The Gang's All Here!!!...

The last couple of weeks the chum action has been good. The amount of fish in some areas was incredible. In the last few weekends, it's been fun because I have been seeing lots of the old faces. Brad, Chris, Ryan, and Jonathon, and ken. I also ran into Terry, and some of the other guys from the Totems Flyfishing Club. The river was in good shape, and it was good visibility. I went up to the upper Squamish to have a look around and check out the river. I ended up at twenty four mile fishing the top end of the run. It was great to be up there because I just bought a 14ft, Temple Fork Signature Series 8.9wt. I also bought a scientific angler tri tip 8wt. It works well. The water clarity was about four feet of visibility so I thought for sure I would get a nice dolly, or a fat bull trout. I didn't end up hooking up on anything. I think it will be alot of fun fishing for dollies and bull trout this year. The upper Squamish that's where it's at..

Chums A Plenty...

Last Sunday me, Jonathon, and Derick, were fishing the lower Squamish for those fiesty chums that come around once a year. We found a zone that they were moving through allday. We had one of our best days ever in two years. We must have hooked up on at least thirty or more, and most of them were very clean. The water clarity was less than perfect, with no visibility at all. We could not believe the amount of fish that were coming through, jonathon and I had a couple of double headers, that was fun. It was a really nice day, the sun was out and it was a warm day. I'm hoping that this was the beginning, of the run. It was a great day and lots of fun was had by all... The fly patterns that we were using due to the water clarity, were dark patterns, so that they would show up in the coloured water. Jonathon was using size two, flies and he was hooking up on lots. Derick was using a pink prawn pattern, and then he switched over to something darker. I tied up some intruder, style flies in black, and they worked well. I also had some action with my blue bomber, pattern, that I tied on a big long shanked bartleet hook. Those Chummies, pound for pound, put up a great fight, on the fly...

Bulkley River 2009.

I have spent two great weeks in Smithers BC, fishing the Bulkley River for wild Steelhead. The fishing conditions were tough at times, with biting cold winds, and a snow flurry here and there. Today was one of the warmest days that I had. I didn't hook up on anything today, but the past few days were good because I had a fish on everyday. I landed four nice fish, and had many more on. I fished the Morice River, and had some fish action there. As we were driving up the forest service road we saw two very large grizzly bears on the opposite side of the river. What a sight to see, because I had never seen one in the wild before. The river itself reminds me very much of the upper Squamish. Since I have been here I have seen lots of the old faces from last year, and the year before. I ran into Jay, from California, Max and his Italian buddies, And a few other Italians that I just met on this trip. Oh yeah!! and Jay's friend Wade, that used to guide, on the Dean River. The other day I took the afternoon off and went wandering around the town of Smithers. What a great town this is. The main street, as it is called is a nice street with tons of shops, and places to eat, and coffee shops to hang out in. There are two places to buy fishing gear if needed. On this trip I fished a few different spots on the Bulkley, around the Chicken Creek area, where I found some nice water, but just didn't find any fish around. Jonathon told me about those spots, when I ran into him down by the Smithers bridge, fishing through a nice piece of water. Today is our last day on the Bulkley, and Friday we will go to the Morice River, and fish there before we say good bye!! to the north country for another year...

Bulkley River Adventure October 3, 2009.

Well Andy and I are back for another trip to catch some Bulkley River Steelhead. We left on Friday night at about 6:30pm to start our adventure, we arrived in Smithers at about 5:30pm on saturday, october 3rd. Upon our arrival Andy decided to get alittle fishing in before it got dark. I went to the hotel to get us sorted out, and into our room. I can't wait to get out on the river. Everything is going according to plan. I couldn't wait to get back up to the north country for some more classic steelhead flyfishing..

Jurgen, And Wolfgang Come To Squamish.

Jurgen, and Wolfgang, came to Squamish for a fishing adventure.They arrived on Friday Sept 11th. I met them in downtown Squamish, and we went to get fishing liscences for them, and then I showed them the lower squamish where we would start the adventure fishing for pinks. We fished the next day below the Mamquam River, with not to much success, there weren't alot of fish moving through at all. We went to the Brew Pub for dinner to cellebrate there arrival. We fished the Ashlu River, and found lots of pinks up there. We ran into Kara, when we were up there. It was nice to see her on the river. She had a couple fish on and then we saw her back at the parking lot. Jurgen, Wolfgang, and myself were enjoying a beer, and some good conversation talking about the days events. We all went to the Watershed Grill, for a great dinner. That was fun. I took them up to Green Lake, and we fished the mouth of Fitzsimmons Creek, where Jurgen pulled out a small dolly, and that was it. After that it was lunch in Whistler, and to the Fly Shop. The next day was up to the Birkenhead River, to try our luck at catching a few dollies, bulls, and rainbows, even some sockeye salmon. We all caught fish that day. It was a fun day and they liked the river alot. They left on Wednesday Morning, and headed for Smithers. It was great to see them again. I think they will come back another time..

