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bbflytyer
Member since October 2007Recent Activity
Skagit/Ross Lake B.C.
Skagit/Ross Lake Thursday, September 15th., Finally found time for a Skagit/Ross Lake trip on what turned out to be a sunny, warm, windless day. A buddy and I left Chilliwack about 7:00am and got to the boat launch by 9:00am. Both the road and the lack of mosquitoes at this time of year make the adventure much more pleasant to enjoy. It took us about an hour to get our boats together and get in the water. Holly crap! The first half hour was just getting through the weeds wrapped around my leg kicking out in my V-Boat. I was almost exhausted before I even started. The water has dropped so much that around the boat launch the weeds were all on the surface and just below creating a real pain moving around for anyone in a V-Boat. My buddy did much better using his oars with his pontoon boat. There were a few other boats around until noon when a number of them packed it in. During that time, my buddy was the only one to catch a fish, a nice 17" rainbow, fat and chunky. Well, at least someone caught a fish and that was reason enough for me to enjoy a refreshment. I was getting a little discouraged myself I must say. Changed flies numerous times without discovering the fly de jour. Just didn't matter what colour or size, floating, stillwater or sinking line. We moved around, kept on the Canadian side and headed toward the mouth of the Skagit. Finally!! Changed flies to a pumpkin head on the end of a type 4 sinking line and first cast, my biggest fish of the day, a 20" beauty. Caught 4 more between 14 and 17 inches and then a 16 " Dolly! All of mine I caught on the same fly and my buddy caught and landed 5 all on a prince nymph. Now it's about 4:00 and I am pretty exhausted after kicking around for 6 hours. Another boat was coming out of a channel where we had been fishing and they suggested it was much easier to launch or head in by the camp grounds the channel would take us to. Thank goodness, it was a little muddy, but a lot easier than 200 yards of weeds wrapping your legs up with each kick by the boat launch. So if you are going to launch without a motor I suggest you do so at one of the camp spots. Needless to say it was a great day, a little exhausting, and one I would do again. Remember fishing's better with a Buddy. Be safe and have a great time on the water. Bruce
Chilliwack/Vedder
February 9th, 2016 What a great day, out early on the river, sunny and warm, fishing the Chilliwack/Vedder in search of the elusive Steelhead. I had my gear all ready and this time I was going to use gear, but take my fly rod just in case. Good thing I did. We started out at the Cottonwoods; water was clear but higher than usual at this time and after a while without success we moved up stream by the duck farm and a number of runs there. Not a lot of fishermen on the water, but fly, Spey and gear were all evident. Now, planning for today took a couple of weeks to get together with a buddy, so I had time to dust off my gear, get some new line put on my reel, oil it up and be prepared. Haven't used it in about 5 years (basically only fly fishing in that time) but I did want to hook up with a Steelhead and gear at this time of year seems to be the most productive. My reel wasn't casting quite right, it was ok, but I just couldn't cast the line out there anywhere near a far as it should be, it would just slow and stop on its own, I didn't need to thumb it at all. Hum, let me see, adjust the brake; no that didn't do anything. How about I let out lots of line, maybe just spooled too tight, nah, that didn't help either. Oh well, keep fishing. Managed to get snagged bad and had to break it. Well guess what? Now the reel seems to be casting better, unless it's just my imagination. I better test it. Remember I told you I didn't need to thumb it before, well I didn't this time either. I wound up and heaved like crazy, and it was crazy.....wow....... the backlash from hell!! Could not get it out. Like I said, good thing I brought my fly rod. We moved a number of time throughout the day fishing many runs and managed the same amount of success at each one, no fish. We didn't see any caught all day either. Like my buddy said, it was a good day for a hike on the river. Most eventful part of the day was when I managed to trip and do a face-plant in a small creek we were crossing. Now even though it was a warm day and this was refreshing, I would not recommend you use this technique to cool off. Once home, I did finally get the backlash out of my reel at home using a 1.25mm crochet hook! Remember to be safe on the water, and fishing better with a buddy. Bruce
Chilliwack/Vedder Spring on the Fly
