British Columbia Fishing Blog

For many years now, I have been writing about different, unexplored fishing opportunities in the Tidal Fraser River. From float fishing for coarse fish to flyfishing for trout, char and salmon, this area is ideal for Vancouverites who want to go fishing for a couple of hours without travelling far. I regularly receive questions in emails about them. Here is a great you to find out more, by coming to this year’s Fish for the Future on Saturday July 11th!

 

Fish for the Future is an annual festival that I have organized since 2003. The purpose of the event is to promote sportfishing, create public awareness of the biodiversity of the Fraser River ecosystem and conservation. It is fun and educational for all ages. The event is hosted at the No. 2 Road Pier of London’s Landing from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

During this year’s festival, families have the opportunities to try out fishing. Fishing gear will be available for kids who do not have them. Fish species that you might see include peamouth chub, northern pikeminnow, sculpin, largescaled sucker, redside shiner, shiner perch, starry flounder, American shad, bull trout, cutthroat trout and white sturgeon. When a fish is caught, it will be put in an aquarium for the kids to observe and learn before released back into the water.

Beside fishing, there will also be many other activities for participants to get involved in:

• Flycasting and flytying lessons will be available throughout the event for those who wish to learn the art of flyfishing.
• OWL, Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society, will be showing some of BC’s iconic birds of prey.
• Presented by the Seymour Salmonid Society, the aquatic insect station showcases microspecies that make up the important base of a stream ecosystem. There will also be a live tank of coho salmon smolts for visitors to watch.
• DFO Steveston will be on site to answer your questions about fishing in the tidal waters of British Columbia.The
• The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC will be hosting learn to fish lessons throughout the event.

 

Bring a packed lunch! There are picnic tables in the shaded area of the pier where you can enjoy your lunch break between activities. Ride a bike down to the event! Richmond has an excellent network of cycle routes. Park your bikes on the pier while enjoying all the activities.

You can be both a participant and volunteer. Help is always needed. If you wish to volunteer, please email me at info@fishingwithrod.com. I hope to see you on July 11th! This is also an opportunity for me to meet readers and learn more about what others would like to see on the website.

Here are some video clips from last year’s Fish for the Future.

Today I tagged along with Mike and Kelsey of the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC for a Learn to Fish session at Green Timbers Lake. The Learn to Fish program was first established two years ago and is available to anyone who’s above the age of five. Beside sessions hosted at the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery and Visitor Centre, ongoing sessions are scheduled at Green Timbers (Wednesday), Lafarge (Thursday) and Rice Lake (Sunday) between April and August. For more information, please visit this page.

The weather was perfect for this evening’s session. Trout were swirling and hopping on the surface. Unfortunately no fish were caught, but it was enjoyable for both parents and kids who participated.

Fishing rods and reels are provided for participants.

No shortage of bobbers.

Mike explains the proper technique for catch and release.

Kelsey demonstrates fish identification.

Mike demonstrates casting with a spinning reel.

Kelsey helps a young participant on casting.

Fishing time!

Both parents and kids actively take part in the class.

A catch and release prop.

A bobber awaits to be used.

Green Timbers Lake has plenty of open shoreline for anglers.

A couple of local residents.

For a long time now I have been writing about different, unexplored fishing opportunities in the Tidal Fraser River. I get many questions in emails about them. Here is a great opportunity for those who are interested to find out more, by coming to this year’s Fish for the Future on Saturday July 11th!

Fish for the Future is an annual fishing festival in Steveston that we have started on the website since 2003. The purpose of the event is to promote sportfishing, biodiversity of the Fraser River ecosystem and conservation. The event is supported by both the BC Family Fishing Weekend and the National Fishing Week. At this event, kids have the opportunity to try out fishing with all the free fishing gear provided. When fish are caught, they are placed in an aquarium for the kids to observe and learn before they are released back into the water. Flycasting and flytying workshops are available for anyone who wishes to learn. Various stewardship groups will be onsite to let the public know what projects are currently happening to enhance urban streams and re-establish their inhabitants. DFO is also present at the event to answer questions that you may have.

Please visit the event website for more information: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fftf

You can be both a participant and a volunteer. The event is only possible with dedicated individuals who help out on the day. We need people to…

• help kids with fishing on the floating dock.,
• set up tents, signs, tables and chairs before the event,
• take down after the event,
• teach people how to tie flies,
• organize the fishing gear for loaning,

To make things a bit more interesting, I’ve decided to be out of town until July 8th. This means I need someone to put up posters at the rec centres, Save on Foods, Safeway and other public places two weeks prior to the event.

If you are interested in voluteering, please send me an email at info@fishingwithrod.com.

Even though we had anticipated a large turnout at this year’s World Rivers Day celebration in Chilliwack, it was still overwhelming to see over 200 participants voluntarily spending several hours picking up garbage along the Vedder River on September 28th.

The Vedder, or also known as the Chilliwack River, is the most heavily used by recreational anglers in British Columbia. Due to its popularity, garbage has become a serious problem in this watershed. The Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Coalition and its volunteers recognize this, so we are determined to make a positive difference.

This is our 7th Rivers Day celebration. Beside cleaning up the river, participants were treated with a BBQ, snacks and cold drinks. This year, we finished the event with a large cake to mark CVRCC’s 7th year anniversary.

More photos from the event can be seen on this page. 