Waiting for The Pinks To arrive..

I'm waiting for the pinks to come up the Squamish River. I am hoping that the run will be a strong one, with lots of fish. It's always fun to go down to the river, because you always see someone you, know. I like to go down to the mouth of the Mamquam where it runs into the Squamish. I usually go out first thing in the morning when there are no crowds. I get the best spot, or my favourite spot and catch tons of fish. Sometimes I try the floating line, instead of the sink tip. I think that I will float the river, a few times so that I can get away from the crowds, and have some space to myself. I'm hoping for a good return this year. I'm also hoping that they open it so that you, can take at least one fish for the BBQ... That would be great. Beers and BBQed, Pink Salmon. Awesome... It is official Jurgen, and Wolfgang are coming to Squamish. It will be a fun week, I am looking forward to showing them around and taking them fishing. It will be great to hang with the German Dudes!!..

Island Lake 2009.

I spent a week fishing up at Island Lake with Andy. We left on the Saturday morning and made our way up there. Along the way we made the all important stop at Tim Hortons for coffee, and doughnuts. Then on to our favourite lake. We stopped in Merrit, to go into the Powder Keg, to have a brief look around and then to the lake we went. Upon arrival at the lake where we set up camp for the week, we saw Russel, and Jeff, as they were packing up to head out. We talked for awhile, as they were packing the rest of there stuff. We picked our spot and set up our camp. It was great to see those guys again because it had been so long since I had seen them. We fished alot during that week. I saw somebody else that I knew camping just at the next site over from us. Dave was up there with his wife, and two kids. I was surprised to see him up there, so in the evening I went over to talk to him. It was great to be up at my favourite lake again. The fishing was pretty slow for the most part. Andy, and I, both had one good day. I had a 20, fish day and Andy had 35, fish day. The weather stayed good for the whole time that we were there, except for maybe a shower or two. Andy and I were catching most of our fish on chronomids. Brown with a copper ribbing, that Andy tied. We also caught fish on nymph patterns under an indicator, trolling, and anchord. It was a good week, a fun trip and I'll have to go back soon....

Exploring And Fishing The Upper Cheakamus River.

I have been fishing the upper Cheakamus River, the past weekend. The fishing has been great. I fished the Rubble Creek area, and the fish action has been pretty steady. The trout in the river are not very big, but they definately come to the fly, with a vengance. I have been fishing, with my 3-4wt and my 5-wt, with floating lines and long leaders. The flies that I have been using are weighted nymph patterns, in olive, and dark green. It's fun to fish the river, with light gear. I am going to try dry flies, because it will be even more fun to see them come up and take the fly off the surface. I am having alot of fun fishing on the river, and catching all these smaller trout, because there's lots of them, and they fight well. I had no idea that the fishing was so good in the upper river. I have driven past it so many times, and never thought of fishing it until now. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a trophy in there somewhere. Time to get out there and cast those flies around and search the waters. Tight lines all the time!!!..

A Good Day Climbing In Squamish B.C..

I went out climbing for the first time this year. It was a great day, the sun was shining, and let me not forget about the great climbing partner I had. I met Kara early on Sunday morning. She came up to my place and we headed over to Murrin Park. We arrived at the sugarloaf, and we were the only ones there for a couple of hours before other climbers arrived. We climbed all the routes, and had a fun day. We toproped, and placed gear. Kara, had never done any leading before so I went up first, placed some gear and then I pulled the rope through and she tied in and led her first few climbs. kara did well. After that it was to the Brew Pub for beer, and burgers, and to reflect on what a great day we had!!.

The Other Side Of The River...

I have found that floating the river is the best way to really see it and to get to know it. It seems that in the past couple of weekends, I have hooked up on a few more fish with the advantage of being able to get to the other side of the river. It allows you, to fish water that doesn't get fished all the time. So far all of the steelhead, and dollies, I have caught have been on the wild side of the river. It's fun to float along with the current, and let the river take you, on a peaceful and quiet, journey. There are many different types of water craft that are reasonable to float the river. I like the pontoon boat, it is very easily manouvered through tough sections of river. It is very stable and they handle great in fast currents. They also carry all your essential gear you, would need for your day on the river. It's great to be on the other side of the river!!!...

Fishing On The Wild Side... The First Float Of 2009.

