13th Annual “Scotty’s” Vedder River Rats Steelhead Derby

For all you guy’s who love free stuff Riverside Fly and Tackle is proud to be supporting the River Rats Steelhead Derby this year on March 6 2010.  Big prizes this year for the 3 biggest fish plus lots of draw prizes.  Weigh-in is at the gravel pit by the train bridge at 4pm, Don’t Be Late!  Tickets are $25.00.  Everyone taking part will receive a free River Rats hat.  For tickets call Scott @ 850-3814 or 308-8684.

BC Boat & Sportsmen’s Show 2010

It’s that time of year again.  The Sportsmen’s show is just around the corner.  The event will be held March 5th, 6th & 7th.  You will find us once again right in the middle of the action across from the casting pond.  Garry will be doing some casting and fly tying demo’s , so don’t miss out.  Lots of  suppliers who didn’t make it last year will be there this year, and once again there will be lots of good deals. So make a point of stopping by and saying hi.  We’ll see you there.

Fishing Rolley Lake Provincial Park: Winter Hours

Last weekend a friend and I decided to take the pontoon boats out for a little winter lake fishing but couldn’t decide on where to go. Our choices were Silver Lake up in Hope BC, Buntzen Lake, which is considered a local lake, Mike Lake, another local lake or Rolley Lake, about an hour’s drive out of the city.

The problem with Silver Lake was the distance, it is about an hour and forty five minute drive and given our late start combined with the winter hours, we decided to give that one a pass for now.

Buntzen Lake, while close, has a tendency to get over fished leaving you with the best to hope for; Pike Minnows. Who really wants to spend hours exposed to the winter elements on the off chance of only catching a fish you aren’t going to want to eat? Yet another passed location.

Mike Lake, less than half an hour away, was my choice of last resort. My son and I had visited the lake back in October when we discovered that Rolley Lake had closed for the winter. While the fishing was good for us that day, I wanted to go someplace else seeing as Mike Lake was the location of my last fishing trip of 2009.

Originally my son and I tried to go to Rolley Lake because I had read online a few days earlier that the lake had been stocked with a few hundred 2 pound trout. Not realizing that the Provincial Park had been closed for the winter we set out for a day of fishing. Upon arrival we discovered that in order to fish there that day we would have had to hike in all of our gear, something we were not prepared to do so we went to Mike Lake instead.

Knowing that the lake had been stocked just after closing for the season and being robbed of a trip to that lake, my friend and I decided to go to Rolley. Armed with the knowledge that we were going to have to schlep in our gear we took along a furniture dollie. Even using the dollie it took a considerable amount of time and effort to get the pontoon boats down to the lake.

I understand that the Provincial Parks have been privatized in order to cut costs but do they really need to close the gates to the parking areas? To me this doesn’t seem much like a public asset when the public is hindered in its use. But that is a topic for a different post on a different kind of site.

All toll it took us about 45 minutes to finally get the pontoon boats on to the water and start fishing. Rolley Lake isn’t that big and it does not allow for the use of propellers but we had planed on oaring anyways so that didn’t matter.

I started fishing with a green micro leach on a sinking line and was rewarded with a small trout after about 20 minutes of trolling. My second fish struck a few minutes later and felt like a couple of pounder but I didn’t land that one. I continued with the green micro leach and caught another small one. I rowed around for a little while exploring the shoreline and landed yet another small trout for my efforts.

Things were certainly slowing down so I thought I would try changing to a black micro leach but only realized similar success. I met up with my buddy on the other pontoon and he told me that he hadn’t had any luck at all and was heading into shore.

I told him that I was going to do one more pass through the spot where I was catching all of my fish and that I would be in shortly. I was successful and caught another small trout and headed in.

