News and Events
River Leven at Loch Lomond and the River Awe at Loch Awe are now open and bookings are now being taken for Speycasting lessons. Early signs are that this is going to be a busy season as tuition for particularly Spey style casts is now very much in demand, so it's advisable to book early.
*10th December 2007
Angling Trip to British Columbia
It was here at last, all the planning, discussion, selection of equipment was over - we were on our way to fish the Harrison and Fraser rivers in British Columbia.
It all started about two years ago when some of the members of my local angling club went over and came back with tales of catching 40 - 50 Salmon to their own rod every day and playing giant Sturgeon which almost pulled their arms out of their sockets.
This was for me, l was due to retire from Daiwa in 2007 anyway so l decided that a retirement present from me to me would be to join the other members on their next trip. The advice we got was to book our fishing for round about the second week of October thereby ( hopefully) latching on to some of the big King ( Chinook ) Salmon as well as other species. In all there are 5 species of Salmon that run the Frazer system. They include, King or Chinook, Sockeye, Coho, Chum and Pink. The runs of Pink occur every odd year - 2005, 2007, 2009 etc., and each run is immense - 22 million Pinks alone ran the system this year!!
Having decided to go, the booking was made through Bluewater Rockies Sport Fish Guiding Company. Everything is handled by them, all flights, hotel rooms, transport to and from the airport to the hotel, guides, boats, permits etc., absolutely everything that you need is catered for by them.
So, the day arrived and all seven of us made our way to Glasgow Airport, the seven were - Brian, Derek & Stuart who had been out there two years ago and the four novices Paul, Garth, Chris and I, all with a typical fly fishers luggage - more equipment than clothing!!! Rods were packed in rod cases and waders, reels, lines etc., were carried in our normal luggage, since we were using fly fishing equipment it was quite easy to take a couple of multi piece rods each in two rod travel cases. I had selected a 9 foot 6inch # 6 weight and a fifteen foot # 10 weight, the others had various single and Double handed rods all between # 9 - # 10 weight.
Our flight took us via Amsterdam through to Vancouver, where on arrival we were collected in a stretch limo and driven to the Best Western Hotel in Chilliwak. The flights took about 12 hours in total and the drive from Vancouver to the hotel took about an hour and a half. After travelling for that length of time we were all pretty well ready for bed, so a quick meal, unpack and off to bed full of anticipation for the days of fishing that lay ahead...
After breakfast, all in our waders we awaited the arrival of our guides for the trip, namely Sacha and Jeff, both very experienced professional guides who arrived at about 8 o'clock with their river jet boats on trailers behind their huge 4x 4 trucks. Once they introduced themselves they advised us what we were going to be doing that day, and then whisked us off to the launching area known as Island 22. It was amazing to see so many boats preparing to launch at this site, all had 3 - 4 occupants plus the guide revving up the engines ready to speed up river to the fishing grounds. These boats travel at an unbelievable speed - 50 to 60 miles an hour over the water in depths of as little as 15 inches!!
Having travelled for about 30 minutes we landed on a gravel bar on the Harrison River and this was to be our fishing area for the day. The scenery was stunning, snow-capped mountains, pine forests for as far as the eye can see, fish eagles calling and swooping down over the river which was literally bubbling with salmon. This is what we had come for, and to cap it all we were bathed in pleasantly warm sunshine.
I don't know who was first to have a hook up, l think it was Derek with a Chum Salmon of about 20 lbs on his # 9 weight single handed rod, l'm pretty sure it was him as he was getting his rod prepared whilst travelling at 60 miles per hour in the boat!!
The rest of us built our rods and on the advice of both Sacha & Jeff used floating lines with 5 foot, 10 foot or 15 foot T 14 sinking tips, which, once you got used to casting them were pretty easy to use, albeit one or two did revert to our slower sinking polytips which they felt more comfortable with. All of us on the first day were amazed at the number of fish we hooked, played and landed. It must be said though that there were quite a few fish unwittingly foul hooked. This was due to the sheer number of fish in the river, but we soon became adept at recognising what was a legiti mate hook up or otherwise.
