Bc Trip Report

[OneMoreLastCast]

My cousin and I arrived on the river around 11 am the first day and it didn't take long for the Bull Trout fever to set in as we could see moderate numbers already stacking up in the pools.

 

 

I set up the video camera and my cousin Tyler, (Swampdondey here), got the first few casts and caught one early in the day.

 

 

Then it was my turn and I got into a nice big bull trout too, so the trip started off pretty well.

 

 

We continued hooking and landing some, but losing most as these fish are so strong, sometimes with the current and location, they definitely have the advantage.

 

 

 

We decided to give our arms a rest and changed our thoughts to the beautiful Cutthroat in the river. This one that was unreachable by cast was easily 26+ inches long, but He knew where to hang out to keep free of us Anglers, and trust me we tried but couldn't get him to move out from his cover, (that can't be seen in the picture.

 

We caught quite a few on Emergers and a couple on the traditional big bushy Cutty flies, but the best was stalking the ones we could see with the video camera rolling.

The Video will be in the works as soon as I recover from the trip.

 

 

Having lost a number of streamers on the first day, we thought it best to head back to camp early to tie some for the weekend.

 

 

The second day went fairly well too, with pretty much the same success, but then the fish seemed to start to shut down later in the day. We started to see more and more people as it got closer to the weekend too, so we knew it would have to be an early morning in order to claim the runs we wanted.

 

Rickr and Troutlover arrived on Friday night and we were all excited about the fishing in the morning. We made the trek down to the river and with in a short time, Troutlover was into his first big Bully.

 

 

He hooked a few more and the look on his face was priceless. It's a look I've seen quite a few times and this is what makes it worth it to me to bring new people out to these streams.

Meanwhile, Rick was trying his luck as well but unfortunately early in the day, he broke his rod. I just caught the "Snap", but didn't see what happened, so Rick will have to tell that story.

Rick did manage to hook into a really big fish later in the day using Troutlover's 4 wt, but when it ran down, he really didn't have a chance. Again, he'll have to tell that one because there is a bit more to the story.

 

The last day we walked a really long ways downstream....I mean a really long way. It was the last day of 5 for me, with more walking than I can even estimate. If I had to, I'd say I walked at least 30 miles in the 4 days. Throw in about 5 packs of smokes and you can imagine how motivated I was to fish the last day.

 

We hit the water fairly early and the first hole had a good number of fish in it. Unfortunately, they weren't very interested in getting hooked. We moved downstream and separated into two groups for a bit.

My cousin and I lead and he fished Cutthroat, while I fished for Bull Trout. He landed a few with the biggest being around 23 inches and I managed to land 2 bull trout in the medium size range, (which is around 30 inches).

 

When Rick and Troutlover caught up to us, Troutlover caught a Whitefish that the Bull Trout seemed to want more and Rick fought and lost a nice Cutty and lost it at his toes, but They'll have to tell what happened while we were separated.

 

In the end it was great, as it always is, to get out to the mountains fishing, but all in all, I was disappointed I couldn't get Rick into one of these beautiful Big Bull Trout. I should have known that the way to go was to focus on the Cutthroat rather than spend so much time with the Bulls that were obviously Resident and not as interested as I would have liked.

 

The run is late this year and I made the mistake of not switching over to Cutthroat. I also have some major issues with the "Classified Waters" licensing set up that could be discussed in another thread. I don't disagree with having to pay the money, just the set up.

 

I am happy that I met a new fishing buddy, had good conversation around the fire and for the most part had 2 good days or fishing and 2 bad, so the positives far out weigh the negatives.

 

Some random pictures from the trip. I might post more when I get them uploaded to photobucket later.

 

[Guest rusty]

Love that river and that area. Great pics.

[chidders]

Holy crap! Nice fish and pics guys!

[Brownstone]

Awesome pics Brett, sounds like you and the guys had a sweet trip..love that first one of the Bullies under the ledge, reminds me of fishing Salmon back home...

[birchy]

Amazing pics man! Thanks for sharing. Looks like an amazing trip. I can't wait to have one of those!

 

30" bullies are the MEDIUM range?? Nice!!

[tgo]

Holy crap, nice pictures and fish guys!

[Glenbow]

You never fail to impress, Brett. Glad you had a good trip & the pics are stunners. Beauty fish. Lookin' forward to hookin' up soon.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

so...wanna take me out next year? wowza

[monger]

Sounds like a great trip. I'm sure Rick will want to return to the river of green rocks. Was there lots of Americans there at this time?

[LynnF]

wow.....those pics are incredible! Great report.

 

I gotta go find the post where you said where you're going now

[toolman]

Great report and pics Brett. Thanks for posting.

[Carlodabroads]

4wt rods, and a gradient like you showed in photo 4 = Fun Fishing!

That place looks beautiful and im shocked at the number of fish stacked up.

 

I too have a tough time with the classified waters for Non BC residents. I can see for out of country, but not for canadian citizens. I lived in BC for most my life, and now that I live here I get penalized? Its a tough one to swallow.

 

Well Looks like my attention will be absent from work for the remainder of the day. My boss thanks you!

[hydropsyche]

I know some people (thankfully, not too many of them) who would say for one fish like that they would pay $60/day, drive 100km each way every day to register, give their right n*t and tow the SEK "its for the fish" party line while doing it.

 

After seeing those pics, I might too!!

 

Excellent report, MTB. Thanks for taking the time.

