written and photographed by Mary L. Peachin
Jun 2003, Vol. 7 No. 9
Many anglers head north from Vancouver to the Strait of Georgia, fly to the rugged beauty of the Queen Charlottes, or fish the waters around Vancouver Island mooching, downrigging or bucktailing for all species of salmon and halibut. But, a better-kept secret is the quality of fisheries in BC’s rivers and lakes where trout can be caught on the fly. You’ve read about the Chilcotin (to refresh, click here), this month we bring you two new fresh water fishing adventures.
Fraser River Sturgeon Fishing
Erupting like a flash of lighting, the sturgeon easily could have spooled the reel. Usually thought of as slow moving fish, they make long, fast runs. Larger ones are capable of “tailwalking” across the river’s surface like marlin or sailfish. Those who think sturgeon fishing is akin to “pulling up a log” are misinformed. In the past many anglers considered them a “coarse” fish, but, in recent years, they have become highly regarded as a sport fish.
White sturgeon has four catfish-like barbels, scutes or spiny barbs, that bristle along the backs and sides of their bodies. The wide toothless mouth looks like it could use a set of dentures. With great jaw strength they swallow their prey whole. Like sharks, they are cartilaginous (lacking a skeleton), and their torso is covered with denticles instead of scales.
The sturgeon of the lower Fraser has a blunt nose. In the more northerly Fraser Canyon, where underwater habitat requires them to root for food, their noses are long and pointed. They mature slowly, 11-12 years for males and as long as 26-34 years for females. This is the primary reason they are fiercely protected and always released.
On a warm summer day, many anglers were fishing for Sockeye, while Tom Bird and I fished for giant White sturgeon. Guide Len Ames told us “over the past few years fishing guides tagged 11,000 sturgeon on this river. This year I have caught and released only six tagged fish.” To him, this indicates that the sturgeon population is huge, healthy, and migrating. The rarely caught Green sturgeon shares this river with the White.
As we motored up the river, we stopped to fish the bottom at a spot where the Harrison River flows into the Fraser. Len immediately spotted a sturgeon on his Maxim fish finder. Sturgeon will often nibble before taking the bait. Ames can distinguish the bite of a sturgeon and bullhead (or other “nuisance” fish) by the way they bite.
After anchoring the 22-foot Chevy 310 horsepower Wooldridge on a “stable” current, Len baited the hooks with salmon roe (secured in the mesh of his wife’s discarded panty hose) and other salmon parts. We fished with 8 ½ foot fiberglass rods using 7-9ought Mustad hooks The line was a heavy 130-pound test with a 96# leader plus weights ranging from 4-22 ounces. Heavy gear is required for these big fish.
While we waited for a bite, a pair of Harbor seals fought over one of the many sockeye salmon spawning up the river. A Bald eagle and flocks of Canada geese fed along the shore, gulls flew overhead. The day was beautiful and it wasn’t long before we had plenty of action.
Sturgeons have been known to migrate to the ocean and sometimes stray into other river systems. They primarily feed on anadromous fish such as salmon, oolichans (a smelt-lie oil bearing fish) and lamprey eels as they swim up the river from the ocean to spawn.
In a span of several hours, we each hooked and fought a sturgeon. While the strength of the fish is awesome, the shallow river, heavy line, and use of body leverage allowed us to bring two five-footers to the boat in approximately fifteen minutes. Larger sturgeon can take hours to release.
The largest sturgeon caught sportfishing on the Fraser was near Mission Bar back in the 50’s. It weighed over 1450 pounds. Sturgeon have no predators, they are prehistoric and date back more than 250 million years before the age of dinosaurs. * * *
The Fraser River runs 900 miles and is created by snowmelt trickling from the Rockies in Northern British Columbia. The silt-colored river flows to a delta near Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver then branches into several arms: the main one at Steveston, another at Point Roberts and its mouth located two miles offshore at Sandhead.
Five species of Pacific salmon spawn in the Fraser. They include the Chinook or King, Pink, Sockeye, Chum, and Coho or Silver. The river is also a fishery for Dolly Varden, cutthroat trout, and steelhead during their migration periods.
If you go:
Len’s Sportfishing Adventures fishwithlen@shaw.ca or go to www.lenssportfishing-bc.com Tel: (604) 819-5141
Rates: The rates charges by guides belonging to the Fraser Valley Guiding Association at $105.00 USD per person for 4 anglers, $125 for three anglers or $165.00 for two. The eight-hour fishing day runs from 8AM to 4 PM.
Elk River Fly Fishing in Fernie
Fernie is not a place known for its glitter; where the trendy sport designer clothes, live in palatial homes, or dine in upscale restaurants. Its history is that of a coal-mining town, one surrounded by the grey limestone peaks of the Canadian Rockies Lizard range is the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. The architecture may look like that of a ski village with peaks surrounded by vertical slopes that attract powder buffs lusting for radical jumping and schussing. But summer visitors flock to Fernie to fish the Elk, a river that flows a distance of one hundred miles from the Kootenay River. Anglers are hooked on the river’s blue ribbon native cutthroat trout.
