Flyfishing in the Pitt River

Saturday, June 26th, 2010 took a jet boat to the headwaters of Pitt Lake. It is a wonderful, wild place less than two hours from Vancouver. The fishing consisted of sating a large fly - fish imitation, upstream and after mending the line letting it drift with the current until it had swung around. A slow retrieve was often when the fish would hit. I went with two other fishing companions and between the three of us we landed more than 20 Dolly Varden. A spoon on a spinning rod was the best ticket but I stuck to the fly. Spectacular scenery and well worthwhile. We fished with Matt, a guide from the Pacific Angler shop on Broadway.

Coho on the Fly

Early August found me winging my way to Dundas Island. This is the most northerly island on the coast of British Columbia. My mission was to attempt to catch the muscular northern Coho on an 8 weight fly rod. My friends, Clayton Vanier and his beautiful wife, Jennifer Nelson, own and operate the Haa Nee Naa fishing lodge on this island. Every spring, they tow in the lodge and set up the resort. It is a wilderness experience with all the mod cons. It's sinfully sumptuous for a man who has learned that catching fish in Canada involves some sort of suffering. Usually fishing in Canada is accompanied by cans cold wind, rain and or snow merciless onslaughts of by black flies, no seeums or mosquitoes and some beans for lunch, breakfast or dinner. At Haa Nee Naa, you are pampered with delicious, gourmet food, a beautifully appointed lodge with comfortable beds and luxuriously appointed bathrooms. Once out on the water, you may have to suffer a little wind and this year it was chilly but as I always say, when you live in canada you can be cold at some point in all 12 months of the year!

However catching coho on the fly is a world-class fishing experience and this year was my 2nd attempt and it was great. I managed to land eight 10lb to 14 lb. beauties like the one in this photo.