Snow Pack

How much do we have and how will it affect the fishing is a common question when people are inquiring about a trip and it's a good question to ask.  There's a lot of prognosticating when it comes to this and I often shove my wading boot in my mouth when I make this prediction but here we go.

We have lower than normal snowpack in most drainages of the Kootenays which means we should have an amazing golden stonefly hatch on the Elk and some drake eating trout on the Slocan to feed.  That will be the big difference from the last several years when we were inundated with H20.

Here's a link to the data collected so far for this year.  (search for the Kootenay listings, East for Fernie/West for Nelson

Snow Pack

I'd prognasticate more later but for now I will guarantee myself some sleep.

Mighty tired,
gnite

Staring at the Vise

Well it's been a while since I've had a chance to unpack all my wicked shit that I've accumulated over the years; globetrotting and seasonal work forays have kept me away from a home base for awhile and I'm now settled back in Nelson BC for some time which gives me a chance to get around to those things I've been meaning to get to for a LOOOONG time.

Bookings for 2015 have been steady for both the East and West Kootenay and August is filling up quickly as usual but the 2nd half of July remains open on the Elk whereas the beginning and late June is filling up with Columbia and Slocan River dates....stoked to get my new Sea Ark Sled out there again!!  Equally stoked for drakes on some of the new tribs I found last year in the Elk Valley :) !!!

As I unpack and sort my tying materials out my head begins to explode with all the patterns I've mentally created over the summer and fall and with the addition of some new synthetics I'm stoked to venture in.  Problem is everytime I sit down I seem to be suffering from "tier's block".  So throughout the block I find myself browsing countless fly fishing videos from the site: http://venturingangler.com/  A ton of trailers in there for the IF4 coming up in 2015 and a lot of other entries from all over the world.  It's a pleasant distraction and an eye opener to just how much our digital age has broken into the natural world.  Everyone seems to be making movies these days and I think it's awesome except no new bugs have been tied!!!!

Here's one that was made by Joel Whalen that features myself, Spencer and a few others...we really like it, hope you do to:

Amongst the Kootenays  (click left for video)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

GET HERE....if you can

We got snow in the mountains and a dusting in the upper valley in the early part of September and it sloooowed things down.  That's been followed by a steady wave of high pressure and warm sunny days and the fishing is the best it's been all season.  If you're looking for a last chance to dance with some dries; ants, beetles, bwo's and hoppers will help you lace up the dance shoes.

Some shots:

Ya it is....On!

First of all I suck at blogging sometimes and maintaining river reports and I've been meaning to hammer out one for a month now.  So here's the deal, fishing is awesome right now and we are slaying some amazing fish on a variety of streams with 95% of that on top.  People are happy and beyond and the fish are making us look like stars out there.  You're only as good as your fishery allows you to be and I feel fully supported by the cast of rivers we dip our lines into.

Hatches in the tributaries have been solid since mid July and the Elk has been in recovery mode on mayflies but has been supplemented by caddis and terrestrial.  The mayflies are there in moderate numbers, but last years flood has cut into the population a fair bit.  That being said the PMD's have been moving most days and size 14 duns, spinners and emerges have been crushing it.

Some of the tribs are giving us abundant caddis, pmd and drake hatches and we've been railing 'meat' in tight fast freestone water...exciting times to say the least.

I could go on about all the awesomeness but I need rest has I'm on the river everyday and getting drunk on watching flies drift

 Below are some photos taken over the last few weeks, enjoy!!!  Keep yourself and the rivers wild ;)

Tying, Dying and Trying to go Angling

Well my usual foray into the woods to plant trees in the late winter/early spring on the BC coast is usually full of gruelling hard work in ridiculous terrain.  My efforts are rewarded by a good wage but it comes in one of the most difficult ways imaginable and at times can be quite soul sucking.  Currently the soul suck is on and to top things off I sliced my heel for 7 stitches loading a quad on my pick up and am now relegated to laying down with raised foot for the next 5 days....good time to tie, so out comes the vise and the assortment of synthetics and random dead animal parts.

Assorted Feather Carnage

Obviously the early tiers were hunters and gatherers, how else would one decide to use deer hair, pheasant tails and moose mains for bug imitations.  It's a bit strange to think of that these days as we are surrounded by an endless array of plastic shit in all shapes, sizes, colours and textures.  The petroleum industry has 'gifted' us with a multitude of new materials to create a pattern that we inevitably plan to stick deep into a fish's jaw.

