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FISHING
IN
BRITISH COLUMBIA.
FISHING
IN
BRITISH COLUMBIA
WITH A CHAPTER ON TUNA FISHING
AT SANTA CATALINA.
BY
T.W. LAMBERT,
M.A., M.B., B.C. (Cantab.); M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. (London).
_Late Surgeon to the Western Division, Canadian
Pacific Railway Company._
LONDON:
HORACE COX,
"FIELD" OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S
BUILDINGS, E.C.
1907.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY HORACE COX, "FIELD" OFFICE, WINDSOR HOUSE,
BREAM'S BUILDINGS, E.C.
PREFACE.
The Author hopes that this book may prove of some interest to anglers by
giving a short account of the fishing which is to be obtained in a part
of the world hitherto little exploited, and well worthy of better
acquaintance.
British Columbia only became fairly easy of access after the completion
of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1887, which placed it within two
weeks' journey from London. Before that time it was cut off by the
immense prairies of the north-west of Canada, and could only be reached
by a long journey round Cape Horn or over the Isthmus of Panama. Since
the date given, however, a new era has dawned for the country, and all
the southern part of it has been opened up by railways. Thus its waters
have been rendered easy of access to any fisherman willing to try them.
The position of the country on the map resembles that of Norway and
Sweden in Europe, and the general resemblance is borne out by the
features of both countries. Each possesses a deeply indented coast line
and a wealth of pine forests, lakes, and rivers. But the climate of
British Columbia is much milder; the valleys are richer in soil, the
mountains in precious metals, and the waters are inhabited by different
species of fish. And whereas the Scandinavian peninsula has some ten
millions of people, British Columbia supports as yet but one hundred
thousand of population, including Indians.
It is without doubt a country of great possibilities. The summer climate
of the southern central plateau is very bracing and dry, resembling that
of the southern Californian winter; while the winter climate of the
coast is like Devonshire. Game, both large and small, is still plentiful
in the south, while the northern part is one of the best big game
districts of the world.
British Columbia is the home of the rainbow trout, which flourishes in
all its rivers and lakes to the furthest north, and spreads southwards
into the neighbouring Pacific states, where it has, however, to compete
with another species, the cut-throat trout. The eastern limit of the
rainbow is the Rocky Mountain range.
The chief purpose of this book is to give some idea of the habits and
peculiarities of the rainbow, and the sport which it affords in its
native haunts. The author spent some twelve years in the interior of the
country, and has fished a great many of its numberless lakes and
streams, so he may claim to write from practical experience. But he
writes also with the hope that perhaps someone more competent may in the
future publish a complete history of this most interesting fish, and
solve some of the problems which are here but alluded to. For there is
ample scope in these almost virgin waters for both the naturalist and
the fisherman, to whom these notes may perhaps serve as the blazes on a
mountain trail, and as some slight record of the sport that was to be
obtained in the earlier days of British Columbia.
Though the inland waters swarm with Pacific salmon at certain seasons,
the fish are useless for purposes of sport. They take no bait of any
kind when they have once started to migrate up the rivers. In the salt
water, however, and while waiting at the mouths of rivers, they take a
spoon-bait freely, and the smaller kinds will in the same conditions
often rise readily to the fly. But it may be stated, as a general rule,
no salmon are ever taken on bait or fly as they travel, and when they
reach the upper waters.
The Dominion Government has recently tried the experiment of hatching
and turning out 250,000 of the small fry of the Atlantic salmon from one
of their hatcheries; and, should success attend the effort, a great
attraction would be added to the inland streams; but a period of some
few years must naturally elapse before any opinion can be given as to
the success or failure of this attempt.
