Fish Tales
Winter Fishing on Vancouver IslandJan 16th, 2012 Article courtesy of Island Angler. For more articles and fishing news check out www.islandangler.net After a short fight Warren netted the beauty and measured it. A prime cutthroat trout. It was a keeper.
Warren took a quick photo as David, my friend, arrived on his Lifetimer. I transferred to Dave’s boat to continue fishing as Warren had to head home.
We fished some more, and ended up walking home. But that’s another story.
After enjoying the trout for dinner, prepared on a cedar plank in the barbeque, accompanied by some delicious B.C. wine, I learned that Saturday and Sunday were to be fishing days as well. Saturday on a boat belonging to Richard, another friend of David’s, off the Victoria foreshore and Sunday on the Cowichan River. Life doesn’t get a lot better.
 We woke early and headed down to Victoria to meet Richard. We launched the boat, a good looking Double Eagle, at Esquimalt, and set out to lay some crab traps in near the Victoria harbour mouth, and then put out two rods on downriggers targeting winter springs, a.k.a. chinook salmon. After not too long the first rod started dancing and Warren landed an 8 pounder.
A few minutes later it was my turn; a 12 pounder was boated. We landed one more for the day, and pulled the traps on the way back to the dock; a couple of fine looking Dungeness crabs were on the dinner menu as well. It then dawned on me that all the talk by the boys of a Triple Crown or Hat Trick was actually a possibility. If I caught a fish on Sunday (we were targeting steelhead), that I then would have caught three species on three consecutive days, on river, lake, and sea. That evening the meal was prawns, fresh frozen by Richard, chinook, crab, and some lamb chops for good measure, oh and some more wine! As David said, “life doesn’t suck”.
 Sunday’s program, a drift boat trip with guide Dan Williams, had been arranged for us by Gord March from Cowichan Fly & Tackle. It had snowed the night before and the countryside was brochure perfect. We headed down to Riverbottom Road on the Cowichan River, and met up with Dan. We loaded in the propane cylinder, the rods, cameras and other gear and launched “The Cowichan Hooker”. It had a bunch of ice and snow in it, the ropes were frozen stiff, but in we got. It was a spiritual experience for me. I was on a B.C. river fishing, at last. We drifted and beached for a few hours and on one of the beaches David hooked and unfortunately lost a nice looking chromer after it jumped into a willow root ball. We moved down-river a bit more and anchored next to some good looking water, after about 10 or 15 more casts (I had made 100's already), my rod exploded and the reel screamed in protest at the rude treatment. I backed up on the ABU bait caster’s star drag and let the monster strip line, worried that it would break up the tackle. After about a 60 metre run down-river it went airborne, it was a magnificent steelhead. I started fighting the fish, slowly I won back the line, bringing the fish back against the strong current, letting the rod absorb the head shakes. It ran a few more times, but slowly I was winning. During a 15 minute fight with the chromer it was under the boat and between the oars before Dan finally netted the beauty. It was a wild steehead, so we took a few photos and back it went. Dan estimated it to be about 13 lb.
 Can a three day, first time in Canada, fishing experience be more perfect?
I will cherish and remember that weekend for as long as I live.
One off the very top of my bucket list!
Canada vs USAJun 18th, 2011 Fishing trips with my good buddy Terry have often come on somewhat short notice and have always been some of the best times of my life. So, it was with little surprise and a great deal of appreciation, that I received a call from Terry to join him and two other avid fishermen, for a three day fishing adventure. Coming with less than two weeks notice was no surprise but this trip was going to be unique as it involved a first for Terry and me, fishing in Alaska.
