written and photographed by Mary L. Peachin
Oct 1999, Vol. 4 No. 1
Five hundred road miles north of Vancouver, in the Chilcotin province of British Columbia, Beavers are tied to a pier surrounded by lakefront log cabins. Not the wide-tail, furry type, but the 1950’s-era De Havilland aircraft. The six-passenger single- engine floatplane is the work horse of remote Canada. It has the capability to lift off and land in a short distance and carry a heavy load. Floatplanes are the perfect vehicle for a fly fishing wilderness experience.
Stewart’s Lodge, built in the early 50’s by Robert and Virginia Stewart, had its beginnings as a rustic tented fishing camp. Today, the lodge offers anglers a selection of eight nicely appointed cabins; each handcrafted of native lodgepole pine. The main lodge, overlooks Nimpo Lake, backed by the snow capped glacial peaks of the Coast range.
The closest village to the lake is Anahim Lake, about a distance of 10 miles. Pacific Coastal airlines flies into its 3500-foot airstrip daily bringing anglers from the gateway of Vancouver. The small logging and farming community is home to 700 Chinook-speaking Ulkatcho Indians. The Ulkatcho reside primarily in the Chilcotin Plateau of central British Columbia and surrounding communities of Carrier and Bella Coola.
Duncan and Rhonda Stewart, son and daughter-in-law of the founders of Stewart’s Lodge and current operators, check the weather each morning then (after consulting with the interest of the guest) plans each angler’s destination for the day. After a hearty breakfast, it’s time for fly-in, fly-out fishing.
One of three Stewart Lodge pilots loads a Beaver with passengers (and their fishing gear and a bag lunch). After a ten to twenty minute flight, the pilot drops anglers at a small pier on one of the many nearby many lakes ( boats are cached nearby) or a blue ribbon trout river like the Upper Dean or Blackwater Rivers.
Chief pilot Doug Clarke, a resident of nearby Williams Lakes, has been flying for the Stewart’s for 20 years. We boarded his plane and were treated to some aerial sightseeing. We glided over spectacular views of majestic blue-ice glaciers; their jagged peaks trickling snow melt into jade-green glacial lakes in the Monarch ice fields. Another day, we circled Huhlen Falls, a magnificent waterfall that empties from the lake into a gorge. We flew along the Rainbow Mountains, a collage of red, yellow, and black covering a concentration of minerals including copper and iron. All these wonders are contained in the Chilcotin and Tweedsmuir Provincial Park.
Dry flying on the Upper Dean, one of the province’s finest fisheries, can yield results of releasing more than forty trout in a day. Swift currents and slippery algae-covered boulders make the wading tricky. Jumping from the Beaver pontoons to the river bank, we took a motorized boat upriver to one of Stewart’s many outpost cabins. Anchoring the boat, we hiked a trail to begin our wading. Bald eagle and one ruffly immature eagle stared down at us from the tall lodgepole pines. Golden eye ducks swam by with babies in tow. Another day we tackle the Blackwater, a rugged trail, challenging wading, and a great fishery.
Trolling on scenic lakes with a fly or spinning rod is something a serious angler might scoff. While the fish did not to discriminate between flies, red seemed to be their color of choice. On one day the “hot” fly was a flasher bugger black/olive size 6. We found the muddler most consistent, other anglers swore by leeches.
A young bull moose, his antlers still in velvet, swam in the Lake Eliguk before settling down on the boggy shoreline to warm in the noonday sun. As we trolled for brilliant speckled rainbows, glacier-covered mountains loomed behind a thick forest of black spruce and lodgepole pine. We circled near marshes where trout seems to be more active. Late in the afternoon pilot Doug Clark glided the floatplane onto the lake for our 20-minute trip back to Nimpo. It’s the way of life around here, one shared by Stewart’s and Moosehead lodges.
