Fly Fishing for Rainbow Trout on the Thompson River

After a long hiatus from fishing, something in the order of more than a decade, I decided that I was going to take up fly fishing. Having spent the majority of my life as a gear head up in the Okanagan, I really didn’t want to start fishing again by watching my rod tip at some over crowded bar or bottom bouncing for salmon. No, fly fishing I thought, would be the perfect answer for rekindling that once cherished hobby.

Slightly less than a year later I find that I am really enjoying learning all about the most skillful way of catching fish. While there are certain aspects to this sport that I will not be able to fully enjoy such as tying my own flies or being able to trek down rivers for hours on end, there are still plenty of options for mobility challenged fly fisherman like me.

With that said I have to say that I have been very fortunate to have the guys over at Riverside Fly & Tackle, Garry Elgear and Christian Somogyi, help me over come some of my challenges. In fact all of the staff over at RSFAT are really helpful but Garry and Christian have gone above and beyond what most tackle shops pros are willing to do.

A perfect example of this dedication to teaching some of the finer aspects of fly fishing, Garry and Christian invited me and another fellow, Adam, who is relatively new to British Columbia, along on their fishing trip to the Thompson River for some monster Rainbow Trout.

The four of us got together and did an evening run up the scenic #1 highway to the Goldpan Provincial Park area. Having arrived so late in the evening we decided to set up camp a short distance away from the Provincial park and were rewarded for our courteous forethought, by discovering we had the grounds near the tram all to ourselves.

Fortunately it didn’t take us too long to establish our camp and then set to the serious business of drinking beer and rehashing old fish stories. Sure I didn’t have as many tales to tell about fishing but then again I didn’t have any beers either and perhaps, just perhaps mind you, the lack of one inhibits the sharing of the other? Nah, the truth is I went to bed earlier than everybody else and I missed out on the stories or I might have been sharing one here.

Between the hours of 5 and 6 AM we all crawled out of our tents and proceeded to eat breakfast and gear up for some early morning trout fishing. Our camp was about 30 yards from the river so it didn’t take long before we were all scattered along the shoreline.

For presentation I learned that we would all be using a floating line with about 9 foot leader and a black stonefly nymph pattern. After a few casts I was instructed that the proper movement for a stonefly nymph is to allow the fly to drift with the current. Also, I was told that my odds of hooking a large rainbow trout would be greater if I was to cast into a back current and to try to keep the slack manageable.

For me, as a relatively new fly fisherman, I found the management of the slack to be the hardest part. I did have a couple of strikes but due to too much slack on the line, I lost both of the fish as I couldn’t set the hook. Unfortunately of the 4 of us I was the only one to not land a fish but that won’t dissuade from making a return trip to the Spences Bridge area for rainbow trout.

If you are planning a trip up the Thompson River to fish for trout or steelhead make sure you stop in at Riverside Fly & Tackle to find out about the hatch for that time of year and stock up on the appropriate fly pattern. Don’t forget to ask which of the runs would be better and I guarantee that if Garry or Christian know they will tell you.

Les Romhanyi