FlyFishin'Jam 0 Report post Posted August 14, 2011 So just finished off the trip in Campbell River, had some awesome fishing and serious exploring in between plus more salmon everywhere. Here are a few pictures of the hot action. Went serious summer steelheading too, saw many of these grey ghosts, wallowing very deep in their shaded pools, got 3 to strike, 2 bust offs and one lost, have videos of that but might post later. Anyway pinks and bows were munching flies like it was going out of style. Rick with one nice bow, munched an intruder! Certainly not fussy. Me with one of the swarming pinks Anyone know what this friendly critter is, stickelback? Rick with a mini pink hehe more pink action! Trouty I Really am not sure how to put this trip into words, we fished everyday for 3 weeks straight in BC, this is just a tiny taste of what we caught and saw. In the next few weeks i am going to put together an entire article to sum up what we did. Anyway Back home now, sore tired and broken! Enjoy the pics! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riffleriversteelheadslayer 0 Report post Posted August 14, 2011 the little guy looks like a sculpin or gobee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyFishin'Jam 0 Report post Posted August 14, 2011 I may be wrong but pretty sure its not a goby, was swimming around in mid level, kind of hovering about, came over to check out what i was doing. Cute little thing - was my pet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
utyer 0 Report post Posted August 14, 2011 Your pet may have been waiting for you to kick some eggs loose. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyFishin'Jam 0 Report post Posted August 14, 2011 He was certainly on the prowl for some small meal, not too sure, it was still far too early for eggs, 1st day the entire rivers count for pinks was 40, the last few days that went up to a few thousand. They are just coming in now really! Just never seen one in this river, kinda kool! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluegill576 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2011 Looks like a blast! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyFishin'Jam 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2011 Was a blast indeed, so sad to be back, so much laundry and cleaning to do before i can get stuck into tying again *hrmph! Also sad i missed my big fish and missed the steelhead. Oh well next time! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peerless reels and bamboo 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2011 Nice fishing and thanks for sharing... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyderaght 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2011 it is what we called a bullhead which are quite common and eat anything that comes their way. I think the rainbow you have is a cutthroat which are quite common and will follow the salmon and are quite happy to take a fly as they are quite predatory in nature. they are quite elusive too, especially when hunting salmon fry in march. you have to do alot of walking in a day to catch them as they move around alot. they are also great sport in the salt along beaches too chasing small fish but can be a very elusive trophy. nice size pink which by the looks of it had only been in the fresh a day or so at the most. I like your pics and BC has some amazing fishing, there are many many locations that are lucky if they see only a handful of fisherman a year and are no different than they were 150 yrs ago. marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
P.Dieter 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2011 Those pinks look really fresh for the river. Nice job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyFishin'Jam 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2011 it is what we called a bullhead which are quite common and eat anything that comes their way. I think the rainbow you have is a cutthroat which are quite common and will follow the salmon and are quite happy to take a fly as they are quite predatory in nature. they are quite elusive too, especially when hunting salmon fry in march. you have to do alot of walking in a day to catch them as they move around alot. they are also great sport in the salt along beaches too chasing small fish but can be a very elusive trophy. nice size pink which by the looks of it had only been in the fresh a day or so at the most. I like your pics and BC has some amazing fishing, there are many many locations that are lucky if they see only a handful of fisherman a year and are no different than they were 150 yrs ago. marc Thanks for all the comments - heh i want to go back! 1 week is not enough! Possible it was a cutthroat - but it really did look like a rainbow to me, no red slashes around its gills like the other cutthroat we got like this one http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu170/mikebishop_album/British%20Columbia%202011/P7310502.jpg he is def a cutty. Got it on the river which i better not mention online - bush bashed along an old closed logging road, no-one had really been there for ages judging by the trails, apparently the fish are spill overs from a lake and become residents, at least that's what i got told when we showed the pictures to a friend who is a guide, got a brace of them on that spot. You know there are some enormous browns in that rivers partner too? Quite far upriver. Next time i am going to find them. Heard a story of a guy taking a 15lb brown to ministry of natural resources and said 'look an atlantic!' was i.d'd as a monster brown. There sure are some gorgeous spots if you are willing to hike/ bush bash and wade, 4wd. Some great steelhead pools, saw a load of grey ghosts, next time will devote more than 1 day to them. Also saw some chinooks all stacked up on another west coast river, down really deep, couldn't get them to even look at the fly, they just spooked at everything. Oh well next year i am going to have to go back and maybe Terrace too - but later in the season, we were so early this year and the fish about 2 weeks late. