Nita Lake Whistler BC..

A couple days ago, I went to meet up with Marie, to take her, for her first lake fishing adventure. We met at about 8-30am and headed for Nita Lake. It's right around Creekside. It's a small little lake so that made it all that much better to teach her the ways of lake fishing, and how to catch fish. We got set up and out on the lake we went to see if we could catch a few. I had never fished the lake so I didn't know what to expect, but because of the size of the lake we didn't have any problem catching fish. Marie caught a few, and I got a bunch and we had some good hits just trolling around some little nymph patterns. She brought her dog to so that was fun because she put her on the float tube and kicked around. It was an awesome day, we fished till the afternoon and then we went to get a few things, and then it was back to Marie's place and she cooked me a great lunch as usual. Then it was a little while later we went to the village square to listen to a band, we hung out for awhile and it was a fun day in Whistler.

Crash Course In Lake Fishing.

I took Susan, out on a small lake in Squamish, called Murrin Lake. It wouldn't have been my first choice but just to give her an idea of what lake fishing was all about I figured it would be the best bet. They had just stocked the lake with some catchable size rainbow trout, and lots of them. We went out in the early evening when it was quiet and not to many people were around. We arrived in the parking lot, and set up all our gear and took the float tubes out, and waders. We were on the lake for about an hour and the bite came on, with Susan starting things off. She caught some nice size trout and she was pretty happy with her efforts. It was the first time that she caught a fish on her 6wt, rod. It was the first time that she had ever been in a float tube, before and she thought it was great kicking around the lake with fins on. What a blast!!.. We ended up staying out on the lake until about 9pm, and then it was time to go. We made plans to go out on another adventure to a couple of lakes up in Pemberton. Ivey and Blackwater were the two choices. We went up on a weekday, so it wouldn't be to crowded and it wasn't. We fished Ivey in the morning, and had no luck at all, I guess the fish weren't hungry or they just weren't interested in anything we had to offer. We fished for four hours and then we came off the lake and had something to eat. Susan had brought all sorts of stuff for us to munch on, salad and cherries and cheese and crackers, it was awesome!!. After about an hour she said what about the other lake?. You mean Blackwater Lake?, and she said yeah that one. So we cruised up there and fished the rest of the evening and we did get alittle action there. She had a found a spot that some fish were jumping around, and she just trolled around with a little green nymph pattern and she caught three. Susan was happy to be out there all day, and so was I it was a great day, and we had lots of fun.. She was great company, and we had a lot of laughs.. Good times.

2012, Climber's Festival..

My good friend and climbing partner, came up to Squamish for the festival. I was pretty happy to get out and do my first climbing day of the summer. Dave and I did a new route called Rambles, at the base of the Apron. It was an enjoyable route with not to many hard moves or cruxes, except on the last pitch. The route goes at 5.8, at it's hardest with a pitch of 5.7, and two of 5.6. It was a great climb, tons of fun. It was fun to get out and climb with Dave, and try a new route. During the festival, there were a few movies, and various other things going on. I went to two of the movies at the eagle eye theatre, one was called Squamish Rocks, a film about why squamish is the best place to live and play. The other one that I saw was Yosemite In The Sixties, a history of climbing the walls back then. Exciting stuff!!.. We did take in a bit of the after party, at the Brew Pub. We made plans to do an aid line somewhere on the Chief. We had great weather, and a good time..

Two River Tour.. Upper Squamish, Ashlu River..

I met Dani, at my place on Friday morning and we went out in search of some fish that would take our flies.. We started in the upper Squamish, and fished the usual spots, around 27mile. Dani was the one that got lucky in one of the spots she had two on. They weren't the big ones we were looking for, but she was happy with the end result. The river was silty coloured, and visibility wasn't great. Dani tried using the fly for awhile but she then decided to go back to her light spinning rod she had bought from me at the fly shop, along with a few other things she needed. I put the line on her reel for her, and rigged up with a float and some split shot to get her fly down faster. She liked that idea better because it was so much easier to cast. In the afternoon we decided to go try the Ashlu River, and try and catch a few there. But as luck would have it we didn't get any action, but we both enjoyed the awesome scenery in the valley. It was a long day for both of us but what a great day it was. We lucked out and had a bright sunny day and that's what made it even better. What a day!!.