British Columbia is reached as soon as the traveller crosses the summit
of the Rocky Mountains, just beyond Banff, on the main line of the
Canadian Pacific Railway. The summit, which is known as the Great
Divide, separates the Pacific Slope from Eastern Canada. The crossing
once made, a country is reached in which there is a great change in
climate, fauna, and flora; and in the rivers, instead of the so-called
speckled trout, the muskallunge, black bass, and Atlantic salmon, are
found the rainbow, silver, and steel-head trout, with the five species
of the Pacific salmon. This last fish is not a salmon at all, but only
bears the title by courtesy, because no other Anglo-Saxon name has been
given to it. The early settlers mistook it for a salmon, and called it a
salmon because it so closely resembled one in appearance and habits,
just as the ruffed grouse was, and is, called a partridge in Eastern
Canada. But it has no true English name. Scientifically, the five
species of Pacific "salmon" belong to the genus _Oncorhynchus_, and each
is mostly called by the Indian name which distinguished it when the
white man first arrived, such as _quinnat_ or _cohoe_. The physical
relationship of the Pacific _Oncorhynchus_ to the Atlantic _Salmo salar_
is not unlike the physical relationship of the grayling or char to the
trout.
The rainbow is found before the Divide is reached, in some of the
streams flowing eastward from the Rockies, but it does not follow them
much below the foothills; and it abounds in the rivers and lakes among
the mountains themselves. But it is not until the central plateau of
British Columbia is reached, a country of rolling hills, valleys, and
open range abounding in lakes and small streams, that the best fishing
grounds are encountered, the true home and headquarters of the rainbow
trout.
The streams and lakes in the mountains are too turbulent, and fed by too
much glacier and snow-water, to make the best fishing grounds. The
guide-books of the railway speak highly of the fishing through the
mountains, but there is better to be obtained lower down, and my advice
to the traveller is to make no stop for fishing purposes until Sicamous
is reached, at the head of Shuswap Lake where the Eagle River enters it.
The Thompson River flows out of the lake at the other end, and the
Shuswap Lake and Thompson River constitute the best fishing district of
British Columbia, and will be the chief subject of the following pages.
It should be premised, however, that there is plenty of what may be
styled "virgin water" in British Columbia besides the streams and lakes
described in these pages. In a few years the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
will render accessible a network of rivers and lakes some four hundred
miles to the north of the present line, and the addition to the angler's
opportunities by this will, of course, be very great.
The cost of the fourteen-day journey from London to British Columbia
will be at most L50 each way; it can be done for much less. There is no
charge for the fishing, and ordinary living expenses are not high. One
can stop at the hotels along the Thompson for 2 dollars a day, in
Kamloops for 3 dollars a day, in the Canadian Pacific Railway hotels at
4 dollars to 6 dollars. There are no extra charges, except at the bar,
which in British Columbia it is considered the duty of everyone to
support liberally. A stranger will find that a few dollars spent
judiciously and with tact in this way will usually be productive of
quite astonishing results. In the West a drink puts everyone on equal
terms, and at once establishes a feeling of _camaraderie_. It might be
said to correspond somewhat to the old custom of offering the snuffbox.
The natives understand it as a sign that the stranger wishes to be on
good terms, that he does not consider himself superior in any sense,
that there is no side about him, that he is willing to drink with them
as an equal. He will certainly receive a like invitation, and he must on
no account refuse; to do so is an unpardonable violation of Western
etiquette, even if everyone present insists on taking the part of host
in turn. There is, however, no cause for alarm on the score of
temperance, for it is quite _de rigueur_ to ask for a cigar or to take a
mere apology for a drink. If the stranger thus satisfies Western ideas
of what is right and proper he will usually find that the individuals
who had apparently hitherto regarded him somewhat in the manner that a
strange dog seems to be looked at by his fellows in a new street will
quite suddenly be most interested in his pursuit and most willing to
help him in every possible way with advice as to someone who can tell
him all about the river or lake and the best way to get there. Perhaps
even the result may be an offer of a horse or hospitality for a night or
two from some ranchman who may live near the place he wishes to get to.
The people of British Columbia are, as a rule, most generous and
open-hearted when they are approached in the right way. All men are
equal in the West; there must be no question of standing on one's
dignity.