It was a lot of work getting the gear onto the water that day but I enjoyed myself and now know where to drop my line on that lake. I am pretty sure I will be packing the pontoons back to Rolley Lake again one of these days but not before it gets re-stocked just prior to the park re-opening in April. Sure it will be extra work but there won’t be many people on the water, just the float tubers and whoever decides to lug the gear down to the lake with me.

Fantastic Deal on Custom Rods

We’ve just received word from our custom rod builder Fetha Styx that they are going to clear out some old stock and we can get some really good deals on some nice rods.  There are some Switch Pro Series rods available, they are all 10′8″ in length, 4 piece rods and there is 5,6,7 and 8 weight rods. These are great rods for trout fishing or Steelheading the Thompson River or other such big waters.  The can also double as a great centerpin rod.  These are super sensitive Rainshadow Blanks, built with some high end components.  Regular price is $350.00 US and we will having them on sale for $279.99 CDN.  To order yours early give us a call @ 604-944-2479.  For those who purchase a rod and reel together we will include a free spey casting lesson to get you started off right!

Garrys Baby Pool is now Over!

Garry and Erika welcomed a beautiful baby girl to the world on Dec 7th 2009.  Her name is Audrey Maria Elgear, she weighed in at 7lbs 12 oz and was 22 inches long.  Mom Dad and the baby are all doing well and thank everyone for their well wishes.  Garry will be back in the store Dec 16.

Riverside Fly and Tackles 5th Annual Sturgeon Derby 09

Garry and the rest of the staff at Riverside would like to thank everyone who turned up for our 5th annual Sturgeon Derby.  The derby went really well even if the Sturgeon did end up being a little tight lipped.  This year was probably the biggest increase in competitors we have seen in our short history.  Last year there was 68 rods entered and about 20 boats in the derby and this year it swelled to 121 rods entered and 38 boats registered.  First place was taken with a 88 inch (7′4″) Sturgeon by Mike Cox, netting him $2300.00.  Second place was taken by Ted Merrilatt with a 84 3/4″ fish, and for that he took home a Shimano Tyrnos 20.  Wade Gienow managed to land the most fish in the derby by measuring in over 280 inches of fish, and for that his boat took home $590.00.  We are already planning for next years event and look forward to seeing you all again.  We would also like to thank all our sponsors who donated prizes for the event.  Mike Mitchell  and BC Outdoors for their donation of a beautiful limited edition BC Outdoors  9 foot 6 weight fly rod, and for all Mikes help being a Marshall  at the derby.  Amundson Outdoor for the generous donation of 2 of their 8 foot Sturgeon rods.  Kufa for their donation of a Sturgeon Stik.  Redl Sports for their donation of a Trophy XL Wading Jacket.  Superfly for their donation of a Superfly deluxe fly vest and Seapro Distribution for the Quantum Big  Cat.

Garry’s Own Fresh Cured Roe Now Available

                                                                

 

Garry has just finished curing his own batch of roe,and it’s now available in the shop.  These are his own recipes perfected over the years and tested thoroughly on our local rivers.   This stuff doesn’t last long, guys who have fished it before tend to grab a bunch because it’s a proven producer of fish.  Garry’s done up his 5 favorites and they are, BC Orange, Hot Pink, Orange, Natural Garlic, and Natural.  Come get some before it’s all gone!

Riverside Fly & Tackle Annual Sturgeon Derby 2009

 

Join Riverside for our Sturgeon Derby.  The entrance fee is $30.00 per rod.  The derby borders will be between Whonnock dock and the Mission Bridge.  As with last year we will meet at Duncan Bar at 8:30 am.  We will assign boat numbers at that time and draw numbers for the order of people leaving the beach.  We will also be giving out the phone numbers to contact once you have a fish on.  When you get a fish call in a marshall to come verify the fish.  Only call if you think the fish is over 4 feet.  We don’t want to be measuring a bunch of little guys and miss the oppurtunity to measure a big one, plus a fish under four feet definitely won’t be taking the money prize.  The derby will be over at 3pm.  Any fish to be measured must be called in no later than 3 pm, and no fish not landed by 4 pm will be entered, so if you have a big one work him hard and quick.  We will be once again meeting at Mission Springs Pub at 5pm to hand out prizes and cash to the winners, Mission Springs has told me they will have extra staff on hand to handle the orders, not to worry.    If you plan on going to the pub before 5 pm please let us know.  For any other questions please call (604-944-2479)  and to sign up come see us in the shop.