Friday September 25th, 2015 Weather was very overcast and we had light to moderate rain most of the day with a few dry periods, just enough to keep us encouraged. Any day fishing is a good day so we just dressed for the weather and enjoyed it. The water was gin clear and we could see the fish holding in the depressions and moving up and down. Lots of Pinks, a good number of Coho, and some Springs as well; and a lot of anglers on the river both gear and fly fishing. We were fishing for Coho's but you would never know it. Pink after Pink after Pink, and all on Coho flies. I was starting to wonder why I ever tie any flies just for Pink Salmon the way they were hitting my Coho flies. We tried them all.... a lot of flash flies, muddlers, Coho Buggers, Copper Coho, GCCK's, Christmas Trees, light flies, dark flies and any other Coho fly we had in our boxes and the Pinks took them all. We moved a number of times but came back to finish the day by the Cottonwoods. Again, lots of Pinks, so lots of tugs and a lot of fish landed and released. We were giving ourselves 15 minutes more before calling it a day and leaving. Now, you all know how that goes; it always takes at least half an hour for the last 15 minutes! Well just before calling it a day officially wham! No, not a Pink this time and it wasn't running at me or jumping so it's not a Coho. No, I had a good fight with a Spring and it took all of the 15 minutes we had planned to fish to land it. A beautiful Spring on the fly, a great way to finish the day. We got some pictures and released him, back on his way up the river. Have a great time fishing, be safe on the water, and remember it's better fishing with a buddy. Bruce
More Pinks on the Fly
Tuesday August 4th, 2015 Another day on the Squamish River fly fishing for Pink Salmon. Sunny, hot, and typical windy from about 11:00 on. Water visibility was only about 6 to 12 inches at best, so we used either fly patterns with UV materials or use larger flies. I was fishing with two friends and only two of us were having success. Same lines, same flies, same spots on the river, we were catching fish and he was catching nada; not even a hit. But hey, that's fishing. After fishing all morning and into the afternoon with success, or equally lack of it on his part, we split up to check out a number of other runs. We found them rather crowded, so we headed back to pick up our buddy and call it a day. As we approached, he hooked up with another fish and suggested we could do the same. In a very short time I landed another Pink as well. OK, so now we are both out of the water and turn the pool over to Fishless Phil. He takes to the pool with directions, instructions, where to cast, how far out, what fly and any other instructions our buddy could muster. Thanks goodness! Success!! In a short time Fishless Phil has taken two Pinks on the fly. Yes, he now has a smile on his face and he is regaling us with his new found insight, expertise and knowledge on just how this particular run should or should not be fished and how he would or wouldn't go about doing so. Even though it was entertaining, it really was one of those "you just had to be there," to enjoy it moments. We all left with fish in hand and smiles on our faces, having enjoyed another great day on the river. Remember, fishing's better with a buddy. Bruce
Pinks in the Squamish
July 23, 2015 Pinks in the Squamish More Pink Salmon are now moving up the Squamish, and as the run gets bigger so does the number of anglers. Had a great day fishing with a friend as we both caught 4 or 5 Pinks. The females are as yet rather small but chrome bullets. I have attached a picture of one I caught below. We only got one male to hand, however, another one took me into my backing on a great run and then managed to get off. Both Pink and Chartreuse flys were working well. The water visibility is still very low as is the river so you may want to use bigger flys, and a type 3 sink tip gave us the best results. The Pinks are indeed feisty in the Squamish and a great time for anglers. Look for the run to increase in size over the next month and enjoy your time on the river. It's always better fishing with a buddy. Bruce
Fishing the Squamish
Wednesday, nice day, a little overcast and a little cooler (thank goodness) Headed out with a buddy to fish at Furry Creek for Coho in the morning. Now being as it is tidal waters of course, one needs a salt water fishing license. As we were approaching, almost the last turn on the highway, we were discussing the tides and I was informed, "Oh no, I forgot to get my license on line!" Ok, well, let's hit Squamish and go from there, someplace ought to sell them. Wrong! To make a long story short, his name which will remain shall remain anonymous, ("F an Al" - as in - "Forgetful Al"; what were you thinking?? :-) ) did have his fresh water licence with him so after wasting way too much time we fished in the Squamish River instead. We were there already, let's throw some feathers. Not much action but every now and then we could see some fish proposing. Looks like Pinks! Sure enough, we both managed to catch one on the fly and let it go. We had a number of short takes but only caught the two. It just really felt good to throw a line in the water again after about a two month hiatus. Now, I am sure it won't be long before the main run comes in and the river will be running with anglers as well. Ty up your flies; pink and chartreuse; remember to have your right license, be courteous to the other anglers and you'll have a great time on the river. It's always better fishing with a buddy.