As regards outfit in general (fishing tackle is dealt with later), it is
the greatest mistake to take a lot of useless luggage. Any rough fishing
suit will do, and a strong pair of boots. Waders are not needed, except
in the coast rivers. Everything can be got in the country itself. The
Hudson Bay stores or the general store which is found in every little
town will provide everything that is wanted. My advice is to procure the
outfit in the country itself, because they know best what is needed for
the local wants.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
The Rainbow Trout--Names--Distribution--Appearance--Size
in British Columbia--Its Food--Fly-fishing for--Sporting
Qualities--Possibility of New Species being
Discovered 1
CHAPTER II.
Season for Trout Fishing--Principal Districts--Tackle
Necessary--"No Drawing-room Work"--Advantage of
Plenty of Time--Poor Fishing in the Rockies--The
Thompson River--The South Thompson--Its Course
and Character--Clear, Swift Water--Difficulty of Landing
Big Fish--A Lost Thirty-pounder--The Successful
Cherokee Fisherman--Fine, Calm Days Best for
Fishing--Mosquitoes not Troublesome 9
CHAPTER III.
The Kamloops District--Kamloops as Headquarters--May
Floods and Fishing in Shuswap Lake--Silver-bodied
Flies--Streams Running into the Lake--The Eagle
River--Advantages of a Steam Launch--A Big Catch--Possibilities
of the Prawn--A July Spectacle--Fishing
at Tranquille--Kamloops Lake--Savona's Ferry--Great
Sport in June--Dolly Varden Trout--A Fifteen-Pounder--Falling-off
of Sport when Salmon are Running--The
"Salmon Fly"--Size of Catches on the Thompson--August
a Bad Month 20
CHAPTER IV.
What is the "Silver Trout"?--Evidence in Favour of a
New Species--Difference in Appearance from the
Rainbow--A Jumper--Native of Kamloops and Shuswap
Lakes--A Bag of Twenty-four--The Dolly Varden--Origin
of the Name--Not a Free Riser--Grayling--Chub
and Squaw Fish--Great Lake Trout--The Silver
Fish at Spence's Bridge--Salmon or Steel-head?--Cut-throat
Trout--Possible Fishing Tour in British
Columbia 34
CHAPTER V.
Other Lakes--Long Lake--Its Silvery Trout--Fish Lake--Extraordinary
Fishing--Fifteen Hundred Trout in
Three Days--A Miniature Gaff--Uses of a Collapsible
Boat--Catching Fish Through the Ice--Mammit Lake--Nicola
Lake--Beautifully Marked Trout in Nicola
River--"The Little Red Fish" 46
CHAPTER VI.
The Kootenay District--Sawdust and Dynamite--Fine Sport
in Vancouver--Harrison River and Lake--Big Fish in
the Coquehalla--The Steel-head in the Fraser--Need for
Better River Protection 65
CHAPTER VII.
The Salmons of the Pacific--Legends Concerning Them--The
Five Species--Systems of Migration--Powers of
Endurance--Absence of Kelts--Do They Take a Fly?--Terrible
Mortality--"A Vivid Red Ribbon"--Points
of Difference Between the Quinnat and _Salmo salar_--Work
of the Canneries--Artificial Propagation 72
CHAPTER VIII.
The Diplomat and the Salmon--The Struggle for Existence--Salmon
and Steel-head Liable to be Confused--Sport
in Tidal Waters--The Campbell River--The Pioneers--A
River of Fifty-Pounders--Smaller Salmon on the
Fly--Method of Fishing--Tackle--Typical Good Bags--The
Steel-head--Cost of Fishing--Dangers of Over-Fishing
for Canneries--A Good Trolling Time 91
CHAPTER IX.
Recapitulation of Salmon and Trout Problems--Importance
of Preserving British Columbian Fisheries--Possibility
of Introducing Atlantic Salmon--Question of Altering
Present Close Season for Trout--Past and Present
Neglect of Trout Fisheries--Need for Governmental
Action--Difficulties in the Way of it--Conclusion 107
CHAPTER X.
Tuna Fishing at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island 118
FISHING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
CHAPTER I.