Chef Hilda Reimer wore hiking boots, and jeans. Before working at Stewart’s, her tour of cuisine took her to the Antarctica for several years. She cooks up fresh halibut, chicken, and tenderloin steaks along with fresh vegetables and salads. Desserts are homemade, too. Lunch is a packed lunches and a thermos of coffee. A caught trout can be cooked up breakfast along with blueberry pancakes, bacon sausage, hash browns, a hearty way to start the day.
Lake Hotnarko is about a 15-minute flight from the lodge. A smaller boat with 3- horsepower engines was blown by the wind whirling in circles with only the weight of a single angler. Three of us huddled into the bigger boat. Fortunately we were upwind from the island when we ran out of gas and had to paddle back to our cache. A mother grouse scrambled up her chicks are we filled our tanks.
Stewart’s Lodge offers outpost cabins pristinely placed along shorelines and beaches at remote lakes and rivers. The cabins include provisions of food, linen and chopped wood for the campfire plus a wood burning stove.
The Davidson lodgepole cabin, the perfect honeymoon cabin, was built on a sandy beach in a private cove. The lake, at an elevation of 4200 feet, is surrounded by snow capped peaks of Mt. Davidson, the snowmelt creates springs to feed the lake. Two wooden beach chairs with a tree stump for a table offer wonderful views of the mountains. A small-motorized boat is tied to the pier, a canoe rests against the cabin. Cooking can be done on the outdoor campfire or a woodburning stove, also a propane stovetop. Drinking water for the cabin is hauled from the lake. The cupboard is full of canned provisions and the Lodge provides stables eggs, milk, potatoes, salad, and T-bone steaks.
Before bedtime we stoke the wood burning stove and make a routine “mosquito patrol”. Before snuggling under our duvet-covered beds, we fall asleep listening to the distinctive call of the loon.
The trout are big in Gatcho Lake. Rhonda Stewart explained that fresh water shrimp inhabits lakes with alga bloom, subsequently producing larger trout. This is especially true in the “rust colored” lakes of the Blackwater River watershed.
Tweedsmuir Provincial Park offers more than just fishing. There is the option of a 3-5 day canoe trip in. The Turner Lake chain offers a 3-5 day canoe trip with campsites at Turner, Junker, Widgeon and Kidney lakes. There are superb views of Talchako Mountain and Mt. Ratcliff. Between portages there are wooden racks along the trail to rest the canoes.
Canoes trips are launched the same way as fly-in fly-out fishing; securing the canoes to the pontoons of the airplane. Campgrounds are meticulous with leveled sand areas to pitch tents. As we waded the Huhlen creek fishing for cutthroat, the quiet revere was interrupted by the occasionally canoer passing by.
We hiked a mile from Turner Lake before casting our fly at the mouth of the stream flowing out of Cutthroat Lake. More than 30 trout were caught and released by each of us.
Our final day we flew over the Rainbow range on our way to fish Squiness Lake in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. We fly over a black bear and a herd of mountain goats on some nearby peaks. The fishing was slow, but we managed to catch and release some big trout using patterns of black and brown leeches and muddlers, a seducer, Madam X, and a Royal Wulff. Sometimes the fish were choosy, other times they would hit any type of fly. Lake fishing seemed slower, while wading rivers, we enjoyed periods when we would hook a fish on every cast. It is possible to have a “century” day of fishing in the Chilcotin.
If you go:
Stewart’s Lodge 1-800-ON-THE-FLY www.stewartslodge.com
Langara’s Moosehead Lodge 800/668-7544,604-232 – 5532 www.langara.com/pages/moosehead.htm
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.tourismvancouver.com
Hotels
Delta Pinnacle 1-800-268-1133 www.deltahotels.com
Sutton Place Hotel www.suttonplace.com
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver www.hotelvancouver.com
Wedgewood Hotel 1-800-663-0666 www.wedgewoodhotel.com
Sights
Stanley Park www.StanleyParkTours.com
Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre (in Stanley Park) www.vanaqua.org
Grouse Mountain Skyride & Ski Resort www.grousemtn.com
Granville Island Museums www.SportFishingMuseum.BC.Ca
Capilano Suspension Bridge, North Vancouver www.capbridge.com