Blogging about sportfishing...

So, several hundred sample packages of PowerBait arrived at my door a few weeks ago. They will be given away on July 12th at this year’s Fish for the Future. I’m pretty excited. Beside these sample packages, we’ll also be giving away rods and other goodies. This will be the 6th year since Fish for the Future was started. When the idea of this event was put together, we intended to create a fun, festive day for families who come out and participate. Most importantly, I hope people can come out, gather the fishing information that they need, talk to groups that are involved in conservation and be more aware of what goes on behind the scene. This year I have invited twice as many groups to be at the event. Some of the main groups that may interest you include Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Georgia Strait Alliance, Vancouver Aquarium, Seymour Salmonid Society and Burns Bog Conservation Society. We look forward to see everyone on July 12th!

The Richmond Golden Rods and Reels Society once again ran a well organized bullhead derby for kids and seniors at Garry Point Park today. This year’s attendance is the highest in many years, just over 100 kids took part. Largest bullhead was measured at 9 inches long, while the largest non-bullhead species was a 14.5 inches long northern pikeminnow. All fish were carried to the measuring station by the kids, measured and returned to the river. Beside bullhead and a few other coarse fish species, some starry flounders were also caught.

More photos can be seen on this page. The next kids fishing event is Fish for the Future on July 12th, I look forward to see everyone there.

In conjunction with the BC’s Family Fishing Weekend, the Seymour Salmonid Society hosts “Go Fish Rice Lake” every year on Fathers Day. This is one event that I usually do not miss as it always draws a huge crowd. Due to the nice weather that we experienced, this year’s event was especially well attended.

Just minutes after the event started, all fishing rods, around 80, were loaned out to new angling enthusiasts. Each angler was allowed to try fishing on the pier for 20 minutes before returning the fishing rod. Other activities included flytying lessons, bug discovery, bear awareness activities, etc. Thanks to those who came by to say hi. I hope questions regarding different fisheries were fully answered, otherwise emails are always welcome. Despite of high angling pressure, only a few fish were caught, probably due to the warm sunny condition.

More photos can be seen on this page.

Staff at the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery were not busy raising trout today, instead they introduced fishing to over 1,000 visitors who attended the annual family fishing day.

An inflatable pool filled with several hundred rainbow trout was set up for kids under the age of 7. Although catches were almost guaranteed, some had to work harder than others to keep the fish on the barbless hook.

Hundreds of new eager anglers converged at both learn-to-fish ponds, which were stocked with over 1,000 rainbow trout. Most are now hooked on fishing.

The Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery and Visitor Centre is opened to the public. The visitor centre houses most BC fish species in its aquariums. Pre-arranged hatchery tours are available, just phone ahead to book a time. Learn-to-fish sessions will also be happening for all age groups. For more information, please visit their website.

These two photos are my favorites from today. They capture two memorable moments when we fish - Anticipation and excitement.

Hatchery manager Dale nets a trout for two young anglers. It is hard to tell who is most excited in this photo.

Barry does not seem so pleased after bonking and cleaning fish number 426.

There was not a shortage of anglers at the trout ponds.

Other photos can be found on this page.

Over twenty five years ago, my father regularly brought me along to his fishing trips. Although I was not heavily involved in the actual fishing at these trips, new adventures could always be had. Gobies and shrimps could be netted and observed in creeks, mussels and weeds were collected on rocks by the ocean. This constant connection with nature eventually grew to a strong fascination with fish. I was often looking for new species to catch, cutting out fish photos for my own record. This fascination has also become a life-long career, a treasured hobby and a strong willingness to protect the precious resource that we often take for granted.

A child’s life can be significantly altered when fishing is introduced into it. It isn’t so much about just catching fish, but lessons that cannot be taught elsewhere are found through this hobby. Fish can only be cared if they are seen or touched. This connection is difficult to bridge by a textbook.

The BC Family Fishing Weekend, which takes place annually on the Fathers Day Weekend, was initially designed to introduce more participants into this community. Some may disagree with the approach by reasoning that less anglers is in fact better for the resource, but the reality is that this resource, community and industry cannot survive unless there is a steady recruitment of participants. More users in a fishery does not only translate into more money, but it also creates more stewards who would guard what is enjoyable to them.

On June 14th and 15th, take a child fishing. The freshwater fishing licenses are free on those two days, for those who wish to give fishing a go. Community events will take place across the province, where newcomers can receive guidance on how to get started in this hobby.

On June 14th, I will be at the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery for its family fishing day. Ongoing hatchery tours and trout fishing will be available from 8am to noon. On June 15th, I will be at Rice Lake in North Vancouver, where trout fishing will also be available as well as various educational activities. I look forward to see everyone!