The Rainbow Trout--Names--Distribution--Appearance--Size in British
Columbia--Its Food--Fly-fishing for--Sporting
Qualities--Possibility of New Species being Discovered.
The Rainbow trout (_Salmo irideus_) is a true trout of the same genus
as, and closely allied to, the common trout (_S. fario_) of the British
Isles, where it is also now acclimatised. It holds the same position in
every stream, lake, and river of the northern part of the Pacific Coast
of North America as the brown trout does in the United Kingdom. Unless
the water, for some local reason, is unsuitable, it is met with
everywhere, until further south it overlaps with the cut-throat trout,
which ultimately seems to take its place.
In the small mountain streams it is very plentiful, and is generally
called the brook, mountain, or speckled trout, and when of larger size
is known locally as the "red side"--a name which often very aptly
describes it. The name "rainbow" is not much heard or used locally.
In the different lakes and rivers the fish varies a good deal in size,
numbers, colour, and appearance--so much so that when these waters are
better known the naturalist may be inclined to name and describe several
varieties of rainbows, perhaps even may discover new species.
This fish is confined to the west side of the Rocky Mountains, save in
the head waters of the streams which take their source from these
mountains and then flow east. Often two streams flow from a lake, one
east and one west, and the rainbow is found in both; a good instance of
this is found in the Kicking Horse and the Bow rivers. The latter flows
east from the divide, and the rainbow follows it for some distance into
the prairie; but as this river ceases to be a mountain stream and
becomes sluggish and discoloured traces of the fish cease. But in the
clear streams of Eastern Canada, near the great lakes, its place is
taken by the spotted trout (_Salvelinus fontinalis_), a beautiful and
game fish, member of the char family, unknown west of the Rockies.
In appearance the rainbow is well worthy of its name, and may justly
claim to be the equal in beauty, if not the superior, of any of the
Salmonidae. It is clean-cut in shape, perhaps rather lither than the
brown trout, and when large it is not so deep. The colour on the back
is an olive green, with the usual characteristic black spots, and at the
side a few red ones; laterally the green shades off into silver and
sometimes gold, while along its side from gill to tail flashes the
beautiful rainbow stripe, varying from pale sunset pink to the most
vivid scarlet or crimson; often the effect is as if a paint-brush dipped
in red paint had been drawn along the fish's side; the belly is silvery
white; the anal, ventral, and pectoral fins being coloured in proportion
to the colouring of the individual fish. The general appearance is very
striking, and in a fine specimen is certainly one of great beauty. When
fresh from the water and in brilliant sunshine the fish rivals the
object after which it is called; the living rainbow on its side shows a
play of delicate colour which it would be hard to surpass or to equal,
even in the heavens.
From the fly-fisherman's point of view the fish may be said to run up to
4lb. in weight; by which statement it is meant that the fly is readily
taken in both stream and lake by fish up to this size. Mr. F.J. Fulton,
of Kamloops, states that he has never landed a 5lb. fish on the fly, and
he is an authority on the Thompson River. Personally, I have never seen
a rainbow over 4lb. which I knew to have been caught with the fly; but
I have seen a model of a fish of 12lb. caught with the fly in 1891 in
Kamloops Lake by Captain Drummond. There is, of course, not the
slightest doubt that the fish grows to a much larger size. Mr. Walter
Langley caught a rainbow of 22-1/2lb. on a small spoon in Marble Canyon
Lake about May, 1900, and the photograph of this fish was published in
the _Field_. I have also seen very big specimens which had been speared
by Indians in the Thompson and sold as "salmon"; two of them I weighed
myself and found to be 15lb. and 12lb. respectively. While, therefore,
there is some evidence to show that these large fish may be caught with
spoon and minnow, it may be stated as a broad fact that the rainbow is
not often caught with the fly over the weight of 4lb., and that up to
this size he takes it freely.
