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.
Fly-fishing for trout in British Columbia may be said to begin in April
or May at the coast, but in the interior it is June or July before much
success can be obtained. If time be no object, good sport might be
obtained in the coast rivers and lakes during April and May, and a move
might be made to the interior waters during June and July, while August
is about the best season for the big salmon fishing on Vancouver Island.
During September and October good sport may still be obtained, and the
fish are then in the best condition; but usually the attractions of
shooting prove too much for the local sportsman, and the rivers are more
or less deserted. The southern waters may be divided into three
principal districts--namely, the coast rivers, the Thompson River
district, and the waters of the Kootenay country, which all seem to
possess special peculiarities, though the rainbow is found in them all.
But in the coast rivers the steel-head, or sea-trout, is alone met with.
As regards rods and tackle for trout fishing, large rods are out of
place in British Columbia, and quite unnecessary; an 11ft. split cane is
the best, and long enough for any river; a 14ft. rod is very unhandy in
a rough country or among trees, and all local fishermen use a small rod.
Tackle should be of the same kind as one would use for sea-trout
fishing, and should be strong. As regards flies, size is the most
important consideration, as the usual patterns are the ordinary
sea-trout and loch flies. The imitation stone fly is about the only fly
that should resemble the natural insect. Rather large flies are used on
the rivers, and smaller on the lakes, but this question may be left till
individual streams are described. For a general supply large sea-trout
flies (Jock Scott, Silver Grey, and Silver Doctor, etc.), with some
March Browns and stone flies of the same sizes, and an assortment of
smaller Scottish loch trout flies of various patterns--these are all
that are needed. The artificial minnow of various kinds, the spoon, and
the dead bait on a crocodile or Archer spinner are all used, and the
prawn has lately been tried with deadly effect on large fish. Bottles of
preserved minnows and small prawns would therefore be a useful addition
to the equipment. It is also wise to take plenty of strong casts and
traces, as local fishing tackle is not to be trusted.
It must be noted well that fishing in these waters is no drawing-room
work; great sport can be got, but the best is often only to be obtained
by a certain amount of "roughing it." The rivers are not always in right
condition, nor the weather always favourable--unfortunate facts peculiar
to every river in the world--and it is only when all things are
favourable that the best sport is obtained. To have plenty of time at
his disposal is the great thing for the fisherman, for it is only
natural that a man passing through the country and having only a couple
of weeks at the outside to spare may easily find nothing but
disappointments. No one must expect to get off the Canadian Pacific
express and find the rainbow trout eagerly expecting his arrival.
The district best known to me is that through which the Thompson River
runs, from the Shuswap Lake to its junction with the Fraser at Lytton.
The Canadian Pacific Railway follows the river in its whole length, and
thus renders it very accessible. Many other smaller streams and lakes
are part of the Thompson water system, and afford good fishing. The
river runs through the "dry belt," which is so called owing to the
smallness of the rainfall, which only averages about 8in. in the year.
It is from this cause that the banks of the rivers are very open and
free from brush, which makes them easy to fish and to travel along;
while, for the same reason, the country is generally open rolling hills,
covered with grass or scanty pines, affording a great contrast to the
moist country at the coast, where the rivers run through thick woods and
impenetrable bush, which render them very difficult to approach and fish
unless they are shallow enough for wading. The fishing to be obtained
along the Canadian Pacific Railway as it passes through the Rocky
Mountains is not very good, the guide-books notwithstanding. At Banff
there is a little fishing in the Bow River, but it is poor, and the fish
do not seem to take the fly. In Devil's Lake lake trout, a species of
char, can be got on the spoon by deep trolling up to a very large size;
but it is not a very high form of sport, and cannot be compared to the
rainbow trout fishing along the Thompson.
The South Thompson River has its source at the western end of the great
Shuswap Lake, near Shuswap station on the Canadian Pacific, and joins
the Fraser at Lytton; at Kamloops it is joined by the North Thompson,
and the combined stream flows into Kamloops Lake, about seven miles
below the town, running out again some twenty miles below at Savona's
Ferry. Its total course being about 140 miles, and almost all of it
fishing water, it is a fine river. The water is usually clear, varying
in breadth and in swiftness of current according to the nature of the
country it flows through. In places it is broad and calm; in the canyons
it is a rushing torrent. Its pace below Savona's is from eight to twelve
miles an hour, above Kamloops probably not more than two to four. The
South Thompson from Shuswap Lake to Kamloops is always clear, owing to
the filtration of the lake, and fine fishing can be had in some of the
upper rapids and pools. Near Kamloops the current is too sluggish, and
sport is not very good. The river flows along the South Thompson valley,
an open country with scattered farms and cattle ranches, bordered by
bunch grass range and hills covered by yellow pine, very beautiful in
spring and early summer. It is the central plateau of British Columbia,
and has an exceedingly dry climate, with hardly any rain, very healthy
and bracing, the altitude being about 1200ft. above sea level; it is
very hot in summer, and sometimes cold in winter. Fishing begins here
early in June, and, though it is little fished, there is no better part
of the river. In Kamloops Lake the rainbow is very plentiful, and good
fishing may be obtained as early as June at Tranquille, where the river
flows into the lake, and causes a slow, wide-sweeping eddy. From
Savona's Ferry, the outflow of the lake, down to Ashcroft is the
best-known part of the river, and here the current is very swift and the
banks are rocky and steep. Near Lytton the canyon is so deep and the
banks so steep and dangerous that fishing is out of the question.