The legacy of carnage that went into the original flies and further into the trout is really quite amazing.  Animals parts were apparently our 'plastic' of yesteryear; stretched intestines were used to make the leaders!!  How twisted is that?  Now I know I may be sounding a bit cynical here and really I should have no business doing so because this was another time, but think about being the inventor of the parachute hare's ear for instance.

You've realized the local lake is spitting out an enormous number of spotted winged mayflies on the local lake.  The trout are up feeding on them with amazing fever so you lightly swat one of the mayflies and bring it back to the farmhouse where you take a seat at your tying bench.  It's not a problem to put this one together because in the last few months you have shot, butchered and tanned the hide of a deer to create the tail of the fly.  The chickens in the coop out back have shed a few feathers for you and fortunately enough the cow had a calf and you slaughtered it for a quick meal and now have an endless supply of highly visible white hair to make your posts with.  The snare you placed in the back 40 managed to snag and strangle a bunny to supply you with rabbit stew and excellent body material for your fly.

Then came the industrial 'revolution' and with that the petroleum bi-product megalution.  Plastic changed how we live, from how we store food to how we deal with massive non-biodegrading landfills.  Without plastic the oceans would look a lot cleaner but without plastic's first cousin foam, we wouldn't have a Chubby Chernobyl or  Fat Alberts....nor would we enjoy hi vis orange/pink posts.  With the ugly comes some good and I often battle with the pluses and the minuses of the petroleum industry and it's products, but I am definitely greatful to have a multitude of tying materials in a plethora of flashy colours.  Nature has a way of creating some amazing colours, especially those created by the feather bearers but I'd rather see those colours stay on their wings and bodies and prefer using the synthetics when I'm looking for colour....except when it comes to peacock.

Peacock

The colour spectrum within a peacock herl is vast....from turquoise to brown to iridescent green and it's found it's way into so many patterns and can simply not be replicated by any synthetic material.  Thankfully it's readily available in Southeast Asia and is easy to raise so we don't infringe on it's survival as a species as some other birds such as the jungle cock were threatened due to the value of it's feathers.

A lot of tiers have a preference to using natural products; the traditionalists who like delicate presentations with bamboo rods often fit into this group.  The newer generation of fly anglers don't seem to mind throwing a combination of anything as long as it brings fish to the hooks and I'm an advocate of that.  Hats off to those who developed the traditional patterns but as more materials are discovered the more diverse fly patterns become and I'm all for a multitude of fly boxes filled with an endless amount of patterns...it's brought the fly fisherman to the craft stores.

The Perfect Blend of Old and New
PMX by Doug Swisher

Spring has been limping in on the coast and hasn't really shown it's head in the Kootenays.  Some of the lakes are open but the mountains are still holding a fair bit of snow.  The snow pack itself is a little bit less than where it was last year and we're all hoping for a moderate release.  We're having our boats worked on down in Idaho Falls so some angling there and back is in order and we're  seriously looking forward to throwing some line in Montana were spring seems to be a little further ahead.  Will keep you posted on how that goes; in the meantime I'm wrapping bugs booking some trips and watching Bubba Watson fend off some kid who was bold enough to wear a green shirt on day 4 at Augusta!!!

Diaper Clams

I got back from Thailand with my guts wrought with cholera…that's right cholera.  That hideous parasite that hooks itself into your intestines and multiplies causing a purging of your body fluids.  Basically drains you to the point of complete dehydration and leaves you bound to the proximity of a bathroom for days.

I first went to visit Bali two years ago and was quite charmed by some of the places I visited particularly Ubud and the many little villages along the Bukit Peninsula's surf breaks.  Pretty amazing little island with some really lovely people.  Flash forward 2 years and the veneer is rapidly peeling.  Swimming in the ocean now includes wrapping your bare flesh in plastic, not just in the popular beach ghetto of Kuta but almost everywhere we went.  I was snorkelling in the waters of Blue Lagoon near Padang Bai and I was a bit put off when I first entered the water as I saw quite a bit of suspended plastic throughout the water column.  But there was coral and quite a few colourful fish around so I got over it and began my ocean viewing.

Nature has a way of making colour that no petroleum bi-product could replicate.  The iridescence and brightness of these fish are truly magical, they are a testament to the perfection of nature.  Has I lost myself in the visual paradise I slowed down over a part of the coral bed where the it was a bit deeper and recognized the curved shaped lips of a giant clam.