Carp Fishing in BC

Two weeks prior to writing this article I was chasing beautiful, silver Caribbean bonefish with my fishing partner Mike.  Mike’s a game fishing partner, always up to a new challenge.  Chasing these streamline spooky critters is no easy task.  Casts must be accurate and sneaking up on them is nearly impossible.  Once you get your cast out, you have fierce winds to deal with.  Now, you’re probably wondering why you are reading a bonefish article in a BC Outdoors magazine.  Well you’re not.  Even though I love cruising the flats of the Caribbean and chasing bonefish for a week or two out of the year, what it really gets me psyched for is the upcoming carp fishing season.  You are probably now thinking “that Garry has fallen completely of his dock now”.  Well, I almost have as I am currently sitting on it right now stringing up my rod and watching all the nervous water in front of me.  It’s mid February, low water and weather has warmed up a bit the past few days.  I can see the carp nervously feeding close to my strategically placed bird feeder.  At this point you have probably completely stopped reading altogether or you are curious about what the fuss is all about.  Well carp fishing is as close to bonefishing as you’ll ever get in BC.  The only difference between the two is you can turn a bonefish and the fight will last two to five minutes.  Good luck turning a carp with those big, broad shoulders and powerful tails.  Maybe with a 12wt you could.  I prefer to use a 7wt fly rod.  For line, I use RIO Outbound.  With this line I’m able to pound long casts in the wind.  I use long leaders, from 12 to 15 feet.  Lines can either be floating or a clear sink tip.  The outbound lines consist of have a welded loop on the end which lets you change your sinking tip quickly and easily.  RIO offers a huge variety of tips in either 7 or 12 foot sections.  These tips start at a sink rate of 1.5 inches per second, which is clear, all the way up to 7 inches per second.  Price ranges start at about $8.00 for a seven foot section up to $17.00 for a twelve foot section.  Now one doesn’t have to break the bank and buy a whole new line and spool set up to change their application.  It’s as simple as looping on a new tip or removing it to go back to a full floating line.  My usual choice is a floating line tapered down to a fluorocarbon tippet around 2X strong.

In my previous article, I briefly touch base in rod and reel choices for fly and conventional outfits.  Today I would like to get a little bit more down and dirty.  The nervous water that I mentioned earlier can be distinguished by visible ripples and V indentations that the carp leave in the shallow water.  One must utilize polarized glasses to see in the water.  Not every day is sunny like we would like, so overcast days can be frustrating for sight fishing.  Now if you think you have spotted this nervous water, watch if the direction is stationary or on the move, because now you must read in which direction the carp are moving and place your cast.  For beginner casters, place your cast right at the mark, for your accuracy probably hasn’t developed yet.  For advanced casters, place your cast ahead of the carp, on either the left or right side, in the direction it’s moving to.  Carp use a lateral line that helps them to detect noise and trust me, they’ll hear you tromp through the water.  One must think and wade like the great blue heron.  Now that you’re cast has landed and you haven’t spooked your fish, begin the retrieve.  If you have cast too far, but the fly is in the direction that the carp are moving to, have no fear and don’t pick up the cast.  Let it sit and wait.  When they’re closing in, start your retrieve with 4 to 8 inch strips at a medium pace.  When you’ve hooked up and feel the line tighten, don’t set the hook as you would for bass.  You want to perform a strip set.  This is when you strip the line in with your rod tip straight and parallel to the water, gaining tension on the fish.  The carp will let you know when it’s time to lift the rod tip, for you’ll see your line peeling through your hands, possibly leaving you with a good burn.  Carp will peel all your line including most of your backing.  Not just once, but consecutive times.  My longest battle probably lasted half an hour with me running back to my boat and my fishing partner chasing it with the gas motor on ¾ tilt.

