Trout Bummin' in BC

[MJL]

Back in September, I got a message from Jet asking me if I wanted to do some fishing in his neck of the woods for bull trout and steelhead. It was an easy answer on my part. I spent most of my life reading about west coast steelheading on the Skeena & tribs, the Dean, The Thompson, the Vedder, the Nass, the Olympic Peninsula and more. The last 7yrs, I saved up for a trip with the hopes of catching my first ever sea-run steelhead – I was supposed to go to BC in 2005 with my uncle and cousin but both had to cancel last minute. In the end, I got spoiled. My brother in-law covered my air fare to and from BC. My sister paid for my new wading jacket as a B-day present. My mom gave me a whole wad of spending money and my dad...Well, he lent me his car to pick up my custom rod from Spiel’s place before the trip

 

On this trip, both Victor and Frozen-Fire (Anthony) would be joining however I planned to stay behind a little longer for some additional fun

 

Bull Trout

 

Last month, my dad dropped us off at the airport at 5:30am, we flew into Calgary and then took a smaller plane into the mountains of BC. I was hoping to get some aerial shots of the mountains from the plane, but the windows were covered in greenish/yellow de-icing fluid (it was snowing hard in Calgary with -15 air temps). Once landed, we grabbed our luggage and gear and made it to Jet’s place. We suited up, rigged our rods and hit the river ASAP.

 

I hooked the first fish of the trip and got to test the 13’ 3pc Rainshadow XST float rod that Spiel & I built together.

 

My first bull trout

 

Bull trout don’t run as fast as salmon nor do they jump like steelhead. They are masters at bull dogging though and have the stamina to carry on with lengthy fights. When you set the hook into one, it feels like you hooked bottom - Until it starts to move. A rod with backbone is definitely needed to pull fish of all sizes out of the current – Even the small ones are tough to turn in slower water. The 3pc 13’ Rainshadow XST handled the bull trout like a champ. I did have it bent down to the cork on a couple larger fish with an 8.8lb floro leader though…

 

Anthony also got his first bull trout too

 

 

The next few days blurred into one long rain-soaked memory involving: a lot of rain, a lot of driving, a lot of hiking, some slipping and falling on wet rocks and a lot of deer & elk crossings along the highways (we saw lots).

 

 

I was physically and mentally drained after the first few days. Boulder hopping on wet, slick rocks to get from spot to spot really takes a toll on the body. I can’t imagine how Jet felt throughout the trip...He actually did almost all of the driving while we napped.

 

After trying for a couple days, Vic finally lands his first bull trout.

 

 

We fished some crazy turquois coloured rivers that allowed for insanely long hero drifts. Note: You probably should start retrieving your rig back when you can see the knot joining your mainline to your backing

 

 

Anthony gets his PB

 

Victor testing out his new Paine Falls Demarco reel

 

Vic also brought out his 13’ Loomis GL3 (4-8lb) to play around with to see how it performed on bull trout. It’s a good thing he picked up a heavier 10’6” Loomis GL3 for the steelhead before we left Ontario

 

Jet with one of his own

 

Fatty!

 

In the rain

 

 

 

Pretty tail

 

 

Anthony caught 1 bull trout that coughed up 2, 12 inch cutties

 

For the most part, bull trout are not all that attractive. Honestly, I think they’re ugly as far as trout/char go. The only saving grace they have are the pink/red spots on their sides.

 

We fished into the dark most days

 

Gear porn – The fishing was pretty slow on one river but we figured we’d take the opportunity to mess around with our cameras

Steelhead

 

While the bull trout were super fun, my main goal of the trip was to catch my first ever ocean-run steelhead. We put insane miles on Jet’s truck and fished a few rivers notorious for large steelhead. 20-30lb fish are not uncommon with the average size above 10lbs for the winter run fish. Honestly, I didn’t expect the fishing to be as tough as it was. With that said, hard work and time on the water really did pay off...In retrospect, hiring a guide with local knowledge and a drift or jet boat would’ve helped us a lot.

 

For the most part, rivers out west are higher gradient flows than what you’d normally find in Ontario. Even small rivers are rocky and have quite a bit of pace to them. We used no less than 20gr floats on the trip with a ton of split shots and pencil lead on the line to get our baits & lures down. We also tried bottom bouncing but snagging up was pretty much the only end result of each drift. I sincerely give the foam floats made by DNE Tackle my two thumbs up (I ordered mine from Army & Navy in BC). If you fish the Niagara or you’re heading to the west coast, you definitely should have some in your tackle box. That’s all we used on the trip – Cheap at $2 each and very durable.