Old Curly Lips

Ive always loved the shape of these overgrown scallops, they almost look like they're smiling at you when you stare at them for a while.  I felt a strong urge to get closer to my recent discovery so I took a deep breath and dove down towards the coral bed.  As I approached it began to occur to me that the "clam" was not as well formed as I thought and when I came within three feet of it I then realized my great discovery.  There stuck amongst the coral lying there peacefully with ridged leg wraps, was nothing other than a sick old bag of poo.  That's right, the shitsack, a diaper!!!

You may wonder how I perceived a diaper as being a giant clam and hopefully the coral reef your diving or snorkelling on  isn't concealing these non biodegradable discards but I was initially fooled.  After that first one, I began spotting a few more and by the end of the session, Diaper spottings outnumbered giant clam sightings 4 to 0.  BUMMER!!   HAH!

Really not funny at all and quite sad in the overall picture for this little tropical paradise.   It's not news to anyone that the ocean is full of plastic but in parts of Bali you are really swimming in it and it really takes away the pleasure of floating in a tropical paradise.  The problem stems around excessive tourism with excessive development and a complete disregard by the folks with the $$$ which includes the Indo government to back an infrastructure program that deals with the trash.  The locals love plastic too so that really doesn't help.  In fact most SE Asian countries are purveyors of 'fine' plastics.  They have a bag for everything in every shape.  I bought a couple of bubble teas (I have a weakness for them) and they handed me a bag specifically designed to carry two large plastic cups....like a double bagger.  This is when you realize that education is paramount if people are to change their habits and we in the Western world really do make an effort to reduce or use of plastic bags.  That being said we also consume a grossly disproportionate amount of energy and over our indulgent lives we amass an empire of wicked shit that includes thousands of plastic and metal parts that break down and get tossed....somewhere.

Your probably wondering why the *$@! I'm going on about this.  This blog is supposedly dedicated to the pursuit of trout and other finned creatures yet the last two blog entries have gone into depth on the life of cockroaches and sea garbage.  What the hell is wrong with me!!!  These non-sequetor entries need to stop.....Shit!

SO let's talk angling already!!!!  Snowpacks are about average despite a real lack of snow lately, that's mainly due to the quick start we had this year.  I'm done prognosticating what's the best time to come to fish the Fernie area so snow pack or not I'm steering people away from booking there until the third week of July and suggesting the Columbia or Southwestern Alberta.  We have a few new ideas on how to make things work in both destinations.

I'm currently shopping for a jon boat with a jet engine (or not) and will be using that to navigate the huge water in the Columbia.  It will give us the ability to get back up on runs that are producing well. It will also allow us to hit both sides of the river as well as getting a little further downstream into the Genelle braids and beyond.  Will also be checking out the Pend O'reille River for it's smallmouth bass fishery; apparently there's some 4 to 5 pound fish swimming around in there and it would be nice to get back to my fishing roots by stalking bass....except this time around with a fly rod.

A Healthy Smallmouth Hanging Down Low

For the Fernie and SW Alberta region we'll be looking at more remote waters to fish and are going to spend the first few weeks of the season doing some recon on some of those waters which includes some new floats on some different rivers.  Will keep you posted on how that goes after mid June, we've look forward to introducing you to some new waters aside from the Elk which will still remain a large part of our program but I think a lot of you who have been coming to the Elk Valley will be more than willing to check out something new and productive.

Looks like we're getting some new launches put in on the Elk and we're pushing for some more along the mid-runs on the river to spread out some traffic a little bit as well as some others on the upper floats.  We also have had some reno's on the existing launches so it won't seem like a work of fine geometry to back the trailers in and out of the river.

Looking forward to a good season and some angling on the coast in the next few months.

Compassion For the Cockroach and Other Matters From the Heart

La Cocuracha

The word cockroach comes from the Spanish word from the caption above.  The word translates to english as crazy bug.  It's a highly effective species dating back to the dinosaur era over 200 million years ago and it lives in just about every part of the world preferring warmer climates such as the tropics.  Since I'm on a roll I'll throw down a few more facts about this leviathan of insects. The cockroach can squeeze into a crack as thin as a quarter and enjoys the sensation of being touched….therefore enjoys being petted.  The cockroach breathes oxygen through tiny holes called spiracles and check this out….they can go for 40 minute swims.  Yes that's right 40 minute free dives!!  Nice.  Now you may see where this is going.  After spending the last six weeks in Northern Thailand with my fly tying crew,  I have encountered a number of these terrestrials in a number of locations throughout my journey.  They are actually quite a shiny and colour co-ordinated bug with twitchy legs and huge antennae.   If you were to tie a pattern to replicate the bug a size 2 would be about the average.