Fly Fishing on Okanagan Lake
Great Day, Sunday May 3rd. Sunny, about 15 Degrees, very little wind. We didn't get started early, got out on the lake about 2:00pm and fished for about 2 1/2 hours. Between the two of us we managed to land 7 beautiful rainbow and had many more strikes. We were trolling flys along the west shore line by Summerland and had enough hits in between landing them that we never changed flys the whole time. Don't think I have ever done that before. Biggest were 2 at about 2 lbs. beautiful colour and lots of fight. A great day fishing with a friend. Cheers, Bruce
Chilliwack/Vedder
Headed out early with a couple of fishing buddies on Wednesday with hopes of enticing a Steelhead to the fly. Great day weather wise, sunny, some high cloud, very little wind, water level dropped from last week, in great shape and very clear. I had picked up some new wading boots last fall with Vibram soles and I installed the star studs. Now, you all know that feeling you get when you just don't feel comfortable wading and clambering around on the rocks in the water even though you are only knee deep. We were fishing a beautiful run a ways up above Allison Pool with no one else around. The rocks were uneven and from about 12 to 24 inches round, the usual. I had just thought to myself though, "I don't feel that stable wading around over these rocks," and.... sure enough to prove myself right, down I went, smashed my knee and fell over on my side. Like I said, the water was only knee deep but I had a hard time getting up, didn't go far in the water but got totally soaked; damn! (And probably a few more expletive deleteds at that point) As I said, it was mostly sunny, so a good time to strip down to the essentials and hang everything out to dry while the buddies kept fishing. Once I dried out I went back at it a little more timid, thinking I'm going back to the felt soles for scrambling around on the rocks up on the Chilliwack/Vedder. We moved a number of times after that but only saw a great picture of a wild Steelhead of about 15lbs,. caught and released by another fisherman just below the Tamihi bridge that morning on a pink worm in about 8 inches of water right up close to the bank. We kept chucking feathers all day but we didn't get one to take take our flys. I left a little wiser and a little wetter after another day Steelhead fishing. Still, all and all, it was a great day on the river; or in my case in it. Stay safe, and remember fishing's better with a buddy. Bruce Banks
Diehards check out the Squamish River
Bruce Banks, an Angler's Atlas field staff volunteer in the Lower Mainland, sent this Jan. 8 report: "Left Burnaby early in the morning and headed out with a friend to fish up at the Squamish river. It was still dark and Vancouver was very, very foggy, but when we stopped in Squamish to grab a coffee the any cloud in the area was burning off. By the time we got to where we were going it was a wonderful bright sunny day, a little colder than expected and a lot more snow than I expected. Hey, I knew Squamish got some snow on the weekend, but with all the recent warm weather I figured it would be gone by now. Wrong! We were headed up by Mile 26 but we turned around before we got there. Way too much snow and the road hadn't been plowed, so we made our way back to the runs by the bridge campground. Water was a little higher than normal but still very clear. We were hoping to find some Dollys or anything else we could entice. Only one tug on the end of our lines no matter what we tied on. Met two other diehards in the same area. After swapping some flies and fishing tales, we called it a day and headed back, driving in bright sunshine until we got to Horseshoe Bay. Wow! The city was still socked in with heavy fog. We couldn't believe it after such a sunny day on the river as shown here in the picture. Fishing is always good and it's better with a buddy.