Close Encounters With Dollies, And Bull Trout.. Upper Squamish.

I finally got the chance to take Marie, to the upper Squamish to fish for Dollies, and Bulltrout on the fly. It was a nice spring morning, we met and grabbed that all important cup of coffe at Bean Around The World and then to go get her liscence, and then up to the river and have a nice day.  We hadn't fished together since Pink season so I figured I might have to give her a few xtra pointers on casting... I was wrong she remembered everything I told her, and it didn't take long for her to get hooked up with a nice bully, land it. Of course that was the big one and as they say the big ones don't like getting photograghed, it slid out of her grasp and away it went back to where it lived. We had the chance to see it and she was super excited about it so back in the water she went to hook up on another one. And as luck would have it there were a couple more in there that were willing to bite. Not as big but just as exciting for her. I knew that there would be a few fish around I showed her where to cast and she did the rest.. The river was in good shape, the visibilty was great, and it was cool enough but not to cool. At the end of the day she had four on and landed three, and had numorous bites along the way.. It was a great day, and we had lots of fun...

A Day On The River With Pat Beahen.. Whistler Flyfishing.

It all started with some flycasting lessons that I gave to a newcomer to Squamish. I took her out in the evenings and taught her the fundamentals. After a few times at the casting pond it was time to hit the river and show her how to work a piece of water to find fish. Then after that we had made the plan to go up to the upper Squamish and go do some real fishing. Susan, became really good at casting in a short period of time. She decided to book a guided trip, and got a great deal on a whole days float and lunch included. Brian was great at setting it up at a moments notice. It was Susan's Bday, and she was pretty excited to get on the river. I met her at the shop in Squamish, and from there we went and met Pat Beahen, up at the Ashlu Bridge on the Squamish River to begin her adventure. We all met and piled into Pat's truck and up the river we went to the drop in point. We put the boat in at twenty eight mile, and started our float. Susan had never ever floated a river before much less flyfished in a river before. It was all new and exciting.. I was able to go along for the adventure to have a little bit of guide training. Soon enough Susan was into a few fish, some dollies and bulltrout. And then the big surprise came in the form of a nice steelhead as bright as the sun fresh in from the ocean. It was an awesome sight to watch someone that has never flyfished before doing battle with such an incredible fish. She landed the steelhead in fine style, and the pictures were taken and high fives all around.. It was an awesome birthday present, and a great day. She will never forget it, and neither will I..

Winter to Spring.. Upper Squamish.

Bryan, Dan, and myself found orselves in a bit of a snowstorm when we arrived at the Ashlu Bridge campground. The flakes were big and there was a light dusting on the ground. As we drove up the valley the flakes started coming down harder, with alittle bit more snow on the ground on the sides of the road. We pulled off at 27mile, and set up for the drift down. As we floated along and stopped to fish the good spots, the snow had stopped at about 25mile. Then all of a sudden the sun came out and it felt like spring, I decided to take off my jacket. It wasn't to cold at all just right the perfect fishing weather. The sun was up high and kept a steady warmth through the afternoon, I have to say that it didn't help the fishing greatly because any fish that were there would be under log jams, or some other form of cover. I did however have a hit in this perticular area, even though it was still fairly bright out.. As we drifted around that 24mile area there was a spot that did produce a couple of hits and a nice dolly. It was a deep spot so I figured that there would be one there, it was a good call to spend some xtra time fishing through it.. My colors were a purple and black Hobo Spey, a yellow marabou tube fly, and a white and blue marabou tube fly. It was a great day out on the upper squamish, with Bryan, and Dan.. With some wierd weather to boot.. That's the way it goes in the squamish valley.. Good times!!...