Today I decided to float the Squamish, from about 25 mile, down to the Ashlu bridge. It was great to fish the river, on the other side. I was on the river at 8:30 am, it was a nice day to be out. I found a few dollies, and bulls, that wanted to come out and bite my flies. The fly choices today, were black bunny strip sculpin intruders, a greyish white bunny strip egg sucking leach type intruder pattern. And a fly that I haden't ever used before, it was a wine coloured spey hackle, with purple marabou and a small amount of flash. The water was a little coloured just enough so that any fish would not be spooked. I haven't floated the river in two years, so I made a day of it. I had to drop off my boat, where I started and then drive back down to the pull out spot, and then ride my bike back to the drop in , and begin my float down the river. It was a fun day, a few fish, and a great way to see the river....

The First Steelhead Of 2009..

Well it was about time that I hooked up on a steelhead. I have been looking for one for the past couple of months. It was a great day, on the Squamish, but to my surprise there were lots of other fisherman on the river. I fished with Derick, again today and we, got a late start out there today. As we drove along the gravel road by the river, we saw some vehicles at 24 mile, and at chuck, chuck creek. We continued on up to 27 mile, and there were vehicles from there all the way up to 28 mile. We decided to walk up at 28 mile and fish a nice piece of water, where Derick caught a nice dolly. We ended up walking up river to see what we could find. We fished at 29 mile, and that's where I got lucky. I tied up a nice sculpin pattern, and swung it through the run. It was a deep run, about five to six feet deep. I made a long cast into the slacker water on the other side, and as it swung into the mid part of the run the line tightened and the fight was on. I had decided to go with a type 8, sink tip. I wanted to get the fly down there and right in front of that fish. I think he hit it in the mid part of the swing. It felt good to catch that steelhead, and feel that pull on the line. I did an expert job of landing it and getting it to hand. The pictures were taken, the fish released, and all was good....

In The Wild Squamish Valley...

Today was a great day, I met up with Derick, and we were surprised to find that the upper Squamish Valley road, had no snow all the way up to 28 mile,.. We fished 27 mile, and found a few dollies. We fished all the way down around the corner. After that we decided to go and fish the old guides run, Derick hooked up on a dolly, in a nice run that should have held more fish. We had an 11, fish day today, Derick had some good luck, today. It was great that he did well because he had never been up in that part of the river. I was happy to be up there because it had been so long since I had fished that part of the river. It was so so peaceful, and such a scenic spot. We saw a few mountain goats, on the other side of the river. There weren't any other fisherman out there. We had the river all to ourselves. I tied up a few sculpin patterns and chucked those around for awhile. I managed to get one, so I know that it works. The one that worked for me, had a blackish green body, with a light coloured schlappen tail, red schlappen for the gills, and some crystal flash. I am giong to do some more experimenting, to come up with some more patterns, that will entice the big one....

Having A good Week Off...

Well I had the week off, And it was good. I was on the river, alot of the time and it was wet and rainy. I was fishing with Derek, for the last few days. And that was great, to have someone, to fish with. We were fishing around the 20, mile area on the Squamish as usual. I also fished the Cheakamus River, as well. I have not been on that river for years. Derek showed me a couple of nice spots. I put in a couple days, on my own. Andy came up on Friday, and he fished up around 22 mile, we parked up at High Falls, and I walked up to 24 mile. I fished through my favourite spot where I hooked up on lots of steelhead, and dollies. I worked my way down river, and went around a log jam, and met Andy. We fished down through the Goat Run. And as I fished through a nice piece of water I had a nice bully, on and then it popped off and that was the only one I had on. I was wet, and water logged, and I had enough of the pouring rain. Andy stayed out there, up at the Ashlu Bridge area... anyway I hope that saturday is not so wet, and rainy. It was a fun week...

The Past Few Weekends On The River...

The last few weekends fishing with Derrick, have been productive. It's not often that I go with someone, and we catch a few nice fish, and take some pictures. Most of the time I go by myself and catch a few that are picture worthy, and I can't get the pictures with me, in them. I guess that's how it works out. I'ts great when you, hook up on lots of fish. But it's even better when you, catch a few big ones, that's what makes the days outing great. I like the pull, of a big bull trout, it straightens the line, pulls it tight and then the fight begins. The big intruder flies are the favourites, swinging deep through the tailouts of pools and runs. The colours are blue, olive, olive and black, marabou mixed. Also the weighted flies, with the cone head, have been working well on a type three, sink tip. I don't usually use weighted flies because they are hard to cast, or so I thought. I found that casting these even with a 7, 8, weight 13ft, was not a problem at all. I'll tie more, and fish them alot, and catch more fish...It's all good.!!!!!!!

Fun Fishing, One River Crossing, And A Few Fish On.