As I watch one work a crumb on the floor while waiting for  my meal, I have started to  think how much different we'd feel if these beasts of the insect world inhabited the banks of our favourite streams.   There's no way a trout could resist a meal of this size, especially crawling along the bottom.  I started envisioning a size 2 cockroach caught in a bank seam after falling from it's perch.  The violent splash from the attack of the trout would be heart stopping,  like that of a cicada strike.  It would take a big fish to ingest a bug of that size and I started wondering if I would welcome a cockroach migration on the river large enough to cover my boat.  In that situation I probably would invite the critters on board and bask in the glory of a new abundant protein source for the trout of the river and  I would imagine there have been trout somewhere not too far away that have had the pleasure of dining on the prehistoric critters as they do inhabit many of our urban areas.  

For now though I'm hoping that once this lil' bastard finishes downing the crumb that he doesn't have plans on joining me footside once my meal arrives.

Some New Additions to the Menu

Attractors are a key part of the arsenal of any fly fisherman and guides especially love foam terrestrial patterns because they are easily fished from the boat.  Some of the key things to look for in a pattern is a fly that will land upright or recover from a reversed landing with a slight twitch.  I've been working with the tying team here on foam patterns and after many years of resistance, the tiers are embracing the foam and are re producing some great patterns all of which have this upright quality.  It's enjoyable working with the Thai's.  My command of the Thai language is abysmal and they speak little to no english but most of the tiers have been at this for over 10 years so we can communicate easily enough through visuals.  They spend most of the instruction days laughing at me for reasons I'm not to sure of but I'm a big fan of laughter so I suck it up and roll with it and join in with the laughter as I add my two cents of fragmented Thai phrases.  It's going well and I'm stoked on the new patterns I will be adding to the catalogue this year.

I'm done here in a few weeks and will be going back to the Kootenays to take care of some biz there before heading to South America in the new year to get some angling time in.  Really looking forward to chasing the Browns of the Andes and Patagonia's.

After last year's flood on the Elk, the fishery took a hit and the fish never really got settled until the fall, which at that time I was entrenched in the pursuit of trophy rainbows on the Columbia.  Spencer, Blair and Jonny were on the Elk regularly and had some epic days in October on the Elk.  Blue Winged Olives were in abundance and although the days are shorter, the peak activity of feeding makes for a full day of hookups.  Over in the West on the Columbia it was  nothing shy of jaw dropping on the days when it really turned on.  Hooking up with healthy, fat rainbows in the 20 to 25 inch range is a river anglers dream.  Lots of nymphing but big ugly shit was also getting good reviews from the brutes of the 'jurassic'.  

Fall Rainbow on the Columbia

Next year we are strongly recommending our loyal customers to pick this period to book trips on both Rivers.  Nelson at this time of year is about a three and a half hour drive as RV traffic which slows hwy 3 has vanished.  Spending a few days on each river is a nice way to close out the season and the angling pressure on both streams in October is pretty much non existent.  Big dries and blue wings on the Elk and a bit of everything on the Columbia at this time will bring up the gems of the river who dig into the prime lies with aggressive posturing to ensure their fat reserves are plentiful for the winter.

For early season (early June to mid July) we will be in the Nelson BC area on the Columbia.  We will also be adding the Kettle River as an alternate float after June 15th for some variance from the surging mass of water in the Columbia drainage.  Caddis and ant hatches will be the staple diet for the rainbows and dry fly fishing at this time is as good as it gets on the Columbia.  Due to the current trend of late runoff in Fernie, we feel it's best to offer the prime angling possibilities available in the region and the Columbia is definitely where it's at.  The fishing there is better than those of us who fish it have ever seen.  There are very few anglers on this river which is remarkable considering it's current yield….may not last forever.  We will be adding a jet boat to the fleet in order to cover the water more effectively although the drift boats will still have their place at certain times.

I will be following a current issue that has potential to harm our beloved Elk River.  As many of you know the coal mines of TECK have been releasing an alarmingly high amount of Selenium into the water over the last few years.  They have put a water management plan in place in order to reverse the trend and are trying some new technology that could have some positive results which would ensure the health of the system.  But like any company they are profit drive and because they feed a lot of mouths in the valley, they are well supported often at the expense of the environment.  We are committed to seeing that there promised efforts are being met and I will keep you updated on this as much as I can.  The fish and this river have given us so much joy and love over the years it's time we gave something back.   Pray for the river, burn some incense, offer a chicken….whatever it takes.  Let's save the finest cutthroat fishery on the planet from the demise of over industrialization.

Sabaa dii friends….hope your winter is a prosperous one.