The minute I confirmed I could arrange my schedule and make the trip, the inevitable competition between the "Canucks" and "Yanks" was on. Of course, as the old saying goes, talk is cheap and I wanted to be careful about any bravado I portrayed, without really knowing the territory, like our friendly counterparts Mike and Jerry, who had the advantage of fishing the waters around Sitka many times before. As is the norm today, I went online and did some research about where we would be fishing, the techniques used by the guides and the preferred gear. While looking through the website of the lodge we would be staying at, I was struck at what a difference there is in the sport-fishery between Alaska and British Columbia. Most fishing resorts in British Columbia tend to promote Salmon as the ultimate prize with the possibility to catch a Chinook or King over thirty pounds and in some areas of the province, a chance to bag a trophy in excess of 70 pounds. In Sitka, where we fished, it was evident when researching the area, that a heavy premium is placed on the possibility to catch mammoth Halibut. These monsters of the deep have been landed on sport fishing gear in excess of 450 pounds, so it is understandable that Halibut and Salmon carry more equal weight in the promotion of fishing in Alaska. The technique of using cut plug or whole herring for Salmon fishing was similar to many experiences I have had, especially fishing Haida Gwaii or Hakai Pass, but the gear used at most of the lodges I searched was certainly different than what is offered at most British Columbia resorts. In BC, the tried and true single action mooching reel and rod set up is almost universal. The preferred weapon of choice in Alaska is a shorter mooching rod with a level wind reel. Of course both catch fish equally well, but the challenge of the good old "knuckle buster" reel just seems to add a little more "sport" to the whole concept of sport fishing. Because of the need for this challenge both Terry and I packed along some of our own gear including regular sized Salmon mooching reels as well as an 8 weight fly rod and saltwater fly reel set up.
Aside from the usual good natured banter and laughter, which was somewhat heightened by the friendly competition on board, what stayed with me after the trip concluded was how a fishery that is so similar in many ways, can be different as well. Sitka is really not very far from Haida Gwaii and the coastline looks like much of mainland British Columbia as well as Vancouver Island. The same fish that we encountered during our trip could end up anywhere along the west coast as their final destination to spawn an entire new generation for us to enjoy. In the end we managed to add a little Canadian influence to the fishing style, with a couple of good old fashion "knuckle raps" to prove it, but the real memory will be of an experience shared by good neighbours with a passion for fishing and a common resource we can all enjoy.
    Kootenay Lake Rainbow ParadiseJan 1st, 2011 Living at Nelson, B.C., on the west arm of Kootenay Lake, enabled our family to enjoy one of the best Rainbow trout fisheries in the world. My parents, Dee and Dan, both fly fished throughout the spring and summer, mainly within three miles of our cabin on the north shore opposite Nelson. They, my brother Rod, and I could catch our limit (which was 12 fish in the 1950’s) on Burns’ Point within 300 feet of the cabin, on many July nights when the hatch occurred and the bite was on.
Dad and Mom talked about their youth when they trolled with buck tail flies, spoons and plugs on the main Kootenay Lake, about 20 miles east of Nelson, for the elusive, larger Gerrard rainbow trout, spawned in the Lardeau River near Gerrard at the very north end of the lake. Rod and I dreamed about these big ‘bows, and, even though we ventured to the main lake several times in the 1960’s we didn’t manage to catch any. Our luck has changed! Rod and his wife Linda invited my son Jeff and me to come and fish for the Gerrards at the end of September 2009. We kept the boat at Queen’s Bay and drove out from Nelson for an early start three of the five days we visited.Kootenay Lake is spectacular, surrounded by majestic mountains with sharp peaks and in the autumn the colors are beautiful. The lake, up to 400 feet deep, is about 60 miles north to south, about 2 to 4 miles wide, and has the West Arm which meanders 20 miles west to Nelson. Rod had his 19 foot Harbercraft geared up for both down rigger trolling and for buck tailing using a cedar planer board to jerk the fly and catch the eye of the Gerrards. We used one rod with a Crocodile spoon down rigged at 60 feet and one with a gray and white buck tail 75 feet from the transom. We trolled north/south 300 feet off of Pilot Point with a big turn northward toward Riondel. After one pass, just into the turn, the fly line screamed and Jeff played a beauty through several jumps, bringing it to the boat for a quick picture, measurement and release of the seven pound, fit rainbow. We were all ecstatic as the sun came out momentarily, and we kept trolling, each getting a fish on that same line and fly: Rod’s a 9 pounder and mine a 5. We headed home satisfied, and eager for more. The