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Eight hours north of Vancouver, in the
heart of British Columbia's Cariboo, is the city of
Quesnel. It is best known for its cattle ranching and
is steeped in the history of the gold rush. To the angler
however, the surrounding interior plateau offers a vast
array of fishing opportunities. One and a half hours
west of Quesnel sits the Nazko valley and it was there
that I spent two weeks angling for rainbows in the lakes
and streams of the area. |
We based our camp at Marmot Lake and did most of our fishing
there. It is an average sized lake (approx. 86 acres) with
clear water and rainbow trout averaging three pounds or better.
Gang-trolling willowleafs seemed to be the preferred method
of the locals when fishing this lake, but we had far better
success fly-fishing leech and scud imitations near the bottom.
We were never skunked and we averaged better than two fish
per hour. These trout were tenacious fighters and put up exceptional
scraps for their size. Many of them took me well past 50 yards
of backing in their initial run before leaping into their
aerial antics.
Besides the good fishing at Marmot we
also found an extremely well maintained community campsite
suitable for tents, campers, or small R.V.s. This campsite
provides plenty of sites (34 campsites to be specific)
with picnic tables and firepits as well as firewood
and campsite-maintained garbage cans and toilets. To
top it off there is even a baseball diamond, a kiddy
play area, and a roped off swimming area. Day use is
by donation and overnight stays $7 per night. With the
general store less than a quarter mile away it is the
perfect spot to spend a few days. |
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After we had tackled Marmot for a day or two we journeyed
a little further away from our base and started discovering
some beautiful fishing holes, some of which were only known
to the locals. One of these spots was on the Baezaeko River.
The Baezaeko is a small narrow river not 20 yards across
at its mouth. We were told to check out the junction where
it meets the larger Coglistiko River, and after wandering
around for an hour or so trying to locate the access we finally
found ourselves in a lovely spot with fish rising less than
10 feet from our rod tips.
The junction of the Coglistiko and Baezaeko Rivers reminds
me of the story of Huckleberry Finn. The banks of the Baezaeko
are muddy and step down in small ledges to the bottom. Because
the river is very slow here weeds have grown and blanket both
banks and the bottom. These weeds provide ample cover for
the fish and they lie among the weeds waiting for small meals
to drift over or swim by. The outer edges of the river are
mucky and soft, and the wide, shallow shores are covered in
deep weeds that lay on the surface making it extremely difficult
to wade to within casting distance of fishable water. If you
visit this place I advise you to take a small boat or inflatable
so that you can fish this spot most effectively. We fished
from shore, and although we did well we missed out on the
best fishing and the largest fish. They were holding and rising
about 50 yards downstream from the junction and I was kicking
myself for not having brought the boat.
Later in our trip we walked from Marmot Lake down to a little
spot on the Nazko River just up the road from the general
store. This spot was at the junction of Stump Creek and the
Nazko and it proved quite productive.
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Stump Lake drains into the Nazko via
a short creek that runs under the road approximately
100 yards north of the Nazko general store. Thirty yards
of bushwhacking from the road and you will find this
pretty little spot. I fished there for an hour or so,
but before I entered the water I sat a moment contemplating
whether to don my waders or not. The water was shallow
and quite cold, but the day was sunny and warm and I
quickly decided to wet wade instead. I took off my shoes
and socks, |
rolled up my pant cuffs and stepped
back 25 years to when I was a boy fishing small streams
in my bare feet. The hour I spent there was perhaps
the most enjoyable of the whole trip. The fish weren't
the biggest and I kept hooking into squaw fish but it
didn't matter. I felt younger then than I had in a long
time and I fished for the sheer joy of being part of
the river and its life. My 12-year-old son was with
me and we fished together more like best friends than
father and son. Rainbows in the 12 to 14 inch class
were abundant and they came to the dry fly or nymph
with equal abandon.
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Although the Nazko is another narrow
and slow river, fishing it can be difficult. Its banks
are heavily brushed in by willows over much of its length
making access next to impossible in most locations.
The river is shallow spring through autumn, more like
a stream than a river, and this helps. Once access has
been achieved the angler can wade for quite a long distance
along some stretches before encountering water too deep.