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyderaght 0 Report post Posted August 30, 2011 Hmm. browns are only present in a couple of systems in BC. the head of the freshwaters society will not allow them to be stocked in BC and that was straight from the horses mouth. there are browns in the cowichan river and I did see a pic of a beauty that had made the run to the salt. gorgeous fish! the eve and adam rivers have browns also. no atlantics on the trip. it is a catch and kill fishery as they are escapees from the fish farms. fisheries and oceans canada said they never would return to rivers, but sadly have been proven wrong. that fish could be a resident rainbow versus a cutty. an egg pattern drifted under the pinks will pick up bows and sea run dollies. it is a pretty part of the world. you should get out there when the chum are running. there is a battle you will never forget! marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyFishin'Jam 0 Report post Posted August 30, 2011 Hi Marc, i wasn't going to mention river names *i usually don't* but yeah the browns are on the adam, upriver tho. When i found out about them i was 'what the hell' because as you said there are none mentioned or stocked, maybe a few mentions in the backroad map books. I did see a picture of an escaped atlantic, looked all fat and ugly with worn down fins, quite gross. That bow was taken on the eve, there are a few of them there that we have found along with other surprises. Hahaha i had my 'run-in' with chums on the kitimat before we went to the island. Crazy fish! I was being silly and messing around with pinks on my 5wt when a large group of them were all stacked up in the same seam. It's amazing how fast a reel handle can fly backwards, lets just say i put the 5wt down after that. When do the chums run on the island? Think i have only been there early season really, but wouldn't mind targeting them at all! Only landed 1 so far. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyderaght 0 Report post Posted August 31, 2011 The chums are still approaching and usually do not show themselves until the fall. your lucky it did not blow your rod apart. a 5wt for a pink is a bit small, especially if chum re about. I would not tackle a chum with anything less than a 8wt and even then your in for a battle. the adam and eve rivers have been known for years as to having browns. browns do not get the same headlines as steelies,cutts and salmon and for that matter dolly varden and bull trout. actually, fisheries and oceans canada like people to kill the atlantics and report where they caught them. I am not certain, but I do believe browns like bass do not get any seasonal protections etc in BC. The browns were stocked decades ago as were bass on vancouver island. I think the province still stocks a few lakes around Victoria with smallmouth. bass are quite plentiful in BC. East of Vancouver in the Fraser valley the sloughs and such have very healthy populations of largemouth. It has been a source of debate out there as many say being they are in waters that hold juvenile salmon in the lower mainland, it should be dfo's responsibility to protect the salmon. however the feds have always thrown the ball back at the province. in the okanogan region there are some amazing bass fisheries. in around the creston area, duck lake is known for its 5+ pd largemouths. coming from BC to ontario I had to learn to be nice to bass LOL. they are a great sportfish. Unfortunately, many of the interior lakes that hold bass were put there illegally. In fact, a few years ago, the head of the bass society in BC was actually caught transplanting bass into a lake by the CO's. If you like world class wineries, great scenery and top notch bass fishing, give the okanogan a whirl. marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlyFishin'Jam 0 Report post Posted August 31, 2011 Yep, i was being silly but was having a blast with the pinks on light gear. Funny how kitimat runs were so early (wondering if thats because it is a tailwater?), the sockeyes were red, the pinks were coming to the end, and some of the chums already doing their thing, all by july 25. Move over to skeena, and the sockeyes are bright silver, along with a couple of pinks, silver too, with the chinooks. Then go to copper and by that time hardly anything had made it that far. Then go mainland back to squamish and there are bows, cutties with a couple of pinks just trickling in, same with campbell river. About those bass, i don't think they should have ever stocked them in BC, having lived in Ontario for 8 years i have done a fair bit of bass fishing on the fly, and if i went to BC that would be the very last thing i would ever want to do. I don't really understand, i see on TV people like Brian Chan almost managing lakes in BC, these are rainbows, triploid, diploid etc, are the bass being stocked in lakes that hold populations of trout? If so it could explain why they are getting rather large. Anyway yeah was my 2nd time to BC, and i am in love with the place, i could almost see myself living there quite happily instead of this stressland i call downtown Toronto. Living not in Vancouver - as every time we mentioned we were from Toronto they were a bit funny towards us, one shop keeper even just walked off. Bizarre, but you find lovely places, i like Campbell river, the people are nice, chilled. Not too chilled like those whistler people, sheesh, and not as country as Terrace people. Now i do love wineries and scenery! along with some fishing i hope? Okanogen sounds excellent, next year we are going to have to go again, so i will check into this. Any other tips? We usually do DIY, e.g no lodges or guides or stuff, just maps, 4wd, and motels. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