Rodney Hsu
Webmaster, Fishing with Rod Production

We took advantage of the sunny weather that was expected in Merritt by doing an overnight lake trip several days ago. Interior British Columbia offers excellent stillwater trout fishing in May and June. Those who have tried it always make sure their holiday is planned around this time of the year. The trip was short but very successful, with plenty of fish in the 2 to 4lb range landed. Here are some photographs that I wish to share with our readers.

This trip allowed us to try out our new products from Stryker Rods. Stryker Rods is based in Surrey and its custom built fishing rods are first-class. This is a 9′ 5wt flyfishing rod, nicely coupled with an Islander LX 3.4.

Expect this to happen from time to time when using two rods. Interior rainbow trout have a tendency to make a mess when the angler is not paying attention.

Dress for all types of weather when fishing in Interior BC during spring.

Monstrous northern pikeminnow take a fly from time to time when they can get to it before hungry rainbow trout.

Interior BC rainbow trout in the 14″ to 20″ size range is probably the most popular gamefish in this province.

A quiet boat companion. Hatches take place during the day while fishing. It is a good idea to pay attention to what land on your boat to understand what the fish are biting on.

A casualty. After numerous tough battles, this fly finally retires.

I took a tour of the Chilliwack River Valley Monday evening to see if the the “tough new measures” mentioned in the article below would actually happen this May Long weekend. The area up to Tamahi looked good but from there up things were near the worse I had ever seen, as the pictures relate. Pictures were taken showing some of the sites including by the washout, “The Cedars” and by Borden Creek where the bears were getting into some of the bagged up garbage. The other pictures were on the Bench Road which was a disaster area with shotgun shell casing every where.

If we are really serious about dealing with this destruction of this area we must have a stronger support from the RCMP and the Province with both providing enough personal to deal with this stain on our environment. Sometimes I think these law enforcement people are stretched too thin to cover areas like this.

Once again, from what I observed today and what was mentioned in this recent newspaper article I have posted below it appeared to have little impact on these thoughtless campers that have no regard for our ONCE beautiful Chilliwack River Valley, shameful.

Discuss this now!

Today’s outing on a Lower Mainland lake was the best one so far this season. After hooking numerous fish on a brown leech pattern, I rigged up a flyfishing rod with an indicator for my friend Erin who has never flyfished before. After several misses, the indicator took a dip and remained under for a long time. Without being alerted, Erin yanked the rod back and the full bend suggested a much larger fish at the other end. I had to stop Erin from stripping in the line so quickly because the fish was pulling just as hard at the other end. With constant headshakes, this fish remained in the deep as it made its way to the boat.

Its first surfacing had me looking for the landing net frantically. It was easily the biggest cutthroat trout that I have seen from this lake! I leaned over to see where it was. A couple of times it made us hold our breath as it went for the anchor rope. The fly line’s loop connector to the leader was now caught at the rod tip. She had no way to bring the fish to the surface and I was too afraid to grab the line. Finally with some pulling the loop freed itself from the tip and the fish resurfaced. On my third try, I managed to slipped the entire fish into the net.  Not only was it long, it was fat unlike some of the early season fish that we often see. The semi-silvery, heavily spotted body also made it the prettiest specimen I have seen to date.

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC produces and stocks a strain of cutthroat trout that are known as Taylor 3N. Even though most Southern Coastal BC lakes’ low nutrient productivity is unable to yield large trout, these ferocious cutthroat trout often grow rapidly by feeding on larger food items such as leeches and sticklebacks. Released as yearlings, their average size can reach 5lb in two to three years. The fishing is especially good at lakes that are stocked with Taylor 3Ns and designated as a catch and release fishery. Look out for these lakes by searching the stocking history and take advantage of the first class fisheries around you.

This past weekend we spent two nights at Lakeside Gardens Resort, fishing St Mary’s Lake on Salt Spring Island. St Mary’s Lake is mostly known for its smallmouth bass fishing and we typically visit it in June or July. This year we decided to pay it an earlier visit, hoping to see some topwater bass action. Unfortunately the season is delayed, but we were treated with a good substitute. Both cutthroat and rainbow trout were pretty eager to chew on our fly and bait. Just take a look at this video on the floating dock shot for 35 minutes straight.

Because Lakeside Gardens Resort is an advertiser on Fishing with Rod, when you book your stay, mention “Fishing with Rod” to receive 10% off. The resort offers campsites, small lakeside cabanas for 2 people as well as larger cottages for 4 to 6 people.

We took advantage of today’s sunshine before the expected rainstorms arrive tomorrow. After working hard on Whistler’s Alta Lake for several hours, we only managed to produce a few small hungry rainbows. In a couple more weeks, these higher elevation lakes’ temperature and fishing will both heat up. The anticipation is almost unbearable.