Fernie BC Fly Fishing
While we anxiously await the arrival of the new Hipwader I thought I’d share some BC fly fishing action I was fortunate enough to participate in this Thanksgiving weekend.
Sam and I, along with our wives, snuck away for a long fly fishing weekend in Fernie. This was the first Thanksgiving we’ve all spent away from our families and we wanted to do something special. Well how could it be special without a little fly fishing?
I’ll explain something right up front – we were anxious to get out on the water, but we weren’t too hopeful regarding our expectations. If we saw a fish we’d be happy – so early on in our outing we were more than satisfied – so to say…
We were up early that morning anticipating a nice day out on the water. There was a mild fog in the valley obscuring the view of the valley from our lodge. A quick brew and batch of scrambled eggs and we were off.
We were stopped going in along a 4×4 trail while trying to pass another truck. Having stopped to chat with the individual we found that it happened to be the CO in the area. Upon asking why he wasn’t it uniform he replied “It’s better this way”. Haha, ok –
I trust you… We talked about fishing for a bit and spoke about the areas along the river that should be productive for the day. We were fishing the border where the river in question closed for the season and remained open. Apparently further down the river there was a large log jam which inhibited the flow of some of the migratory fish (i.e. Bulls). Having established our goal of hooking up with some nice cutties this wasn’t an issue for us. The CO said he might see us later in the evening. We didn’t see him again, but we were looking forward to the prospect as we were pretty certain that if anyone were to know the river – it would be him.
Upon hitting the first pool we spotted the first fish in the emerald green water. The fish were holding along the side of the pools along the transition from deep to shallow. BC fishing regs in the classified waters dictate one fly (barbless) with no indicator. Having grown somewhat accustomed to an indicator on the Bow it took a few moments to get my high-sticking method back in check. Drifting a plethora of nymphs by the fish in sight produced some subtle movement in the fish – but nothing more. As the sun started to reach the water more some insect life started to reach the surface. The occasional small stonefly and caddis would lift off the surface. It was only moments from that realization that we saw our first rise. I think it was also that moment that our expectations for the outing changed. Sam and I switched from nymphs to #12-#14 stimmies. Sam let out a jubilant exclamation when the first fish of the day smashed his fly in the shallow tailout of a large pool. We never saw the fish and Sam wasn’t even sure the fish felt the fly. But we certainly knew he was there. Mark that fish for later on…
The rest of the day was something of a blur intermingled with specific instances which have been retold numerous times already. If you haven’t picked up on where this was going I’ll tell you right now – this was one of the best days I’ve had out on a river this year (if not ever). Fish were big, eager and plentiful. We experienced hatches of small stoneflies, large caddis, BWO’s and midges for the remainder of the afternoon. Our attack plan was to fish the stimulators (yellow to rusty in colour in the size #12 area) at each new pool until we exhausted the eager fish. Then we’d finesse the remaining risers with the smaller BWO’s. The currents in the pools would make small presentations a challenge – but persistence would frequently pay off.
A few of the fish would be Cut-Bows. Sometimes they’d be more bow - sometimes more cuttie. The above fish was absolutely gorgeous in the sun - brilliant rainbow markings on its side but it also had the nice cuttie jaw….
Others were textbook cutties:
Best moment: To start it off I’ll mention that Sam is somewhat verbose while on the river… You know when he’s about to get a hit, when he gets a hit, when he misses a hit, when he has a fish - all without looking. So it was of interest when I was drifting a caddis emerger along and Sam started yelling "Take it Baby!!! Take it" and I’m watching a nice sized cuttie coming up from 8′-10′ of water to grab my fly. Sam continues to egg on the fish and then just as the cutties slashes my fly Sam yells "yeah!!! fish on, whooo!"… Haha, I was thrilled to have someone watch me hook this fish. But shortly after we both realized that he had been talking to another fish interested in his fly. I can’t explain just how precisely timed these fish must have been - because his announcments were spot on for time. It was one of the better double headers from the day…
Not all the fish that day wanted to pose…
With it being almost 3am here I’ll leave you with a few shots from the day. All I can say is that I wish you were here with me! And maybe that I’m jealous that those in the eastern provinces will have a steelhead season coming up soon…
Nice cuttie!
Happy Thanksgiving! I can’t deny how blessed I am! Take the time this weekend to appreciate the little things in life. Family, nature, life itself!
DanJ
On the way out - roads can get a little rough…