The first day flew in, we were all exhausted playing fish after fish, so much so that l would fish for a couple of hours then take photographs for an hour or so then back to the fishing and more pulls bangs and takes. The water, though shallow and gin clear in the Harrison, is fast flowing and bracing yourself constantly against the current does tell on the old tired legs!! I eventually changed from the big rod onto the # 6 weight as it was much easier to handle. Believe it or not l was playing Chum salmon up to 20lbs on this rod without any problem. The reel l used had an excellent disc drag and with 300 metres of 30 lb gel-spun backing l was comfortable handling big fish on this light outfit and would recommend it to those who have a liking for light weight rods.
We very quickly got into a routine of being picked up at the hotel, deciding what we were doing each day, speeding up river, catching fish whilst admiring the scenery, back down river to the hotel - where, by the way you could walk around in your waders and boots!! Indeed, one morning in the restaurant a chap from fishing party was putting his tackle together - it was 6 o'clock in the morning!! Now that's what l call keen!! Each day was a different landing point with different surroundings, but still plenty of fish to cover. Paul, the comedian of the party , set out to catch the full suite of salmon and he did, to the extent that one of the days he caught a small jack Chinook weighing about 7 - 8lbs. Later on he hooked into a whopper of 45 - 50lbs and deliberately pulled the fly out of its mouth!! When asked why he had done this, he replied that he already had caught a Chinook and he was after another type!!! He did achieve the full suite, the only one to do so. The biggest fish l hooked was a Chinook estimated to be about 45lbs . Having hooked it we followed it downstream for about 800 yards in the jet boat, otherwise l would have lost my line, backing - the lot in fact .All credit to the guide who was on the ball, recognising that it was a Chinook of ample proportions and had the boat fired up in seconds with me being yanked aboard!!
One of the days in the first week we went on the Frazer River to fish for Sturgeon, this turned out to be a fascinating way of fishing. The guide baited up four bait rods with decaying Salmon flesh ( yukk!!) and free lined it downstream on heavy lead sinkers. The bites were amazingly slight and striking was pretty difficult to do as the fish were about 80 feet down and by the time you struck, the fish often had dropped the bait before the hook was set. I got two sturgeon which weighed approx., 100 lbs each but the rest of the party caught bigger fish, the largest measuring a massive 7foot 9inches !!!!! I must admit l was quite happy with my tiddlers!!!!!
I could go on and on about the holiday , numbers of fish caught, weather, scenery , the friendly people, most of all sharing the experience with fellow anglers - a totally unforgettable experience. During my stay there l took over 1200 photographs which edited down to a reasonable 300 - 400.
I certainly recommend taking a camera with you as it is such an impressive place and l'm sure the fish even smile for the camera!!!!
I'm going back either next year or 2009 when the Pinks run again. Would l do anything different? I don't think so, perhaps take a lighter double handed rod - say 13 foot # 9 weight and of course my beloved # 6 weight and plenty of Pink , Purple and Mauve singles Size 2 and 4.
Useful contacts and sites:-
Bluewater Rockies Sportfish Guiding Co.
Contact name Chris Ciesla
A lesson well
learned -
"Today, Tuesday 2nd May
l had two pupils on the River Leven at Bonhill for
Speycasting instruction. Robin Lyall and Jimmy
Johnston were complete beginners with the Double
Handed rod and although they had been fishing the
system for many years, they had never ever caught a
Salmon.
We spent over 3 hours going through the basic Single
Speycast and at the end they both achieved a
reasonable Single Spey off the Left shoulder. At the
end of the lesson we discussed tackle, lines to use
and how they could improve their equipment without
breaking the bank.
We also discussed the various pools and lies within
the pools on the upper river and the lads decided
that they were going to fish on.
Jimmy asked me what fly he should use and l selected
a Size 8 Double Ally Shrimp and as l left the river
l could see them both going down the bank into the
Bonhill Bridge pool to fish the Cables lie as l had
suggested.
I have just received a call from Robin telling me
that Jimmy on his second cast hooked and landed a
15lb Springer, his first Salmon on the fly indeed
his first Salmon ever!!! Now about being able to
walk on water - well................"
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