BC Fishing Vacation

[Jet]

Work hard, play hard. I've always lived by this motto and I finally got the chance to put it into practice this past September (and I'll take this opportunity to apologize for the belated report).

 

After a solid year of non-stop work bringing my restaurant from start to finish and then opening, I finally reached September 4 where my two week vacation would begin. I was counting down the days since June. I wanted to have two weeks of not worrying about food deliveries, accounting, payroll and all the other daily chores that come with running your own business.

 

Even better was that two of my best fishing partners - Jimmy and Chris - from Toronto had committed to coming down this way to accompany me for two weeks of hardcore fishing. By hardcore I mean up at 6:30 a.m. and with the long hours of sunlight here (Cranbrook gets the most hours of sunlight of any place in BC) we'd wrap up our trips around 9 p.m. To be honest the fishing was more exhausting that the restaurant. But of course it was worth every exhausting moment.

 

For 14 days we visited eight different rivers with many pulling double duty. Most of which was dry fly fishing for Westslope Cutthroat Trout with random trips for Bull Trout and one for Columbia River Rainbows. There are a ton of pictures ahead, so I'll let them do most of the talking.

 

 

 

The day after we closed, we headed to the Skook. It's a far off the beaten track river nearly 40 km down a remote logging road. We stop to bask in the start of what would be an epic journey.

 

 

 

 

And finally we reach our destination

 

 

It is a scenic river and well worth the trek in.

 

 

We easily landed over 70 Cutties between the three of us.

 

 

 

 

After all the Cutty action I decided to see if the Bull Trout had started moving in. Unfortunately it was still early but we managed to pick off a few.

 

 

 

 

The Kokanee were in full spawning swing. These are landlocked Sockeye Salmon and don't get much bigger than this. This is the reason why why the Bull Trout get so large here.

 

 

 

After the boys got excited about Bull Trout, I decided to hit the Bull River. It is a glacier river that has a good run of spawning Bull Trout. The cutthroat action is also spectacular, but even more impressive is the river itself. It is as about as beautiful as they come.

 

It begins with the long trek down.

 

The Bullies were shy but we managed a few.

 

 

With all the Cutthroat around, it was likely the Bullies were full most of the time. Here's proof.

 

Now this is a fishing hole!

 

 

Moments later, FISH ON!!

 

And it did not get away.

 

Nor did this one.

 

Gotta love those glacier blue rivers.

 

 

 

A good friend of mine is a guide here, so I decided to hire him to take the boys out on the Elk River. We floated around 12 km and the Cutties were suicidal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After five days of hard fishing, we decided it was time for a break. We had a little party out on St. Mary's Lake, a Schnitzel Party to be exact. My friend owns the most popular German restaurant in town, so the Schnitzel's were top notch.

 

And they were cooked in the biggest frying pan I've seen at least.

 

My friend made this beverage cooler out of a hollowed out log with a constant stream of glacier spring water. It kept us "happy" during the party.

 

After a day of rest we hit the St. Mary's River.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The action was steady with Cutties with this Cutbow being the highlight of the trip.

 

Then we set off to an Elk River tributary, with promises of the biggest Cutties in the Kootenay region. And we all smashed our PB and then some.

 

On the way we stopped to check out the "World's Biggest Truck."

 

Our best Cutty fishing to date was about to begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And what a beautiful river it is.

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed to Castlegar to try for some Columbia River Rainbows. They get so big here that you can consider them Steelhead. Unfortunately it was a very tough trip and we didn't find the big bows, but that's fishing.

 

Only one of two bows we managed that trip.

 

 

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. It was the fastest two weeks of my life. I decided to end our trip on the White River. It isn't the best dry fly fishing river, but the water is top notch and the scenery second to none. There's also the chance for Rainbows.

 

To get to White River you drive down roads with shoulders that look like this.

 

Now for some scenery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cutties were average, but this Rainbow caught by my buddy Jimmy made it all worthwhile.

 

 

I really want to thank my friends Jimmy and Chris for committing and coming out to spend my vacation with me. It wouldn't have been nearly as memorable if I had to go at it alone.

 

And thank you all my fellow OFC'ers for coming along for the ride and enduring my long report. Now it's back to work, but stay tuned for a 2011 Bull Trout Run report. So far it has been amazing.

 

Here's a little taste of my next report.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Remastered]

Beautiful. Awesome scenery and nicely done with the different techniques...

[SirWhite]

That's funny I grew up there. Casting spoons into the current and catching nice trout. Looks like someone snagged a spawner!

 

Great pics great thread

[spincast]

looks like a great time. congrats on the PB's. The scenery is magnificent.

[johnnyb]

Wow. Simply amazing scenery, and that you got to pack so much fishing in with a couple of pals....that's what it's all about.

[fishindevil]

WOW...thats an amazing fishing trip,man they are some beauty trout ,the colors are just stunning !!!! and the scenery,i have rafted and fished the kooteny river too,and still marvel at it,thanks for sharing....cheers

[Roy]

A great report, Jet. You deserve every minute of fishing time you get. I'll make sure I take a long look at it when I have more time tonight. Thanks for sharing it.

[lew]

Fantastic fishing trip and even better pictures !!

 

Thanks for taking us along.

[blaque]

THAT was an absolute pleasure to read.

[Rod Caster]

Wouldn't want to lose control on that one road

 

fantastic photos and report. Thank you!

[l2p]

Absolutely some stunning rivers and scenery! I think me and Kelvin are gona have to pay you a visit some time

[frozen-fire]

Hopefully I get to join you out there on your next vacation!

 

Great pics!

[EC1]

Glad to see you and Chris back in action!

Very pretty rivers, along with the trout too!

[KelfuN]

simply amazing report Jet!

like Ant said, hopefully join you on my next vacation!!

 

say hi to everyone for me

[canada414]

Awesome, great report

[Joey]

What a suburb report Thanks for sharing your adventure and pictures. Fantastic

[misfish]

That was one sweet report.The pics were first class.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post.

[Victor]

Epic as always!

[Twocoda]

outstanding adventure, scenery and report....take a well deserved bow !!!

Edited October 29, 2011 by Twocoda

[northernpike56]

AWSOME!! I had the pleasure of fishing the st.marys river once myself and it was an experience I will never forget.

 

 

[msp]

Those pools have to be the nicest looking pools in the world. Great pics and great report. I will hire you as a guide if Im ever out that way. Thanks for sharing your adventure. I cant wait for the next report.

[danc]

What a fantastic report. Beautiful fish, and that blue green water is breath taking. Thanks.

[ccmtcanada]

Incredible report Jet!!! If you were posting reports like this a year ago, I would have gotten in touch with you this past summer when I was in the area lol. Every glacial stream and lake I drove by I wondered if there were trout in them....your post gave me the answer. Bar none some of the best settings to fish in.....absolutely amazing! Looked like a great trip....thanks for taking the time to post the report!

[ccgg]

..Top Notch 4 sure!!!!!!!!!..what an adventure it was,.....thx again JET...it was MOST EXCELLENT and a time I will never forget ,,,,great friends,,,great fishin and a great place = AAA time!!!........Tight LInes All!!!

[corvette1]

simply awesome