Boats are a huge advantage when carp fishing.  The number one advantage is that you are higher.  My John boat is a perfect setup and I’ve made it as close to a Panga as possible.  Panga’s are flats boats used in most destinations when fishing the flats.  A standing platform that allows me to see farther gives me the advantage in finding, cruising or tailing carp.  If you see tailing carp, this is a carp fishers dream.  These fish are actively feeding.  Head down, tail up, that’s the way I like to chuck, with the fly landing a foot to the left or right.  Ninety-nine percent of the time it’s fish on.  To help my boat in its propulsion, I use an electric motor.  Never use a gas motor when cruising the carp flats.  I will also use a pole to aid me in moving my boat and to keep it’s placing when in high wind.  On the front of my boat, I have a standing platform.  This allows my fishing partners an even more stable platform to cast and fight the fish.

As far as times to fish for carp, you can fish all year long.  The optimum times to fish is when the water temperature reaches 65 degrees.  As early as April, you can see very active fish.  These fish are spawning.  Usually you will see the splashing about.  These fish will not take the fly, not even bait.  During spawn, it’s almost impossible to get them to feed.  In early spring during pre-spawn, they will take fly or bait very readily.  My favourite time to fish for them is during the warm summer months with shorts and t-shirts a must.  Wet wading is one of my favourite things to do but getting out of the boat is usually fairly mucky business.  The places I like to fish have rich sediment.  Usually when you step in you are up to your knees in mud, but this is where the carp like to feed as high levels of aquatic insects are present.  Bugs such as bloodworms, dragons and damsels hang out in these areas.   Don’t overlook rocky areas because crayfish hangout amongst the rocks and are one of the carps favourite foods.  Quite often, you can see the carp rooting around for these delicacies.  This is referred to as tailing or mudding carp.  When these signs are apparent, my fly selection consists of crayfish, leeches and my own creation, the swamp donkey.

I previously suggested shallow water when searching for carp.  Carp is found in all depths of water, however shallow water makes it easier to spot and fly fish for them.  When fishing deep water, I prefer conventional gear.  Rods such as Shimano’s Nexave in 12ft with a 2 ½ pound curve are the rod of choice.  I use a spinning reel with bait running capabilities.  The reel I use is an Okuma Avenger with the bait runner option.  With this gear, I can now target fish effectively in three water zones.  The bottom being the most popular and the one I prefer to fish.  Mid-level waters can be fished using float setups and the surface usually being the least preferred.  When fishing the bottom, I like to use boilies.  If you read my previous article on carp fishing in BC Outdoors, I give numerous amounts of recipes and store bought baits which you can use.  In Europe, these baits have been perfected, as well as the riggings.  Their fish have been much pounded and as a result, are very wise.  Our fish are less educated with less fishing pressure.  A simple rigging I use to attach my boilie is called a hair rig.  A carps’ mouth is very sensitive and able to detect a hook so I rig it with a very thin braid past the hook and I tie a loop onto the end of the section extruding 3 inches past the hook.  With a needle, I thread the braid through the boilie, sometimes up to three of them, and they all but up to a stock of grass that I place into the loop.  This stops the boilies from sliding off.  During certain times of year, I will scent my boilies to give added attraction.  I prefer Pro-Cure corn scent or crayfish attractant.  The carp have a pair of fleshy barbels attached to their face.  These appendages are sensitive to certain scents.  This is why I use all the help I can get.  In British Columbia, it is illegal to chum the water.  This is why I selected certain spots to place bird feeders.  By placing bird feeders on the carp’s game trail, you can kill two birds with one stone.  The birds bring an ambiance to your fishing day and for me it brings great pleasure to my surroundings.  Just remember to always supply bird feed all year round and mix the same feed into your boilies.

