward swings in barometric pressure, with: Chironomid, Bloodworm, Wooly Bugger, Doc Spratley, Halfback, Micro Leach, Pumpkinhead, or Baggy Shrimp.


The Fraser River along with its backwaters and sloughs are fishing fair to good for cutthroat, rainbow, dolly Varden, and 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 fair to good for cutthroat and rainbow.

The Vedder River is good for rainbow and steelhead.