On the whole there is probably no fishing river in British Columbia to
beat this one for the size and quality of the fish, though it does not
afford the large bags that can be obtained on the Kootenay. It is a very
sporting river, owing to the strength of the current, for a big fish is
hard to hold if it once gets out into the main current, away from the
side eddies. Mainly owing to this is the fact that there seems to be no
record of fish over about 4lb., for a larger fish can get into the main
stream, where the force of a ten-mile current drags on it and the line
to such an extent that there is no chance of holding it. Such large
fish are rarely met with, but every fisherman on the Thompson has
stories of them, and they are all the same and coincide with my own. It
was only once my luck to hook a really large fish. He jumped out of the
water twice close to me, and I had a splendid view of him, and judged
him to be about 8lb. He headed for the opposite bank, and just as a
break was inevitable the fly came back. Other men have told me the same
story, but such large fish are hooked so seldom that it is not worth
while using a stronger rod and tackle. Though very large fish are
undoubtedly plentiful, they seldom take either fly or any other bait,
and perhaps deep live baiting would be the only means of successfully
fishing for them.
The average fish is from 1/2lb. to 4lb., but much larger fish are in the
deep pools. I once was shown at Spence's Bridge three supposed salmon in
the winter which had been speared and sold by the Indians for two
shillings apiece. I noticed their perfect condition and bright red side
stripe, and, on examining them more carefully, pointed out to an
experienced fisherman who was present, and to the proprietor of the
hotel and others, that these fish were large rainbow trout. The largest
weighed 15lb., the two others 12lb. apiece. This incident happened at
Spence's Bridge, on the Lower Thompson. On another occasion of a visit
there, the bar-tender of the hotel, who happened to be a young
Englishman, told me that the angling editor of an American sporting
paper had stayed off there and proposed to try with spoon and minnow for
large rainbow trout, which he had heard could be got. The next day they
went to where the Nicola River, a large stream, flows into the Thompson
about half a mile from the hotel. The angling editor was provided with
strong spinning gear and rod, and much to the bar-tender's surprise,
very soon got into a fish of most surprising strength and dimensions,
for they saw him several times, and estimated him at the unbelievable
weight of over 30lb. The fish took them rapidly down to some impassable
rocks, and went away with everything but the rod. I believed this story
at the time, and see no reason to disbelieve now, though of course the
size of the fish was probably over-estimated. No other fish was seen or
hooked. The only point which I would wish to call attention to is the
probable great size of the rainbows in this river, though none have as
yet been taken with the rod. Mr. Langley's fish of 22lb. proves that in
the lakes these large fish exist. At this place Mr. Inskip has also
caught some large fish by spinning, and some very good bags of smaller
fish have been got on the fly.
The Thompson is not very much fished. Near Ashcroft the local sportsmen
from that small town fish it, and Savona's Ferry is visited from
Kamloops when the fish are taking; but Kamloops Lake must provide an
inexhaustible reserve of fish to take the place of fish caught, so that
the river could never be really fished out or much overfished under
present conditions. The Indians also fish, and generally with the
illegal salmon roe, but do not make great catches; the fly is more
successful when the fish are taking it. Nets and dynamite would be
useless in this river; therefore, even should a far greater population
inhabit the surrounding country, which is not likely for a great number
of years, this beautiful and striking river will still afford great
sport for many generations. There are long stretches which are never
touched except by a stray Indian or Chinaman with a grasshopper or bit
of salmon roe on a string tied to a long willow pole. Some years ago a
nondescript individual who said he was a Cherokee half-breed turned up
at Savona's Ferry and earned a living by fishing. Every day he caught
more fish than he could carry, though he never revealed his secret. Some
believed that he used set lines. His success showed that trout were far
more numerous than was generally believed, but the fly fishermen caught
as many as usual. He was the most successful fisherman I ever saw.
It is a fact very striking to the English fisherman that the best
fishing days in British Columbia are the exact opposite of ours. Fine,
bright hot days without wind are the best, both on river and lake; cold
and rainy days are always bad, a fortunate thing, as such days are very
uncommon. Strong wind is, oddly enough, the greatest enemy of the
angler, especially on the lakes; it nearly always puts the fish down.
The only thing that seems to account for these curious facts is the
probability that the stone fly and other flies are not hatched out
except on hot days, while the fish are regardless of the gleam of the
gut in the water. My own experience has always been that the hottest
days are the best. Except for rocks and stones, and clambering up and
down very steep banks, the Thompson River is easy to fish, and trees are
not troublesome. Mosquitoes are almost absent, except in the south
branch, and the Canadian Pacific, as has been said, runs along its whole
length, thus giving easy access to the river, while hotels exist at most
of the stations. The railway company publishes a pamphlet on shooting
and fishing, but the Thompson River is altogether omitted, which is
certainly very strange, as the line runs along the banks for its whole
distance, and there is no part of British Columbia in which such
excellent fishing can be obtained, and no part of Canada which enjoys
such a climate or offers such strangely attractive scenery.