Winter arrived again in kamloops, -14C this morning!!  Cross country skiing has been great but we are certainly not getting too much closer to spring ice off on the local lakes.  I have a few speaking engagements coming up in the next 2 months and then it is time to go fishing.  I will be presenting at the Fraser Valley Boat & Sportsman’s Show in Abbotsford, BC form March 2 – 4.  At 4:30 Pm on Friday I will be giving a free talk on the Biology of Productive Trout Lakes and at 10 AM on the Saturday will be covering Fall Stillwater Tactics, both presentations are in the seminar room to your left just as you enter the Tradex building. I will also be doing tying demonstrations at 2 … Read entire article »

My last day on the lakes this season was on Nov 10th. It was actually not that cold but still cool enough for me to bring “Big Red” out of the closet, my heavy duty down jacket that makes me look like the Michelin Man!! Whatever makes it comfortable to get the last few days on the water before freezeup. We went to Stump lake and it was windy so it confined us to fishing a couple of the side bays that are fishable even in a strong southeast wind. It was a great few hours on the water, catching some very nice rainbows on small leeches suspended under an indicator. Here is one of the fish caught and released that day. Time to put the boat away until next … Read entire article »

It’s time to catch up on my blog after a very hectic season of guiding, fliming TV shows and seminars. Our fall season is coming to an end as ice is forming on many lower elevation lakes. This was a very unusual fishing year on the lakes around Kamloops and I suspect on lakes throughout the interior of BC and perhaps into Alberta and eastern Washington. We started out with a late ice off, followed by a cold and windy spring. I did not experience great chironomid fishing this past spring. What was typical were light emergences and short bites versus what we normally experince : extended emergences lasting several or more hours plus equally long bite periods. Summer arrived in early August and went … Read entire article »

The fly fishing at Wellesley Lake was as good as expected during my recent trip during the 3rd week of June.  The ice had been off for about 8 days and already the vast shoal areas were warming up to 52F to 56 F.  Perfect for chironomid hatches.  Heavy emergences provided superb pupal fishing for lake trout and lake whitefish in shallow water.  Much of our chironomid fishing was done in water less than 10 feet … Read entire article »

During the second week of May I spent a couple days filming episodesof BC Outdoors Sportfishing with host Mike Mitchell.  The goal of these shows was to feature early spring fly fishing tactics on productive stillwaters.  Day 1 was spent on Six Mile lake located approx. 30 km west of Kamloops.  This low elevation lake is situated in the rolling grassland, sagebrush country that surrounds the greater kamloops area.  We caught a good number of fish on micro leeches and very small (#18) chironomid pupa.  The majority of fish we caught were in the 1.5 to 2 pound size range.  We had some good discussions on early spring tactics that are applicable to any western stillwater. Day 2 saw us on my favourite lake, Roche.  This is an incredibly productive waterbody and … Read entire article »

It has been a really cold and windy spring and ice off is quite late when compared to recent years.  In the Kamloops area we have only a handful of waters to fish but within the next 10 t0 14 days we will have a lot of lakes becoming ice free.  We are finally seeing some good chironomid emergences on lakes like 6 Mile, Morgan and White.  The bugs are small, often best imitated with #18 pupal patterns.  I have been tying #18 bodies on # 16 hooks as the slightly bigger hook size is stronger and less susceptable to bending or straightening on a bigger fish.  We are definitely in very early spring mode and really rushing the fishing but it is hard to stay off the water after … Read entire article »

In early April I had the opportunity to spend a week fly fishing in Cuba with the boys from Sport Fishing on the Fly TV Show and other great guests.  We had a great time spending 6tdays on a big boat that moved during the week.  We fished a lot of good water for bonefish, tarpon and permit.  I am now hooked on tarpon fishing!!  Those fish pull but I am worried about the first few trout I set the hook on this spring!!  This is definitely a trip I will do again. It was great to get away while the local lakes are still frozen.  Here a few images of the fish and fishing action.  … Read entire article »

I often get asked about seminars I am conducting each fishing season. Here is the rundown of what I have on the books for now. May 27-29 will see Kathy Ruddick and I at our annual spring school at Stoney Lake Lodge on Douglas Lake Ranch. This is a great weekend of learning aimed at beginner to intermediate level anglers. It is an ideal location for couples as well. Kathy and I will cover a wide variety of topics during our classroom sessions. You will learn about lake biology, seasons of a lake, trout food sources, fishing tactics, knots, basic equipment selection, fly casting instruction and lots of time on Stoney and/or Minnie lakes to practice what has been taught. There should be some … Read entire article »

It’s early Feb and definitely time to spend time at the vice. I always start by replenishing my stock of chironomid pupa. Despite probably having literally thousands of pupal patterns there are always new colour combinations, sizes to tie. Much of the tying ideas come from looking at the real bugs that have been sampled through the use of a throat pump. Here are some images of live pupa to give you some ideas of how diverse they are in terms of colour and size. Time to get back to the vice, Good luck with your tying!! … Read entire article »

Over the past couple years I have been learning how to cast the spey rod with the intention of fishing it for steelhead, salmon and trout on some of the larger rivers in BC. This has been a lot of fun mixed with enough frustration to keep me coming back for more. I must thank Brian Niska from Whistler Flyfishing who spent a day introducing me to the game and getting me pointed in the right direction. From then on I had the bug. Learning the various casts, what lines work with what rod etc. I have been able to make 2 trips to the Skeena River area during steelhead season and have hooked enough fish to know that I should have started fishing this … Read entire article »