Fins outperform skins
A sockeye report from Bruce Banks, a Lower Mainland field staff volunteer for the Angler's Atlas: "With all the reports this year of a great return of sockeye, I went out to the Fraser early this week. Some things you just have to check out for yourself. That I did and must agree, it's great. "I was fishing with a friend who came down to stay in Chilliwack for what we refer to as some "fins and skins," though let's face it, it was for the sockeye. My golfing wasn't quite up to par but the fishing was great. "Through family contacts, she managed to arrange a location courtesy of a local First Nation and I thank them for their gracious hospitality and directions. We could see various groups of fishermen on the other side of the Fraser and hear them on occasion when they had a fish on. It was virtually non-stop. We had great success as well and counted ourselves very fortunate and privileged to have a waterfront all to ourselves. We lost very little gear and caught our limit each day; some big males to 8-9 pounds and smaller bright-chrome does. It was gratifying to see her so excited as she landed her first sockeye. "It's a great time to get out on the river, the bounty is plentiful and so are the fishermen, so enjoy both the fishing and the other anglers experience. We may not all be as experienced as you, but we are all out there for fun. Be sure to get your salmon tag and enjoy fishing with a friend." In photo: A first sockeye catch.
Fishing out my back door
Angler's Atlas field staff volunteer Bruce Banks sends this report on Deer Lake, a popular fishing hole in suburban Burnaby: When you want to dust off your V-Boat, get out and throw some flies around for a while, there are lots of local lakes around Vancouver that are stocked each spring. I checked out the stocking reports online and headed for Deer Lake, a total of 15 minutes from where I live, what the heck, I'll give it a shot. I have never fished Deer Lake before but I have heard of large catfish and bass, and it had been stocked this spring with catchable trout. Gorgeous day, sunny and already warm at 7 a.m. Got all set up and put in by the main access off Sperling Ave. I tie on a Copper John, I love the pattern and fish them in lakes and streams, so that is what I start with, one of my go-to flies. It's a good sized lake for belly or V-boats, relatively small, around 36 hectares with an average depth to 6 metres. Off I go, kicking around the lake, trolling to start with, hoping to see some fish jumping and some good spots to hang out for a while. Trolling around I started getting persistent taps, just light ones but constant all the time, it turns out they are first-year largemouth bass from about 4 to 6 inches. Next up, a brightly coloured orange and reddish belly, a pumpkinhead sunfish about 6 inches. They were all small, but you know you love that tug on the end of your line no matter how they are. Paddling back to shore to call it a day after a short visit, I saw one of the gear fishermen on shore pull in a beautiful 1-1/2 lb. rainbow. Nice fish. Worms! With the recent hot weather we have enjoyed over the last couple of weeks the water is very warm and I'm sure the fish are feeling it. Shore fishermen were all along the left side of the lake, from the pier half way down the lake, and there were a couple of other pontoon boats. Very little pressure, but saw only the one rainbow caught. Probably should have given it a try earlier in the season. Fishing's better with a buddy. Bruce
Upper Squamish Report
What a great day for fishing it was on Saturday April 12 on the Upper Squamish River. Saturday we met early and four of us set out from Coquitlam/Burnaby to head up to the Squamish River in search of the elusive Steelhead, some Dollies and anything else interested in our offerings. I must admit, even though it was sunny, with a stiff breeze on the water I was wishing I had remembered to pack my gloves, my hands were freezing and I had to pull out a couple of hand warmers. The sun finally came up over the mountain tops and by 10 am and we welcomed the warmth. Now, I was fishing with and 8 wt., and the rest of the crew were using Spey and switch rods they have been practicing with now for just over a year. I must say, some of their casts looked really good and almost enticed me to give a switch rod another try. I have attempted a switch rod a couple of times and I must admit here, I believe they are called switch rods because, after frustrating myself, I always switch back to my regular fly rod. It all takes practice or so they tell me. The water was a little higher and faster than I remembered from a couple of weeks prior, but it was nice and clear. We fished the upper end around Mile 27 and had some great runs to fish all by ourselves. We did see a number of fishermen and some floats went by, but very low pressure on the river. We fished intruders, Spey flys, buggers, leaches and minnows, and managed to land 4 Dollies. Now when I use the generic "we" in this circumstance, (I know we have all done it!) I am really saying that the fishermen who actually caught the fish wasn't me. To a number, the fish "we" landed were all caught on bead head Muddlers in a light to olive-green colour. A great day spent on the river, even better with some buddies, and a great day to fish. Story by Bruce Banks, Field Staff for The Angler's Atlas
Rainbow on the Skagit
Who knew such a beauty in the Skagit?? After a quick pic, back in the water baby.