Russell Trand, owner of Canadian Fly Fishing Services commented, “if these aggressive striking fish would jump when they were hooked, the entire angling world would be here.” But those in the know still come to fish these West slope cutthroat primarily because the species will take a dry fly on the surface, a fly fisher’s biggest thrill.
The Elk is a catch and release river (a single fish over 12 inches can be taken in a few sections) but anglers who come here count the number of fish released sized in inches unlike “meat fishers” who weigh the pounds caught. Most anglers are simply thrilled with the challenge of watching these savvy fish take a properly presented fly.
While the Elk has been known to produce a 100-fish day, it can “turn-off” in a heartbeat thus providing a challenge similar to those surrounding double-diamond ski runs.
Our first morning, we put in at Sparwood in Trand’s Clacka craft fiberglass MacKenzie-type dory. We would make an eight- mile eight-hour drift taking out next to Garrett’s Ready mix plant. Along the banks, two wet and sandy friendly Newfoundland “guard dogs” greeted us. Bo and Duke like to swim beside anglers and sometimes require a lift back to the plant.
Trand’s prior experience as a kayaker and rafting guide brings comfort through sections of rapids in the river. The geography of the Elk offers great natural fish habitat. Its bottom is strewn with boulders, streams trickle into the river, there are plenty of riffles, and fallen logs protruded from of the river, a result of landslides from the edges of steep banks. The water is cold with foamy slower running nutrient drift lines, a place where fish tend to hang out.
While a day on the river might produce dozens of fish, there are days when “fishing is fishing and not catching.” These are the days when an angler might get a chance to enjoy the beauty of the Rockies. We took time to sit on a foldable chair on a sandy bank as Trand prepared a buffet lunch that included sandwich fixings, rice salad with sesame seed oil and ginger, fresh fruit, and homemade dessert. But it’s hard to dawdle when you know what the river might still have in store.
The first day Russ and I didn’t observe a single hatch (insects rising and fishing eating), and during the day saw only the flash of a few fish. Cutthroats frequently bite fish attractor patterns such as terrestrial’s stimulators: grasshoppers, Turk tarantulas, Chernobyl ants, Wulff stoneflies, and mayflies.
When these aren’t working, Russ will resort to the “N” word (as in nymph), a fly that floats under the water. A strike indicator floating on the surface lets the angler know when a fish strikes. If this fails, he will use a streamer, a bright pink fly that is stripped through the water by the angler.
The second day, Calgarian Bill Irwin, a former member of the Canadian National Ski Team joined us. Putting in at Fernie, we floated to the village of Morrissey. This section of the river had more rapids than the previous day. We floated through a region of Columbia temperate rainforest surrounded by White and Engelmann spruce, old growth cedar, Douglas Fir, aspen, and cottonwood. Two Golden eagles soared near their nest while a Bald eagle flapped along the river. The banks were blossoming with yellow daisies, blue lupine, and bright pink fireweed. Elk, bear, Bighorn sheep, moose, elk, and deer inhabit the area.
Late in the afternoon, a rainstorm passed through, and as drops pounded us, we spied that magical long awaited sight of an insect hatch and trout rising to feed. We put our 5 weight 4x-tippet rods into action releasing five beautiful cutthroats all glistening with prominent orange slashes on the underside of their gill plates. It was a grand finale.
Catching up on some sleep at the luxurious Kerrin Lee-Gartner’s Snow Creek Lodge, the parking lot was filled with car racks holding mountain bikes for a weekend race. Those bikers might enjoy the same beauty of the Canadian Rockies, but they’ll miss the thrill and tranquility of floating through the valley on the Elk River.
If you go:
Canadian Fly Fishing Services 250-423-3783 or info@flyfish-canada.com or go to vacation@fernieproperties.com or go to www.skifernie.com
How to get there: There are several ways to reach Fernie: Air Canada Jazz flies into Cranbrook, then the drive is an hour to the village. Fernie is two hours north of Kalispell, Montana, three hours northwest of Calgary, and a two-hour flight from Vancouver.
If Vancouver is your gateway:
Vancouver International Airport is served by many airlines including America West, Alaska, United, Delta, British Airways, and Air Canada.
BC Ferries operates from Seattle. (1-888-BCFERRY)
For a complete city guide, go to www.deltahotels.com
Sutton Place Hotel www.hotelvancouver.com
Wedgewood Hotel 1-800-663-0666 www.StanleyParkTours.com
Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre (in Stanley Park) www.grousemtn.com
Granville Island Museums www.capbridge.com