 

View during the commute

 

Big water

 

Victor, Jet & I fishing a beautiful run one morning – Crowds definitely were not a problem that day. Anthony took the pic

 

Jet with a big bend in the rod

 

Victor drifting an incredibly beautiful stretch of river

 

After watching Jet, Victor and Antony hook into a few steelhead the first few days without hooking into one myself, I was feeling slightly cursed with my Mojo at an all-time low. I tried various lures and baits, changed my rigs, prayed to the steelhead gods each night before bed, etc. Once I made a slight adjustment to my rig to suit my style of fishing, I finally got into them. My first ever wild west-coast steelhead

 

The release

 

One fish that went ballistic and tested my 13’6” 7wt spey conversion to the MAX! By far one of the most memorable fish of my trip.

 

 

To get to one river, we drove on a winding mountain road above the clouds

 

After having a fish break his size 1 hook in half the day before, Jet lands this one. Also on the previous day, he slipped and took a serious tumble down a rocky bank and landed into a HUGE patch of INSANELY thorny bushes…He deserved this fish for sure

 

 

Some rivers on the coast are also stocked by hatcheries (particularly the ones further south). Anthony with a clipper.

 

 

It’s tough to describe how hard the fish out west fight in comparison to what we would experience back home in Great Lakes region. I guess they have to be tough to escape killer whales, seals and sharks in the ocean and travel thousands of miles upriver. All I can say is, if I had the chance to go back in time, I’d definitely consider bringing an 8/9wt spey conversion for the medium and bigger sized rivers or a heavier purpose built float rod like an 11’3” Sage 3113MB. It blew my mind how powerful these fish were. My hands were shaking after the first one (and all the ones after)

[MJL]

The Other fish

 

Cutties

 

The cutties were accidental catches while we fished for bull trout. They pretty much hit any salmon egg/roe imitation (and real roe), to large streamer flies and jigs that were 4+ inches long. They are quite attractive fish with 2 beautiful red slash marks on their throats and they do put a nice bend in the rod. Unfortunately I didn’t catch any on the fly rod this trip.

 

They live in some very pretty looking water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountain Whitefish

 

They were all fairly small for the most part – Definitely way smaller than what you’d catch out of Simcoe. I guess they were comparable in size to a big cisco. They hit most egg patterns we used. Ironically, I caught my first one fishing a bucktail jig for bull trout. They smell like cucumbers.LOL

 

My first ever whitefish. I didn’t think I’d have to fly across the country to catch one though.LOL

 

 

Gerrard Rainbows

 

After Anthony and Victor left for home, Jet and I spent some time driving to a few lakes that held Gerrard strain rainbow trout. Gerrard rainbows are the footballs of the rainbow trout world. Historically they’ve grown to over 35+lbs in some lakes by eating a diet of Kokanee salmon and whatever fish they can swallow. In our case, we didn’t catch any from the lakes but sometimes it’s the journey and not the final destination that you remember the most.

 

A mountain road to one lake…It’s a long way down!

 

 

 

Jet & his dog Riku

 

Below the Surface

 

I brought along my underwater photography gear with the hopes of taking some sub surface shots of cutties & bull trout. The rivers we fished were generally not that clear and full of sediment. I took a few thousand shots over the course of the trip. Here are just a few I picked out after quickly skimming my hard drive:

 

One that I caught with a cleo

 

Half & half

 

Resident rainbow

 

Small bully

 

Cutties

 

 

 

Kokanee salmon (Jet caught the only one. A fair number of zombies around though)

 

Touristy Moments:

 

We stopped in at the side of the road to collect spring water streaming from the side of the mountain. Risks of Giardia aside, it was the best tasting water I ever had.

 

On the 2nd last day of my trip, Jet and I visited John Milner’s shop in Cranbrook. For those who don’t know John, he’s one of the few centrepin reel makers in Canada. Over the past 40+yrs, he has machined both centrepins and a few spey reels by hand. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted his Kingfisher model because of the similarity to my first ever centrepin, a 3.5” Hardy Silex. I didn’t purchase a reel that day, but John went over the various options available to customers including some very unique one-off reels with custom porting and anodizing. He even showed us some spool templates of a few custom reels he produced for several of his customers. I really enjoyed visiting the shop and chatting with John about reels. John really is a very humble, down to earth man who is willing to spend time with just about anyone. He was helping out some college students with their robot project when we first got to his shop.

 

 

What reels look like at the beginning

 

Rack of parts

 

Reels waiting for final assembly

 

Group shot with Jet, John and I with a couple of his reels

 

Group photo on Victor’s and Anthony’s last day in BC

 

Reflection

 

Before the trip, I was told that BC stands for “Bring Cash”. Tackle shops can get fairly pricey for gear and licenses can also be pricey. If you plan to fish classified waters, be prepared to pay $20 or $40 per day on top of your other licenses.

 

It’s worth hiring a guide or a drift boat on the bigger rivers even for just a day. A few of the rivers we fished required brutal hikes down rocky banks easily accessible by drift boats. Many of the spots we hiked into only offered 1 or 2 pools or runs to fish before having to climb back to the car and drive to the next spot – Many places are just inaccessible by foot or conventional wading.