Today was another action packed day on the river. Derrick and I found a few feisty bull trout, and some dollies. The water level had come up since last weekend, and that made for some better fly water. I was using a weighted fly that I tied up with a cone head. That one worked the best for me. As we worked our way down the run, we thought about crossing the river and fishing, from the other side. It looked great. It was funny because we just looked at one another, and said there has to be fish there. We figured the best way to wade the tailout, and went for it. About half way across, it began to get deeper, and the current was pushing hard. At that point we were waist deep in water, commited to making it to the other side. As we neared the far bank, the current slackend off and we were safely on the other side. We fished the whole run all the way to the end as far as we could go. No hits, no pulls, no takers what so ever. We walked back up and crossed over to where we were before. I guess it just goes to show you, that looking at a certain piece of water from one side, doesn't mean that it will give you, a better fly drift from the other side. There is the possibility, and sometimes you get lucky. We worked our way through some other good water, and called it a day. What a day, a fun day.!!!!!

Finding New Water, and Lots of BIG BULL TROUT.!!!!

I decided to go looking for new places to fish, on the Squamish River. I walked down below the Ashlu bridge, looking for the elusive or so it seems at times, the BIG BULL TROUT, of the upper Squamish. The past few weekends I have not seen that much action. Finally I fished some great spots that held lots of dollies, and big bull trout. I had to walk a fair ways to find where the fish were. I guess that's the whole idea. But in the end it was worth all the effort. All the water that I fished would be great water for steelhead. Today was great I hooked fish in every spot that I fished, and it didn't seem to matter what colour combination I used they were very aggressive, and hit every fly I put through the run. It was great because I finally found those bull trout that I have been looking for. I managed to hook up on alot of big ones around the 4, to 7lb class and the usual dollies, of about 2, to 4lb, class. I lost track of how many I actually had on but I am estimating the count to be somewhere in the area of at least 25 on and a bit more than half of them I landed. It was great to feel that familiar tug on the line. It was an awesome day. And I hope that there are many more to come.....

Snowmobiling And Fishing In The Upper Squamish...

What a great day it was today. I met up with Wes, and Clint, for the fishing, and snowmobiling adventure. I met them at clint's place and we headed out from there. We parked above high falls, and then cruised up on the snowmobiles to 27 mile. We fished through a couple of spots and we crossed the river, and went up river for a short distance. The sun was out and it was blue skies, for the whole day. It was great to be up in that area of the river, since I had not been able to because of all the snow. It was definately a great experience riding on a snowmobile, and driving it was a blast. It was so quiet up there, and not a single other person around. We saw lots of eagles. For most of the time we were out we enjoyed just being out in the great outdoors. It was great that we did that. it was great to go do that with new people. We didn't catch anything but I'm thinking that it wasn't the whole idea of this outing. It was to go out and have an awesome time, in the wilds of squamish. I like to find some fish, but if you, don't then that's the way it goes. It's all good. Better luck next time.!!!!!!

The Fishing Adventure Part 2..

Today I took John out on the river, to cast a few flies around to see if there were any fiesty dollies that would come out and play. We started off at 24 mile, and made our way to about 22 mile. It was a great day, the sun was out for awhile. We fished some nice water, I had a couple takes with one fish to the beach. I was surprised at how well John could cast a fly, since he had never done it before. I played the part of being the guide, fairly well John told me, and that I was a good teacher. It was great to be out on the river again, and it was also really great to have John, come along. Maybe next time we will have a little more action. It was a great day, to be out in the wilds of Squamish....

My Fishing Adventure With John.

Well it's Thursday afternoon, and i'm looking forward to playing the guide for a day. I've been looking forward to taking John, out on the river for a little flyfishing. We will meet up on Friday, morning and drive up to the upper Squamish, to about the powerhouse channel. We will either walk up to 24 mile, or we will go in at about high falls creek. Wherever we decide to start we will be fishing some really good water, where we should find a few dollies, and or some BIG bull trout. I have tied some new patterns that should catch fish. I'm hoping that the water temperature, isn't to cold because the fish will be active and more aggressive, when coming to the fly. I'm going to guide John for awhile, and hopefully he will catch a nice dolly, all on his own. All I'm going to do is show him where to cast. It will be alot of fun, hanging out on the river with John. I on the other hand have not been out for a month and I'm happy to be going out, to throw a fly around. More to come later.

The Snow Has Finally Stopped.

Well the weather has finally changed from snow to rain. I'm hoping to get out on the river, for at least one day, of serious fishing in after all this snow has been falling, making it difficult to get up to at least the power house channel. I'm feeling the urge after so many weeks not fishing. I have tied some new flies. I have been trying to come up with some shrimp, and prawn, patterns. I have one that I have called the coral and orange shrimp, tied intruder style. I'm hoping to hook up with a few monster bull trout, that would be great. For the time being I will keep on experimenting, at the fly tying table. I am hoping the steelhead, will show up in good numbers this season. If they're there i'll find one that's in the biting mood. I'm off to go fishing, see ya.!!!!!