Catching Any?

Mark Hill of Washington State and his Daughter most certainly are. Mark wrote us about his recent trip to the land of Mounties, Maple leaves and hockey...

When it comes to what a dad wants for Father’s Day, a dad couldn’t ask for a more perfect day than to be on the water of a beautiful lake and watch his daughter catch the biggest fish of her life!

This past weekend, I had one of those weekends that you don’t forget for a long time, when my daughter, Christina, and I spent Father’s Day weekend fishing on Christina Lake, British Columbia. The weather was perfect and the fish were biting.

Christina Lake is one of Canada’s best kept secrets. It is located in southeast British Columbia, just north of the Washington State border. It is a 14 mile long lake that is the home to Rainbow Trout, Kokanee and Large & Small mouth Bass. I spent this past Father’s Day weekend fishing it with my 14 year old daughter, Christina (who just happens to be named after the lake). Christina caught the her largest Rainbow ever (18 inches and 2 pounds). The smile on her face after we landed the fish was one of the best Father’s Day gifts I could have asked for!

Mark Hill

He named his daughter after a lake! Well played Mark...Well played

 

Flies for Fins

Canadian fly fishing guide and lady who can out fish most folks with her spey casting arm tied behind her back, April Vokey, has announced a fund raiser for the benefit of the Steelehead Society. It's pretty simple, you tie a fly and mail it in and they sell it and the money goes to help the big chromers.

Listen up!!! This message is for you whether you live in Norway, Oregon or British Columbia....Our steelhead are suffering and need your help!

I have started a fundraiser called Flies For Fins. I don't want your money, but I do need some of your time and tying materials.

I am working with Reaction Fly and Tackle, Pacific Angler, Michael and Young Fly Shop and Whistler FlyFishing to raise money for the Steelhead Society.

Each location will carry a cork board that is full of steelhead flies MADE BY YOU. These flies will be sold at the shops, where proceeds will be donated to the Steelhead Society. In the middle of each cork board will be a graph that is updated weekly to show how much money had been raised.

Mailing flies only takes a couple stamps (just make sure that they can be flattened in an envelope.)This is for a great cause, please choose to take some of your time and flies out of your box for it.

I will have a Face Book page up in the next several days for Flies For Fins, however, we need flies RIGHT NOW.

Flies can be shipped to:8505 Norman Cres.Chilliwack, B.C.CanadaV2P 5C6

Feel free to send one fly, or ten! Make them as fancy or as plain as you would like. Please include your name.

Envelope, stamp, fly. It's that simple.

Please do your part and help us make a difference!

Thank you so much,

April.

Books: "The Freshman Fly Fisher" by Rick Passek

I was first introduced to Rick Passek via his Vancouver, BC RP3 Fishing Adventures website and the FlyFish Fanatic blog. Rick is an avid angler and fishing guide who has devoted his career to showing others the enjoyment of the sport of fly fishing.

Rick's new book, "The Freshman Fly Fisher - A Beginners Guide for a New Generation," arrived at the FlyFishMagazine.com HQ via international post and immediately found its place in our reading room. Digging into the text of this book it quickly became clear that the book's small size was no indication of the massive amount of excellent information Rick had put into this guide for the novice angler.

The book contains plenty of information to get the new fly angler quickly on the correct path to a sport that they can enjoy for a lifetime. "The Freshman Fly Fisher" has chapters that cover everything from equipment such as rods, reels, and even boats to fishing etiquette and techniques. I found his tips to be a common sense approach to getting started in the sport. If this book had been around when I started fly fishing, I am certain that I could have saved a lot of money and caught many more fish earlier in my career.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then, at least when it comes to teaching about fly fishing, a video is worth a thousand paragraphs. The Freshman Fly Fisher is innovative in that Rick has included links to special instructional videos in the text of the book. Purchasers of the book get access to special sections of the RP3 Fishing Adventures website. At least for us this is a new wrinkle in the world of fly fishing texts.

The Freshman Fly Fisher has a definite focus on anglers who will be fishing the rivers and lakes of British Columbia, Alberta, and the Pacific Northwest. However, the techniques and tips that the book presents would easily carry over to similar waters around the world. I especially enjoyed Rick's excellent primer on the fishing of Chironomids in still water. I was not particularly knowledgeable about these techniques but after reading Rick's descriptions and watching the videos I am excited to try them out.

"The Freshman Fly Fisher - A Beginners Guide for a New Generation" ISBN 978-0-9783292-1-1 is available via the RP3 Fishing Adventures website for $19.95 Canadian. While the book is certainly marketed to the angler new to the long rod, even the most seasoned fly fisher can learn something beneficial from Rick's fly fishing expertise.

Heave to and prepare to be boarded...

According to this article in the Windsor Star the United States Department of Homeland Security is denying rumors it is planning a stepped up campaign to interdict fishing boats on the Great Lakes.

Chief Ron Smith, spokesman for the Detroit Homeland Security office, said Tuesday that there has been misinformation circulating that U.S. authorities will launch a special campaign when the fishing season begins this month to stop all U.S. boats re-entering the U.S. from the Canadian side, sending them for inspection.

Don't get them wrong though you still should play by the extensive rules if you don't want a customs inspection:

He acknowledged that U.S. citizens fishing in Canadian waters will be expected to carry a passport or two other valid pieces of identification, according to laws governing all cross border travel. But only those craft that anchor in Canadian waters, dock on the Canadian side or hover alongside a second vessel in Canadian waters will be expected to pass through U.S. customs and immigration upon re-entry.

Read more comment about the regulations and why some charter Captains are saying it could hurt their business via the Crazy Fisherman's blog.

Photo via USCG.mil

Does your trout have a healthy glow?

Perhaps you are fishing Lake Athabaska near Uranium City. It's listed as number seven on a list of Canada's top ten fishing destinations.

Here's a link to a Financial Post story about the mining town's reawakening.

Eco-Terrorists Strike Canada

Authorities are calling the recent dumping of white perch into a channel between to BC lakes Eco-terror.

Officials suspect last week’s illegal dumping of yellow perch into the channel between White Lake and Little White Lake was a deliberate act of environmental sabotage. Wildlife officials are calling the culprit their most-wanted man in the province. The situation has such serious repercussions for local ecosystems that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, BC Conservation Service and the BC Wildlife Federation officials have taken the unprecedented step of offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of people responsible.


Ironically, the culprits might have been participants in a perch derby held another area lake. The perch derby was held as a way to educate locals about the dangers of invasive species.