Carp fishing can be very productive in deeper water and by using conventional setups such as floats to target them, you can increase your hook ups.  Not every float works the same and there are many different varieties.  I prefer a waggler style float or a wirestem small balsa float.  These types are specifically designed for carp.  Their sensitivity is far superior to anything out in our market.  To decide which float to use you must determine how much weight you want to use in conjunction with your rigging.   I prefer small split shots in size 7 and add accordingly to load my float.  I will adjust my float to the desired depth with the aid of float stops, with DNE or Drennan float stops being the best in my opinion.  They are installed simply by threading your main line through their built in threader onto the line itself.  One is able to adjust the float to its proper depth.  People always ask me what depth to adjust to but this is a difficult question to answer as every piece of water is different in depth and where the fish are travelling.  The key is trial and error.  To join your main line to the leader I always use a #12 Kodiak 2 way swivel.  My leader is always fluorocarbon in a 3’ length.  The thinner the leader the better.  Try a leader in 8lb breaking strength and as thin as 3X in diameter.  For hooks I use a DNE barbless in size 6.  The best baits to use when float fishing are maggots, kernel corn (green giant) and multigrain bagels.  I apply a scent to all of these.

Surface fishing is not as readily performed but can be quite successful.  Carp feeding on the surface can get ones heart pounding.  Carp feeding on the surface is known as schmucking.  The name originates from the sound they make when they come up for the food.  They feed on floating berries, bugs during season and even cotton during the spring from the cottonwood trees.  The rigging for surface fishing is done by setting the weight on the end of your line.  This weight is known as a bomb.  The float to us is a center slider.  Thill makes an awesome float for this presentation, which should be placed between your bait and bomb.  To stop your float from moving, a float stop is placed above it.  Between the rod which will be placed high in the rod holder and the float, you will have a sliding rig placed on the line.  To do this, it’s fairly simple.  I use a #12 rolling swivel, attached to a leader and hook, which hangs my bait above the water.  This rig slides up and down between two float stops and beads so that the rig bottoms from top and bottom while suspending the bait on the surface of the water.  For bait selection, use what’s in season – salmon berries, black berries and even bread, especially when people are feeding ducks.  For up close casting, eliminate the float because the carp will become wise to the danger that this float represents.

Whether you use the fly or conventional gear, I believe carp to be a whole other great fishery.  Try some of these techniques and I hope you enjoy.

Fly Recipe – The Swamp Donkey

Hook:  Mustad C53S

Eyes:  black plastic medium

Tail:  olive rabbit

Ribbing:  chartreuse uniyarn

Body:  olive polar dubbing

Throat:  olive rabbit

Legs:  chartreuse zebra legs

Head:  olive polar dubbing

Thread:  chartreuse unithread 6/0

Fishing Gods Land

Hello and welcome to all you fellow fishing dudes around the world.

I had a phone call on Friday 7th August from a fishing buddy by the name of Les (otherwise known as umbrella man). Les asked if I wanted to go to a lake called Silver Lake, I asked where it was ? and Les replied near to Hope in the Skagit Valley . Well I am not kidding you when I say that the hairs on the back of my neck started to stand up, my heart beat raised a little and the memories of my last trip to “GODS LAND” and indeed my first trip back on Canada Day (we like to call it Fishing Day) all came flooding back . There is a magical lure to this little gem tucked away at the back end of the Fraser Valley, it truly is paradise. So we agreed to meet up at Les’s house at 1pm for an afternoon sortie on some hopefully obliging trout.

So with all the gear crammed into Les’s car and not forgetting the superb little one man pontoon boats (yes indeed umbrella man has 2 of these, how very handy) we set off heading east.  Some very fine conversation was had on route in what can only be described as license looser of a car, a Magnum R/T Hemi, wow the white knuckle experience, yehaaaa!!!.