The fly is taken best during the months of June and July, when there is
a rise of the stone fly in the rivers, and flies of all kinds are
plentiful in the lakes. At this time, indeed, natural fly seems to be
the main article of the fish's food. But the small fry of the salmon and
of its own species are also devoured in great numbers, and in late
summer there are grasshoppers as well; these are very plentiful, and are
eagerly snapped up as they fall into the water. No doubt a further
great source of food supply is the spawn of the salmon, which must be
very plentiful on the spawning beds. It forms the usual lure of the
Indian fishermen.
The feeding-grounds of the rainbow are the eddies and the back-washes in
the swift-running rivers, into which flies, grasshoppers, and other food
are carried by the current. A very favourite haunt is at the mouth of
creeks and streams running into a lake, or where a large river runs into
or out of a large lake. Food is naturally plentiful at such places, and
at certain times the fish gather there in great numbers, splashing about
and chasing the small fry. They will then take a silver-bodied fly most
greedily.
In many of the smaller mountain lakes where fly seems to be at certain
seasons the rainbow's sole food, no other lure will attract it, but with
the fly great numbers may be caught. The fly-fisher also scores among
fish gathered at the mouths of creeks swollen by summer floods. The
minnow, also, both natural and artificial, is useful in these
conditions, and it will account for much larger fish, up to 10lb. and
even over; these monsters have probably forsaken a fly diet and taken to
small fry. But there is no doubt that the rainbow is, quite as much as
our own trout, a fly-feeder, and that it takes the artificial as readily
and, owing to want of education, and, perhaps, also to natural boldness,
with even greater freedom and less regard to the nature of the lure or
the skill of the fisherman who throws it.
So far as strength and gameness go the rainbow is fully the equal of the
brown trout, and, in my opinion, its superior, though, as its play is
often aided by the very strong water it frequents, its strength may
sometimes appear greater than it would in our smaller streams. For this
reason fishing for rainbows in British Columbia has always seemed to me
to resemble sea-trout fishing more than the fishing for brown trout;
perhaps less skill is necessary, but there is a stronger fight.
The rivers and lakes of British Columbia are at present an angler's
paradise, and will probably long continue to be so. And it promises the
additional interest that the fisherman is not treading a beaten and
well-known path. There is pioneer work for him to do. There are many
problems for him to solve and discoveries for him to make. In the
numberless lakes and rivers stretching far up through northern British
Columbia to the Arctic, it is not unlikely that several new species of
the Salmonidae await description.
The big-game hunter has shown what secrets may lie hid in so wide a
land, for since these northern regions have been explored for big game
and gold (from the date of the Klondike rush in 1898) no fewer than four
new species of the sheep family have been discovered; a pure white
mountain sheep, for instance, has been found to exist in great numbers.
"Heads" of this sheep are now quite common, but it is a most curious
proof of the general ignorance of the country ten years ago that such a
remarkable animal was then entirely unknown. Had any explorer in those
days reported seeing such an animal without bringing any tangible proof
to support his story, he would have been universally regarded as a most
unique liar, in a part of the world where such people are far from
uncommon. The enormous moose heads recently brought down from Alaska and
northern British Columbia were undreamt of not so many years back, and
the Alaskan grizzly is, too, I believe, a new species.
It is, therefore, far from unreasonable to believe or to hope that as
the country is opened up the fisherman will also achieve new conquests.
As yet they lie before him, for he only follows slowly in the footsteps
of the pioneer and the big-game hunter; he requires a railway and an
hotel, and he must be able to dispose in some manner of his catch, which
he cannot do unless he is at least near some settlement. I have
conversed with numbers of prospectors and hunters from all parts of the
north-west, and they all have the same account of teeming rivers and
lakes. Many a weird fish story have they told me, but none have really
been fishermen; they have simply caught fish for food, and have not
noted them much except with a view to their edible properties. It is,
therefore, highly probable that, as these strange waters are gradually
made accessible to the angler and become as well known as the more
southern rivers of British Columbia, many interesting facts will become
known too, and new varieties of trout and other fish will be discovered.
Even those southern waters are, in truth, little known, and several
interesting matters which could well bear investigation will be put
forward in these pages.