 

If you’re using a centrepin and fishing with a heavy rig, learn the “BC Cast”. You can launch a 20-30gr float rig into the distance with zero line twist as a result. After some practice, it’s pretty easy to do with a big slip float and a ton of lead.

 

Use the down & dirty technique to land big, out of control steelhead that took you waaaaaaaaay down river and are still steaming off. What is the down & dirty you ask? Essentially it involves plunging the rod tip into the water and cranking the fish back up river – No rod pumping required. Fish will miraculously swim right back to your rod tip (Jet can attest to its effectiveness). The other anglers who reefed on their rods in the high noon position never really seemed to make any progress and took forever to land their fish (if at all). Low, side pressure was key to landing big fish in a shorter period of time.

 

The down and dirty in action

 

BC also stands for “Bring Cleats”. It’s also advisable to carry a wading staff when crossing even the smallest of streams. Victor knows firsthand how cold the rivers are when he went for a dip past the top of his waders.LOL

 

Read the regs. Many rivers we fished had bait bans, where even scented soft plastic baits were not allowed. Beads, jigs, unscented soft plastics (like pink worms & egg imitations) and flies were used to great effect. Single pointed barbless hooks were standard everywhere we went aside from some of the stocked rainbow lakes.

 

Summary

 

I really have to thank Jet for taking us around and letting us stay at his place and feeding us. If he hadn’t messaged me with an invite, I probably wouldn’t have made the trip out to his neck of the woods. It was great seeing him again. Prior to moving out west, we used to live within a 7 minute drive of each other and fished the rivers for steelhead together. I also have to thank Jet’s sister Victoria and her BF, Filipe for being the most awesome hosts while we were there. Victoria makes a super tasty cucumber, carrot & avocado salad that’s to die for. Jet’s friend Chris also hooked us up with some of his secret cured roe before we left Toronto (for the rivers where bait was allowed) – The “poison” worked like a charm

 

All and all, this is by far the most epic fishing trip I’ve ever been on. I waited over 20yrs to catch my first ocean run steelhead, I got to try elk cooked 3 different ways and I flew on a plane for the first time since I was 4. I think for the next while, I’ll be reliving the hook-sets, the runs, tail-walks and cartwheels of all the steelhead and bull trout in my mind.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Edited November 13, 2012 by MJL

[BillM]

Great thread Mike!! Some amazing views I've heard that 'Down and Dirty' technique also called the 'Michigan Dirty' What's crazy is it actually works! LOL!

[ccmtcanada]

Wow wow wow! Trip of a lifetime there Mike! Some incredible pictures an fish. Good on ya for bringing a few Ontario boys and kudos for Jet for his hospitality! A cross country OFC effort there!

[kickingfrog]

What great trip! And some awesome photos. Hope you're not completely spoiled for fishing in Ontario from now on. Or you are going to have to move out there like Jet.

[blaque]

Stunning report. I love the underwater pic Of the Kokanee.......the water clarity is unreal

[ProFishermanJones]

what a trip! amazing report and photography some of those pictures are just mind blowing, the underwater ones especially, i like the technique of taking a fish picture with the rod balancing on your back! looks classy! awesome report to say the least!

[irishfield]

Living life to the fullest there Mike... GOOD for you!! Great shots of an amazing trip!

[Joeytier]

Fantastic. Thanks for taking the time to provide such great reading and viewing material of a trip I can only dream of one day accomplishing...

[Christopheraaron]

Great report there Mike! I've caught mountain whities, really easy to catch and a lot of fun!

[Skud]

Awesome!! Great report and pics. Thanks for posting

[timmeh]

Thanks for taking the time to write that up. Great report with some great pics.

[Joey]

Wowzers, that is a trip of a lifetime. I can't decide which picture is my favorite, there are so many awesome ones.

 

Excellent report

[buckster]

Wow...good stuff Mike! Amazing shots!

[Grimace]

Incredible trip. Breathtaking views. Thanks for sharing.

[crappieperchhunter]

Always love your stories and pictures Mike. Thx again for taking the time.

[northernpike56]

nice fish- those bull trout kind of look like a cross between a laker and an aurora to me

 

Matt.

[solopaddler]

Experience of a lifetime Mike, it's no wonder you look so happy in all the pic's.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[MJL]

Thanks guys...Glad you liked the pics

 

What great trip! And some awesome photos. Hope you're not completely spoiled for fishing in Ontario from now on. Or you are going to have to move out there like Jet.

 

I thought about it and realized I'd miss my carp fishing

[Pigeontroller]

Seriously awesome pics! Thanks for posting them!

[GreenCanada]

Awesome report, thanks for sharing!

[bobowski]

Great report! Those pictures are amazing.

[Cudz]

Nice! Love the scenery and the rivers looks awesome. Nice fish too.

[davey buoy]

What more could I say,SPECTACULAR Mike!!!!!!!!!.

[spincast]

Wow, what a great trip. Fantastic scenery and awesome fishing with friends. Thanks for taking the time to put it all together

(edited for spelling)

Edited November 13, 2012 by spincast