[reevesr1]

Rick's report:

Day 1:

Fall lots, bust shin, bust 8 wt, forget other rod in car (but thought I had brought it to river, so spent one hour looking for rod that was in car), hooked really big bull near dorsal fin with Troutlovers 8 wt, fight like hell, chase downstream, Troutlover goes into river to unwrap my line around a rock, he falls twice and busts knees, we almost get fish but he hits long rapid section, hit backing for the second time, troutlover takes the rod from my hand and breaks off fish (and I will never, ever let him forget it), catch 3 cutties, go back to camp, almost fall asleep into fire.

 

Day 2:

Long hike in, still no bulls, catch 3 cutties, 1 white, and one jumping sucker (and I am counting the big cuttie that got away at my feet), don't fall as much (maybe just once), get teased by Tyler, LONG uphill hike out, get 15 phone messages from work as soon as my phone works, cuss loudly at phone, stop at secret creek on way home with Troutlover, catch 2 browns and a couple of whities each in about 45 minutes of fishing before dark, missed one big fish!

 

I'm saving the details for when I have time.

 

Thanks to Brett, Tyler and Jared for making the trip very memorable. Wish we had caught more, but honestly, if you ask for more fun than we had you are asking for too much. A great time in a truly awesome location.

[birchy]

Geez rick.. even your "short and sweet" stories are a riot!!

 

I fell in the river the other day too! The Livingstone. Fortunately I fell in sideways and it was my side that I don't carry the camera in!

 

I'm getting more and more ammo every time to break our budget and convince my wife to let me splurge on wading boots that we can't really afford right now!

[brewingup]

ok, i'm new here. I was so excited about joining the board. Now i'm sitting at work and cannot concentrate on anything that i'm supposed to be doing. I'm just picturing myself at that stream. Great stuff! thanks alot

[reevesr1]

Geez rick.. even your "short and sweet" stories are a riot!!

 

I fell in the river the other day too! The Livingstone. Fortunately I fell in sideways and it was my side that I don't carry the camera in!

 

I'm getting more and more ammo every time to break our budget and convince my wife to let me splurge on wading boots that we can't really afford right now!

Here is my problem:

When I am moving up or down the river, I spend to much time gawking at my surroundings or rushing to get to the next spot, so I go down a bit because I never watch where I am going. The main issue in BC was wet wading boots and slick rocks (but not every rock was slick. Just enough to get you when you're not paying attention). Only one time did I get hurt:

 

Just after I did the running of the bull, I was sitting on the bank having a snack. I decided to go get my vest and tie on another bully fly. I stood up, slipped on a rock and knocked the living crap out of my shin. I mean HARD, and I've got the scab to prove it. I thought I was going to cry, then I thought I was going to puke. Like any barked shin, it went away in a couple of minutes, but it was a couple of minutes of exquisite pain. It still really hurts to touch!

[Weedy1]

Sounds like you need a big bandaid.

 

Looks like you boys had a great time. Great pictures MTB.

[H2O]

That's wicked! Love the Bull pics.

[Guest rusty]

Wow...the first time I saw that it didn't look like a bandaid at all.

[brewingup]

ditto. got scared for a sec. haha

[OneMoreLastCast]

Don't feel bad Rick. The first day I fell on the way in because we took our usual way in and found the nice worn trail on our way out. I also fell similar to the way you fell on that rock. Mine was a little embarrassing because we were walking right behind two other anglers at the time that turned out to be another couple of Pr*@ks....of a number we encountered in the area.

 

I can't remember ever passing by people on Alberta waters where you say hi and/or ask how their day is and they ignore you and give you dirty looks.

 

The trip was a good trip because it was a fishing trip, but there were a lot of things that left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

The people's attitudes on the river and at the Fly shop. There are 4 shops and we stopped at two, one where the people were great and the other where they were brutal. I won't mention the name out of respect for all shop owners. Basically I am getting at that noone owns any water body out there no matter what they think. Everyone has a right to fish the rivers, especially when they pay $20/day on top of their license.

 

I was also very disappointed in how worn in the paths along the river are since the last time I was at this stream. It shows that the Classified licensing is definitely not taking any pressure off the water. I have a theory that it actually adds to the pressure that I can get into in another thread. Basically...It forces people to fish the one stream over the length of their trip, rather than spread out the pressure by being able to move to other waters due to the water specific licensing.

 

Although the fishing is still not bad, there are far too many other streams and lakes out there that have great fishing as well. So I think some of my disappointment might stem from the fact that this very well could be my last trip into the "Canyon".

 

We'll get some big ones elsewhere Rick.

 

One real positive that came from this trip was that it made me very proud to be an Albertan Angler. I urge everyone here to keep up the friendly attitudes on the water to show the people visiting our beautiful Province that we are more intelligent than those people we encountered over the border.

[Weedy1]

Is that LocalYocal I can hear running to his computer?

[OneMoreLastCast]

These people were from everywhere, not just BC. It seemed that everyone that fishes the area no matter where they are from considered the river their own and shunned anyone they came across.

The people from Montana have always been this way on this river for some reason and I don't understand it.

 

I'm just getting at that I often run into people on the Alberta streams that I know are not necessarily from Alberta, but everyone always at least has a nice "Hello" or "How Ya doin'?" in them.

[Weedy1]

MTB - I think a lot of people that travel considerable distances want the stream or river they are heading towards to their own, then if it turns out that's not the case they're pissed. I know what you mean and there is no excuse for the type of behaviour you experienced. The simple fact is if they travelled 500 miles to fish a stream they figured no one would be on, then discovered there was 50 fisherman lining the shore, they should try and make the best of it, without being a jerk.