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.
There are other parts of British Columbia which afford good fishing.
Excellent sport is still to be obtained in the Kootenay district, which
can be reached from Revelstoke on the main line of the Canadian Pacific
Railway. Twelve years ago the fishing was unrivalled, especially on the
Kootenay River. Very large bags could be got, though the fish were not
quite as large as in the Thompson. But it is unfortunately true that
since this district became a mining centre the fishing has been largely
spoilt. Professional fishermen have fished for the market, sawmills have
been allowed to empty their sawdust into the rivers, and probably alien
miners and others have massacred wholesale with dynamite. In the coast
district, of which Vancouver is the centre, there are plenty of rivers
and lakes. This part of the country has a heavy rainfall, which causes a
thick forest growth to cover the country and render the streams
difficult or even impossible to fish, unless they can be waded. This is
a drawback from which the upper country rivers are free. But, still,
fine sport can be had in many rivers and lakes. The Harrison River
affords excellent fishing as early as April. The fish run from 1lb. to
2lb., and take the fly freely. The river flows out of Harrison Lake to
the Fraser at Harrison Station. It must be fished from a boat. Bags of
thirty and forty fish are by no means uncommon. There is another river,
whose name has escaped my memory, which is very good when low enough for
wading, and flows into the Harrison Lake. The Hot Springs Hotel affords
good accommodation.
If the Fraser is crossed at Hope Station there is a little village on
the other side where somewhat rough accommodation used to be obtainable.
The crossing was formerly done in an Indian log canoe, a means of
transport which one would hardly recommend to anyone of a nervous
temperament, though perhaps now a boat may be used. A very beautiful
river called the Coquehalla joins the Fraser at this place, which I used
to fish in 1892. It consists of a series of fine pools and rapids for
some distance, perhaps two or three miles, until an impassable canyon is
reached, over which there is a natural bridge, and here, in the water
below, immense trout may clearly be seen, though I know of no means of
getting at them. At the time I fished this river, in July, the salmon
were coming up, and I cannot say that my success was very great. I was,
moreover, a stranger to the country, and could get no guide. Added to
this, my tackle, experience, and skill were all of a very inferior
order. But I found that the pools of this river contained very large
fish, which were then to me quite unknown monsters, and I spent many
long days on its banks in attempts to capture some.
I used to try each pool first with the minnow and then with the fly,
which was, of course, exactly the opposite of the right course. Several
good fish of 5lb. or so were landed and many lost. On one occasion, as I
was hauling in a small trout to remove it from my fly, I was startled by
an immense fish which leapt out of the water at it, close to my feet. It
must have been a fish of anything from 10lb. to 15lb. or more. It jumped
high in the air, drenching me with spray as it fell back into the water.
I supposed it to be a large salmon, but as a bright red stripe was
clearly seen along its side I know now that it was a rainbow trout.
Twice in this river small trout were seized as they were being drawn in,
but each time the single gut was snapped off by the fish. The higher
parts of the river were never tried by me, though once or twice I saw
large strings of trout brought in by cowboys. No doubt at this time of
the year the best fishing was in the upper waters. Probably the
steel-head or sea-trout comes up the Fraser as far as the Coquehalla.
Another stream called Silver Creek runs into the Fraser about three
miles below Hope, and I had much the same experiences along its banks.
It can only be fished when low enough for wading. I should much like to
try these two streams again, as I am confident that some very large fish
could be caught. It would be well worth trying the effect of a prawn,
fished deep. A Silver Devon ought also to be effective. Personally this
is the limit of my experience in British Columbia, but very good fishing
is to be got in the Coquitlam and Capillano near Vancouver, and in the
Stave and Pitt Rivers, which are a little further off. In all these
rivers the steel-head can be got on the minnow, seldom, I believe, on
the fly.
It is hard to say how far the steel-head may run up the Fraser--probably
at least as far as the Coquehalla at Hope, for up to this point there is
nothing in the strength of the current to prevent it; but above, in the
Fraser Canyon, the tremendous difficulties of the ascent may well stop
its further progress. The steel-head has not developed the powerful
tail and anal fin of the Pacific salmon, which must be a great aid to it
in passing through such strong water for such immense distances. It may
well be that the smaller tail of the steel-head renders it unfit for the
effort. Otherwise, there would be no reason why it should not travel up
the rivers as far as the salmon, just as the sea-trout does in European
rivers. This is apparently not the case. The Fraser Canyon appears to be
impassable to them, and they are only found in the lower tributaries of
the Fraser and shorter coast rivers. The steel-head is the sea-going
species of the rainbow; it is practically a silver rainbow, without the
red stripe, which only appears faintly after it has been some time in
fresh water. The steel-head is usually known as _Salmo gairdneri_, but
in a recent letter Professor Jordan informs me that its correct name is
_Salmo rivularis ayres_. He states that he has evidence to prove that
the original _gairdneri_ was the "nerka," which is the sockeye or
blue-back salmon.
The smaller sizes take the fly readily under favourable circumstances,
both in the salt water, at the mouths of rivers, and in the rivers
themselves. The heavier fish of 7lb. and upwards are more often got on a
minnow. Large ones up to 11lb. have been caught with the prawn in the
basin under the falls of the Capillano. Though I am not prepared to say
whether these fish were rainbow or steel-heads, the fact must be
strongly insisted on that there is considerable difficulty in
distinguishing between steel-head, rainbow, and the smaller salmon. In
the case of the two former it is a matter of experience. The latter are
easily known by the test of the anal fin and tail. Great confusion has
been caused, and always will be, until proper care is taken.
The Coquitlam, Capillano, and other rivers have been much overfished by
legal and probably by illegal means. The sport used to be excellent, and
would soon improve again under proper conditions.
It would be an excellent thing if an anglers' club was formed in
Vancouver, and part of the water preserved. If part of the water was
thus properly treated, and a small hatchery put up, no doubt the fishing
would soon be better than ever, while immense benefit would accrue to
the remaining public water. This deplorable state of affairs is merely
the natural result of the almost criminal neglect of the British
Columbia Government to do anything to preserve the valuable sporting
assets of the country. The Kootenay waters have suffered in the same
way, as also some of the rivers near Victoria on Vancouver Island. The
Dolly Varden trout is very plentiful in all these rivers. Some very fine
bags of large fish have been made in the Squamish River in Butte inlet.
On Vancouver Island there is good fishing, easily reached from Victoria.
The Cowichan River and Lake are the best known. Steel-head and rainbow
can both be got on fly and minnow. The flies used are even larger than
those on the Thompson. Personally, I have never fished on Vancouver
Island, but from all that I have heard I should say that sport is not so
good there as on the upper mainland.