There are stretches |
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of fine pocket water as well as slower
moving runs as well as the odd pool here and there.
The Nazko contains Dolly Varden as well as rainbows
but we never did hook into one. All in all the Nazko
is a lovely river to cast a fly on. |
We timed our trip to coincide with the opening of the West
Road (Blackwater) River and headed up that way the morning
after opening day. A half-hour's drive north from Marmot Lake
brought us to the Blackwater River bridge. This well known
river is a lovely piece of fly-fisherman's water. It is closed
to angling from April 1 to June 30 each year, as are all the
other streams and rivers in the Fraser River watershed in
the Cariboo region. There is also a single hook and bait ban
restriction on the Blackwater and this makes it ideal for
the fly-fisher. The average fish in the system varies from
12 to 15 inches, but they are fat and put up a great scrap
when hooked.
The section of the Blackwater that we fished was upstream
from the bridge and almost all the waters we saw were shallow
flats less than three feet deep. I have been told that much
of the river is like that; pocket water with fish holding
in any little hole they can find. There are bends and curves
that form riffles and pools and these hold the larger fish.
We spent the day on this river and after hiking and fishing
our way upstream a few miles and back again the best spot
we found was not more than 100 yards from the bridge at the
first bend. It started to rain when I began fishing it and
I hit into more than half a dozen 12 - 14 inch rainbows within
30 minutes before I got too soaked and packed it in.
A short eight-mile drive down the Michelle - Baezaeko road
from Marmot Lake will take you to an old clear-cut. There
is a landing there which is the start of the trail to Crater
Lake. A small sign points the way to Crater and you can park
at the landing; there is lots of room. The hike to Crater
is just over a mile and takes about half an hour to walk.
Most of the trail winds through the clear-cut plantation but
there is abundant ribbon hung on the trees so the trail is
easy to follow. The last portion of the hike turns steeply
uphill into the trees and is quite a climb. The lake sits
on top in, wouldn't you guess, a crater. It isn't a great
distance to the top but it is very steep and you should be
in shape to tackle it or be prepared to stop very frequently.
I was unencumbered when I tackled it and it just about did
me in.
We never fished Crater. We weren't sure if we could find
it so we hiked into it first without the gear and our trip
ended before we got another chance to fish it. We were told
that there were very large rainbows in the lake but that they
were pretty much uncatchable . . . sounds like a challenge
if I ever heard one. With the steep hike deterring most anglers
you will probably have the lake to yourself all day. It's
a perfect lake for bellyboating; it is small and round, nestled
in a lovely spot surrounded by spruce and pine forest. The
Forest Service has even built a one-tent campsite there with
an outhouse and a firepit. I wish I had had more time to fish
this lake, and when I go back I'll be sure to visit it.
The Nazko Valley offers the angler a plethora of fishing
opportunities. You really should plan a trip to this beautiful
area of British Columbia . . . the trout are waiting!
Bill Luscombe has been hunting and fishing for most of his
42 years. He has been flyfishing for 20 years. He instructs
flyfishing, and has done so for the past 12 years. He also
instructs the federal FSET firearms course and the BC CORE
hunter training course. He is an award-winning outdoor writer
and has been writing freelance since 1987. He has been published
in BC Sport Fishing Magazine, Outdoor Edge, BC Outdoors, Western
Sportsman, Island Fish Finder, and the BC Hunting Guide.
Bill Luscombe was born an army brat and raised in Ladner
(Delta, BC) where he was raised hunting waterfowl and pheasants.
He presently resides in North Cowichan on southern Vancouver
Island where he has lived and worked full time as a professional
forester since 1982.
He presently works in Nanaimo for the BC Forest Service and
continue to write the fly-fishing column for BC Sport Fishing
Magazine as well as contributing articles freelance to various
outdoor magazines in western Canada. Bill Luscombe is also
a BC Director of the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association.
"Catching fish is not hard. You simply need to understand
what makes them tick. If you think like a fish, you will catch
fish. It’s as simple as that."- Bill Luscombe
Previous Articles by Bill Luscombe:
To visit saltwater flyfishing patterns by Bill Luscombe,
visit:
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courses visit his home page at:
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