We took the back route to hope on highway 7, and when you get past Mission the valley becomes very pleasing to the eye as the rat race of the lower mainland gets left behind.   So with bellies laden with beef jerky we are approaching the lake up a very nice back road an then the tarmac ends and we are on a very well kept logging road made up of gravel with the Silver Creek on our right side. We stopped to have a look at a few pools, we spotted fish in these pools but decided not to fish them as you all know we may have never made the lake.

We entered the Silver Lake Park and it all hit me at once 99 acres of crystal clear waters and a mountain back drop and setting to put a tear in the eye of the most hardened Victorian gentleman.  I have only lived in British Columbia  with my good lady wife and 3 children for 11 months, but we are so glad we made that move from the UK last September.

If you are contemplating a trip to Canada then stop contemplating and book that flight right now,  just the way we did 4 years ago.  Remember BC is the world capitol for all out door sports bar none, and if you hunt, shoot and fish then look no further .

So we set up the pontoon boats in proper military style (umbrella man has a certain style about him) and in no time we were ready for the water, well Les was, I can’t row to save my life!, I am so glad the lake was almost deserted as I  was so embarrassing, you have to remember the fishing in the UK is a little different, we have little streams and well manicured put and take lakes where its designed not to get a toe wet!.

As the afternoon went on I became bloody fantastic at rowing, even the 2 families of otters came out to cheer me on, one came within spitting distance of me and was squeaking at me, I think in otter language it was “hello mate, nice bit of rowing for a limey, got any spare fish for me”!!!!!.

So I dropped anchor in around 18 feet of water amongst some dead heads (old trees) and began targeting the “bows” with as near as  damn it dry fly, bang first cast a little cracker of around 12 inches. I had scores of fish all around me hitting the surface blasting at the hatch coming off.  I was using an Amundson 8 feet  5wt rod (my Skagit Valley rod)  matched to a 5wt pale green floating line, 10 feet of 3.2lbs mono tippet and an English tied emerging brown gnat. The action was fast and furious with strike after strike at my little barbless gnat pattern (very strict rule in BC, barbless hooks only) the rangers who are armed and do patrol even the most remote waterways were present and were checking all fisherman, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!.

Well I ended up with a good haul of “bows” and all put back unharmed as Silver Lake and the creek is catch and release only, how very nice and English, it doesn’t have to be a “meat fest” all the time!.

Well I was wondering where the hell Umbrella Man was, had he sunk?, had he gone to the pub?, had he been abducted by banjo playing, moonshine drinking hillbillies?, no he was now rowing with great style and speed towards me. Have I got a story to tell you said the huffing and puffing Hemi driver, I’ve been doing battle with a “hog” of a fish 28 to 30 inches long!.

Well Les actually had the fish in his hand, but in 20 feet of water and a girls hand bag of a net to land a fish of that size he had slim chance.  You may have guest it, my fishing buddy had hooked a lunker truot, but not his first, Les had hooked and fought battle with 2 other leviathans of the deep the week before, and in the same spot. I can’t believe the silly sod was not geared and ready for a “hog”, perhaps next time will be better luck.

Well we had a fabulous time in “GODS LAND” and I can’t wait to return to paradise in the very near future. I would like to thank my buddy Les for chauffeuring me to and from the venue at the speed of light, and I will return the favour in my not so fast pick up.

I would like to say that all the staff at RIVERSIDE FLY & TACKLE are a great bunch indeed and its been a pleasure to have been invited out with Gary Elgear (owner and expert guide) and Christian Somogyi (store manager and expert guide). The staff and regular customer base are very kind and knowledgeable and all are willing to give advise, so if you want to go out on a guided trip, then you should be in very safe hands with this bunch of avid fishers.   Kind regards to all of you fellow people, and tight lines.

Adam J Lane.

Next Page »