Weekly Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Column for March 28 to April 4, 2016

Though all of North America was struggling under the weight of economic depression during the 1930?s, the North American Fly fishing was basking in its golden age. The West was filling the popular press with tails of trophy salmon and steelhead. The East was capturing readers with stories of record brook trout and bass, while Montana was taking the middle ground with their legendary rainbow and cutthroat trout.

The fly tiers of Maine set out to make their state known; and did so with their famous Maine Style Streamers. In Michigan, Art Winnie came up with his Michigan Hopper; which became the most popular grass hopper in North America for the next fifteen years. Leonard Halladay created the ever famous, ?Adams,? for lawyer, Charles F Adams, and rod and line maker Paul Young came up with the Michigan Caddis and Strawman, which became the standard of North American caddis fly patterns for many years.

Out west Donald S Martinez, opened Don?s Tackle Shop in West Yellowstone. Martinez was a wise business man who maintained a steady flow of wealthy easterners to his Montana shop by way of a guide book he wrote and sold in eastern tackle shops. A commercial fly tier by trade, Martinez operated his tackle shop during trout season, and tied flies at residence in Los Angeles, California during the winter. He was a skilled entomologist, but is best known for the ?Woolly worm.? Martinez maintained the fly was not his own, but rather modified copy of a Missouri bass fly. Martinez was also an early developer of the rotary fly tying vice. He attached the head of a fly vice to a section of a cane rod, and nailed a small tin can to the arm of a wooden lawn chair. By placing the shaft of cane rod in the can he was able to spin the shaft and vise enabling him to install materials with more ease and speed. After the Thompson fly tying company improved on his idea; Martinez move to using a car radio Antenna for the shaft. When asked, He explained that his modified vice allowed a tier to lean back in a comfortable chair thus reducing the fatigue that resulted from long hours hunched over a traditional fly tying vice attached to a table or desk.

Don?t forget to renew your BC Fishing. Licenses expire March 31st.


The Report
With sun in the forecast for the whole week expect fishing on our lower mainland lakes to be good to great. Focus on the north east sections of your favorite lake, from mid morning through the afternoon. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try: Chironomid, Bloodworm, Wooly Bugger, Doc Spratley, Halfback, Micro Leach, Pumpkinhead, or Baggy Shrimp.


The Fraser River along with its backwaters and sloughs are fishing well for cutthroat, rainbow, dolly Varden, and steelhead. For cutthroat and rainbow try: Rolled Muddler, Czech nymph, Professor, Silver Doctor, Cased Caddis, Tied Down Minnow, standard Coachman, Zulu, or Micro Leach. For dolly varden try: large Clouser?s Deep Minnow, Zonker, Dolly Whacker, or Kauffman Stone. 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.