Although the celebration is now over, everyday on the river should be treated as a Rivers Day. Your ongoing effort to keep the rivers clean is needed. Without this movement, it would result in losses of river access for anglers and worst of all, fish habitat degradation. Carry a small bag while you are out fishing and collect garbage after you are done is a good start. If everyone picks up more than what he or she carries in, then we will always have a magnificant river and fishery to enjoy.

For more information about the Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Coalition, please visit their website.

Sunny with a light westerly breeze, one couldn’t have asked for better weather to host Fish for the Future 2008. This was our sixth annual event. When this project was first initiated in 2003, the idea is to promote sportfishing, but to also make sure required knowledge is made readily available to those who are new to this recreation. When educated anglers are created, resource stewards are created, which lead to a better future for the fish. This event is only possible each year with the support of BC Family Fishing Weekend, National Fishing Week and many local generous sponsors.

Maybe it was enthusiasm, the entire event only took 40 minutes to set up. We were ready to go by 9:30am! Once 10am passed, parents and kids began arriving steadily at registration for their licenses.

The pier was filled with eager new anglers in no time. It was time to catch a fish!

Perhaps it was the tide, or the extended freshet that the Fraser River has experienced this year, the fishing was somewhat slow at the beginning. The main target species are peamouth chub, northern pikeminnow and several sculpin species. There was also the possibility to catch a variety of other species such as bull trout, cutthroat trout, white sturgeon, starry flounder, shiner perch and american shad, making fishing rather unpredictable and exciting in the estuary portion of the Fraser River. Once the kids found the way to entice these picky feeders, fish began to show up on the floating dock.

Once caught, the fish was brought to the aquarium stations by the catcher so it could be observed and identified in the water by everyone. All fish were released after a viewing period. This system creates a relaxing atmosphere so there would be a willingness to learn about the fish that are being caught. Although it is not a derby, we tried to ensure that those who caught a fish would receive a small prize. Fish ID cards were also given out for future references.

Beside fishing, we usually invite several related groups to be with us because the event provides a good opportunity to advertise their projects or programs that they offer.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has been a strong supporter of this event since the first year. The communication branch has provided reading material for anglers to take home. Since last year, the enforcement unit in Steveston has also been involved. By having an outreach program, it creates a better understanding of the agency and encourages people to work with the enforcement unit when reporting violators. The patrol boat cruise during the event is always an eye opener for everyone.

Based in North Vancouver, the Seymour Salmonid Society has also been with Fish for the Future for many years. Beside raising salmonids, the hatchery offers an educational program called “Gently down the Seymour”, which offers a better understanding of the Seymour River and its inhabitants. The hatchery staff once again brought along a few juvenile coho salmon and aquatic insects for visitors who have never had the opportunity to see them.

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC has been offering Learn to Fish program since 2006. This successful initiative has increased freshwater angling interest among youth across the province. Although the society’s work is not entirely related to the type of fishery being offered in Steveston, it always sends out a group to our event to cover the educational component. Fish anatomy, species ID and fishing lessons were given throughout the day.

Based in Delta, Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society rescues and raises injured birds of prey back to their health. Thanks to the feathery stars, its exhibition always generates a big crowd at this event. We feel that it is important to be involved with O.W.L. because injured birds are often the result of improper disposal of fishing line and plastic bags in their habitat. The society is always looking for volunteers and donations. Donations can either be money or food (ie. fish and rodents).

New to this year’s event were the Fraser River Estuarium Project and the Greater Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. We hope to have them back next year. The Fraser River Estarium Project is a proposed permanent educational centre in Steveston, which aims to inform the public about the importance of the Fraser River estuary and delta ecosystem. The Greater Canadian Shoreline Cleanup happens each September. Organized by the Vancouver Aquarium, there are over 1,500 cleanups happening in communities across Canada.

As usual, we had a flycasting area setup for those who are interested in learning or improving their casts. Many thanks to Jeff for providing private lessons under the hot sun throughout the event. Many new flyfishermen were born today.

The flytying booth was also quite popular. Kids were able to create their own flies with the help from Floon, Carlo, Wayne and Tony.

Thanks to Daniel at DNE Fishing for running the river fishing information booth. The display of drift fishing rigs must be helpful for those who want to get into river fishing in the Lower Mainland.

Thanks to Randy and Bill at Ultimate Sportfishing for exhibiting the Fraser River white sturgeon tagging program. It is a less-known species that always needs more awareness from the public.

Thanks to George, Rene, Tim, Brian, Luke, Sean and Mary for running the fishing portion of the event. With several hundred people who were eager to try out fishing, somehow they managed to keep everything under control.

Thanks to Sandy, Natalie, Jennifer and Cathy for writing up juvenile angling licenses. It was a non-stop task. 197 licenses were written during the event.

Thanks to Mark for running the aquarium station. The bucket run was a good exercise for him.

Thanks to those who had taken our advice and chosen to ride their bikes down to the event! It was good to see dozens of bikes parked on the pier while they fished.

Based on the number of juvenile angling licenses issued etc, we estimated between 500 and 600 people participated in this year’s festival. We look forward to see you all once again next year! Next year’s event will most likely be on July 4th. We hope to continue expanding by inviting more groups to be with us in the future so this will become one gathering where people can collect all the information they need regarding fishing, conservation and better living.

The rest of the photos can be seen on this page. If you have a comment or feedback regarding this event, please go to this page.