What to look for in a fishing guide.

What do you look for in a fishing guide? I have started my own guiding company, but this blog is not for the promotion of my company, just for the information for those looking for a guide.

1- Look for a guide that has experience on the water you are wanting to fish. This means do not hire a guide to take you into a river for Steelhead if he/she only fishes lakes etc…

2-Find a guide or guiding company that will design a fishing trip to you specific wants and needs.

3-You need to look for value, this does not mean you should go cheap all this means is that you should look into a few different companys to find the right package for you at the right price.

4-Find out what is included in the fishing package and compare. Some guides will only do a set trip, others will develop a trip around you. This is very important as you will feel ripped off if you don’t get what you thought you would.

5-Some guides will only include the actual fishing portion of your trip, others like myself will include airfare,transportation, lodgging, and meals if this is requested.

6- Find out what is included when it comes to fishing gear, some will include all gear and equipment some will not, make sure you do your homework.

Good luck with finding a guide and make sure you are happy with the guide you have picked out. Most guided trips are not cheap and alot of people will only do 1 or 2 guided trips in their life so be certian of your choice,(Do Your Homework)

Another Great Blog

I just found a great blog for those of you in BC and for those who want to come to BC to fish.
Check it out at.
http://www.best-in-british-columbia.com/british-columbia-vacations-blog.html

Tight lines and fun times

Opax FlyFishing.

Check out this blog. I have been reading his blog for some time now and have found it to be fun and informative. http://opax-flyfishing.blogspot.com/

His style of writing keeps you interested in what he has to say and his knowledge seems quite good when it comes to FlyFishing.

Another great blog which i read on a regular basis and have found informative is Tamanawis.
http://tamanawis.blogspot.com/

Check these two blogs out they are worth the time and are fun and informative.

Tight lines&Fun Times

Sturgeon Fishing in the Fraser River.

Sturgeon are large pre-historic looking Fish that are found in many rivers and some lakes throughout the world. These are very slow growing fish that can reach enormous sizes.

http://www.bcfisheries.gov.bc.ca/fishhabitats/Sturgeon/Sturgeon.htmbc.ca/fishhabitats/Sturgeon/Sturgeon.htm

These fish are great fighters and will challenge the most seasoned fisherman. The best way to fish for these monsters is to send down a weight followed by a short heavy leader with a large special hook. The choice of bait depends on the time of year, if it is during the salmon run season, the bait of choice is fresh Roe of the salmon that is running at the time. So if the run is sockeye the best bait to use is FRESH Sockeye roe. I have tried to use frozen or a few day old roe and have found it much less successful. I always try to go out in the morning and catch a fresh salmon and use the roe for Sturgeon fishing. It can be a little boring to go Sturgeon fishing because you are basically bottom fishing, so all you do is find a good hole to fish, anchor and drop your line and wait.

The largest Sturgeon to ever be caught was caught in the fraser river in 1976. The fish was caught on a rod/reel and weighed in at a whopping 1435lbs.

The bite is usually very small and subtle and you must let the fish suck in the bait before setting the hook. Once you have set the hook and it is one of any size get ready for the fight of your life.

In the off season for salmon the bait of choice is eulachons.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Smelt.htm

These are also called candle fish because they can be dried and lit on fire like a candle.

Another bait to use is called stink bait, yes stink bait. What is stink bait you ask, Rotten fish. We usually go to shore to pick up dead stinky fish that have already spawned.

There is also another bait to use but you will need to check local regulations to see if they are legal they are called ditch eels. As far as I know they are not legal in BC, But check the local regs.

Sturgeon like to follow the salmon and they will gorge themselves on dead fish and roe, so if you are trying for them in the later part of the salmon run season you may run into nothing but stuffed fish.

Good luck and hold on tight.

Tight lines and fun times

Pinks on the fly

PINKS on the fly Are a blast. I have had some of my best days fishing when targeting these small and powerful salmon. For more on pinks http://cybersalmon.fws.gov/pink.htm

The rod of choice for pink fishing on the fly is a 9′ 8-10 weight. I use a floating line with a sinking tip, the rate of sink I use depends on the depth of water and the speed of the current.

I have tried many different flies for catching these fish but have found one fly in particular works the best. I don’t have a picture of it but i’ll try to explain it.

The fly is on the small size for salmon, it is tied on a size 6-8 streamer hook, it is made of pink and silver tinsil with a pink weighted head that’s it nothing more to this fly.

Other good flies are:

Starlight pink leech

Kenai Special

Popsicle

Pollywog

I have found when using these flies for these fish in the river systems of BC, you will need to do a fast strip. I have tried slow, medium and fast strips and have found that the fast strip out fishes the others by at least 10 times.

As the pinks only run every second year, if you are fishing for these fiesty fish you will have a good day as long as you can locate them. To find them just keep an eye on the surface of the river you are fishing, if you don’t see them more than likely they are not there, at least not in large numbers.

I almost always go to a river mouth to fish for Pinks. In the local waters i go to the mouth of the vedder where it flows into the Fraser river. This area is very shallow and clear, this way you can see the fish as they cruise through. These fish fight hard so make sure you have plenty of line on your fly reel and make sure your backing is tied down. I have had pinks take me 3/4 of the way through my backing so be ready.

The upcomming year is a pink year so get ready to have some fun.

Good luck
Tight lines and fun times.

Lake Trout.

This blog will not be a typical blog for myself. This is more of a question for the people reading this.

What i would like to know from all of you is, does anyone know where to catch some Lakers in B.C, Canada.
I Know there are lakers in Okanagen lake and in Kalamalka lake but i have had a few people ask me about this in the last few days so i thought i would throw it out to all of you.

Please leave a comment if you have any info on where to catch these beasts

Tight lines and fun times