second day was very similar, with a light drizzle off and on, breaks of sun, and a steady breeze, typical for late September. We again each tied into a beautiful rainbow and they all fought well, jumping and running with the same buck tail pattern in their mouths. We felt good with three fish at 6, 7, and 8 pounds. We kept the 7 pounder for dinner, its Kokanee-fed dark red meat-delicious on the grill! Two days later, October 2nd, was to be a dream. The weather was similar, but warmer, and we plied the same waters. Again, Jeff started us off within 30 minutes as he landed then released a nice, energetic 10 pounder that had taken a dark purple, black and white buck tail for breakfast. We had given up on the down rigger gear as it had, surprisingly, disappointed. In the late morning it was Rod’s turn to take the handle on a nice 8 pound rainbow which would not stay in the water, jumping everywhere! We then had a long stretch, trying every fly we could think of without luck. The weather had kicked up with a heavy north wind and we had decided to pull up when my turn came up with a bang…an apparently huge fish came out of the water and we were all screaming louder than the reel! I focused (something I have failed to do at times when I have a whopper on), and enjoyed the ride, with Rod and Jeff counting the jumps: 2, 3, 4…8. This was magic, and we enjoyed the 25 minute fight, finally bringing this silver bullet up to the boat. We decided to measure and release it after a picture or two, all the while in an emotional frenzy as Jeff gently revived it until it could safely swim away. We took an underwater video of it heading back to the depths of Kootenay Lake. It turned out to be 21 pounds and 35 inches long. We packed up, hugging each other and saying two words over and over: awesome and priceless!
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All four of us were fishing on a well equipped 27 foot boat so the verbal sparring between team Canada and team USA was on from the moment we left the dock! Of course, being polite Canadian boys, we quietly allowed the skipper to troll with his usual set up. The only request we made was to use the gear we had brought along. We fished using whole herring in a cut plug set up with two single hooks. Our American friends were hooked up off the downriggers anywhere from 40 to 120 feet with the level wind reels. Terry and I used a six ounce weight with approximately 35 to 50 pulls of line trailing behind the boat. The morning produced a good bite with most of the action coming off the downriggers so, of course, the Canadians were taking quite a bit of good natured heat about our different set up and lack of production. As the afternoon progressed, our skipper Klint, Mike's son, suggested a switch to put Terry and me off the downriggers and the level winds off the back with the weighted rods. It was at this time, having become more comfortable with everyone on board and because we were picking up some Coho Salmon, I suggested we replace one of the level wind set ups with a fly rod. I happened to have had monofilament line on my reel so we hooked up a 4 ounce weight to the line and threw it out at about 30 pulls. Not only did the great action on the downriggers continue, we started to pick up fish closer to the surface on the fly rod. Most of the Salmon were Pinks and Coho on the light gear but around mid afternoon the tip of the fly rod took a larger than usual strike and Terry grabbed the rod, set the hook and proceed to have a long and healthy battle with a Chinook that weighed in around 20 pounds. Needless to say, it didn’t take us long to pull out the other fly rod for the back of the boat. It was slightly different in that it had a saltwater fly line with a heavy sink tip. No one on board thought this was going to work because it was going to be barely below the surface. Having seen how effective a bucktail in the prop wash can be, I was excited to see if the whole herring tied to a five foot leader could be just as effective. As I let the line out, I was met with a fair amount of scepticism and jeers, but it wasn’t more than 30 seconds until our first of many fish hit the line.
The rest of the trip produced more of the same great fishing. We managed to catch every species of Salmon including a few Sockeye and a couple of Chum on the light gear. The highlight of the trip came when we pulled into a beautiful bay with a flat bottom around 100 feet. We did some drift mooching with the whole herring and managed to come across a school of Chinook’s on the feed. In one drift we all, including the skipper, managed to hook into a fish. I have never experienced more than a triple header before, but with a good deal of communication and a bit of skill and luck we managed to land all five Chinooks! It was a perfect ending to an amazing trip.
The same thrilling bite, but with bigger Rainbows slapping the water as they snapped at the sedge hatch was available two miles down the river where Grohmann Creek enters the fast water of the Kootenay River. The fish were usually between 2 and 5 pounds, with the occasional 7 to 9 ponder keeping a fisherman out after dark. Even in the 1960’s we released over half of our catch in this peaceful, pristine paradise.