Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Bulkley 2022

Just got back from 2 days on the Bulkley. It's early in the steelhead run and the first day there gave up no steelhead. Although I was plenty entertained with a few pinks and some dime bright coho.

Day two started with a bang. Fourth or fifth cast and a steelhead hit like a freight train and took off down stream, reel screaming... but... I won.
My prize was a quick picture and the memory of and pleasure of meeting it. Off it went back to the river.
The rest of the morning was spent hooking a few more coho and a bull trout.

Can't wait to get back there in September when more steelhead are around.



Sunday, October 24, 2021

Lean year

Its been a lean year for fishing this year. 2021 brought a lot of changes and busy times with not a lot of opportunities to fish. Summer went by in the blink of an eye, fall brought historically low numbers of steelhead to the Skeena area and opportunities to stillwater fish were few and far between. 
The cold winter is not far off, maybe the ice will cooperate and provide more opportunites to wet a line.
I don't recall a year that I had so few fishing trips.

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Waiting for the ice to melt

The snow is slowly melting, the temperature is spending more time in the positive and most importantly the ice is on its way out. Living in a Northern climate has its ups and downs. Spring takes a little longer to get here and when it does you never know if it is just teasing or if it is here to stay. Along with the warmer weather comes the mud season. Dirt and sand that was dumped on the roads all winter is mixed with the melt, the wind blows it around and everything gets sloppy. This in between time is the time for tying flies and planning trips. 
This morning I opened my fly boxes and took inventory and began the process of refilling the empty spaces left behind after the fall season last year. Two thing I noticed, I need more dry flies and one particular leech pattern. A ruby eyed leech.
If I could only use only one fly to fish for trout on the local lakes, the ruby eyed leech would be it. In my box I was down to my last half dozen, which is not going to last me. I go through a lot if these each season!
And so it begins. I sat with my vise and began tying. When I've tied enough of these I will move on to some boatman patterns and dry flies. A good way to keep busy, avoid the mud and patiently wait for the day the ice dissappears.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Bulkley Bust

The Bulkley was a bit of a bust today. Went looking for steelhead but could only manage three coho. The water was more coloured up than I would have liked. On a plus side the coho were nice and bright. One was hooked on the spey and two on the spinning rod. The pictured doe was spoon fed and given the 'ol one grit sand paper after and invited for supper. This marks the first time I have fished the Bulkley and not got into any steelhead. It's a tough life.

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Cobb Mayfly Brookie

Fished Cobb Lake today. The wind was not nice. The mayfly hatch was good. The brookies liked my leeches. It was a good day.

Friday, March 27, 2020

Social Distance Tying


With the virus Covid-19 (Coronavirus) creating turmoil throughout the world and everyone distancing themselves socially I chose to deepen my fly choices in my fly boxes.

I have had lots of time at home, the ice is not off the lakes yet and there is little to do during the muddy transition from winter to spring. I have been tying a variety of flies such as scuds, nymphs, dries and of course chronomids in preparation for the soft water season. 


Not much else to report, other than I am hopefully honing a few skills while passing some time. A couple of notes. I need more material (although I can never have enough). Also, I am really liking UV resin. I currently use Solarez Bone-Dry. I would love to explore more types, brands, and colours. I have even ordered a bigger, plug in, UV light that is used in nail decorating facilities. Looking forward to its arrival.

Looking ahead I have a few projects before ice off. More flies, reinforce the bow of my boat for towing and buy some new tires for my truck (better off pavement capabilities).

See you on the lake... but keep your distance!

Thursday, August 29, 2019

2019 Bulkley Steelhead

Left the house at 3am this morning to drive the 3 hours to the Bulkley river. A quick Tims stop for a kids menu coffee and some loud music kept me awake after only getting four hours sleep the night before. Oh, and Brrrrrr.... it was cold. Only 2 degrees celcius this morning. Upon arriving at the Bulkley I immediately regretted not packing gloves. However, i soon forgot about the cold as the sun peaked over the mountains and I had my first fish on. A steelhead who immediately became acrobatic and promptly snapped my 15 pound fluro leader. Re-tie my leader and fly. Back to swinging the double hander. Water clarity was perfect, just a bit of colour, and the flow was spot on. A few more casts, a few steps down stream, a few more casts and a few steps then WHAM, fish on. Cartwheels, hard runs, the reel goes zing and the battle is on. This one came to hand, had a quick pic and was released without leaving the water.
The day continued with one more steelhead to hand and one freight train the hit HARD, showed off his big square tail and then broke my leader (again). Next time I'm using 20 pound. In between steelhead there were nuisance fish that were also taking the fly. These fish were getting in the way of finding steelhead *cough* *cough*. Not sure why anyone would want to hook coho on the fly while looking for steelhead.... .. (insert sarcasm sign ) Kidding aside, the by catch of coho was pretty fun too. Landed four of those buggers. Retention is one over 50 cm and one below. Couldnt get the one below 50 but retained one over 50 for the smoker.