Spent the weekend fishing one of my favourite lakes. Although fish were small, over a period of 3.5 hours we managed to catch 42 rainbows on micro leeches in green with orange beads and vampire leeches.
Cool temperatures brought some snow to the mountains just above us. Although it started off in a downpour, the weather turned out great.
Ended the weekend hitting a winery called Fort Baren’s and having dinner at Hop Creek Farms along with a visit to see my buddy Burt.
Headed out with some buddies to catch some fall Cariboo bows this last weekend. Over four days hit four different lakes. Although weather was warmer than usual we still managed to tie into some big bows.
Largest bow for me was 26 inches long and all caught on leeches and boobies.
For myself, large black intruder flies, olive green cone heads and large vampire leeches caught most of my fish with some landed on tequila and watermelon colour boobies.
Always a big thank u to my friends in the Cariboo for hosting us.
Headed out with some buddies to catch some fall Cariboo bows this last weekend. Over four days hit four different lakes. Although weather was warmer than usual we still managed to tie into some big bows.
Largest now for me was 26 inches long and all caught on leeches and boobies.
For myself, large black intruder flies, olive green cone heads and large vampire leeches caught most of my fish with some landed on tequila and watermelon colour boobies.
Always a big thank u to my friends in the Cariboo for hosting us.
Not much needs to be said when u spend 8 days in the Cariboo fly fishing and hanging out with good buddies and staying at a place hosted by good people.
This year four guys stayed the entire 8 days and two guys came for the first four and two guys came for the last four days.
Over the eight days we hit the river twice and each of our favourite lakes twice with the exception of the mid transition day when some guys went to a lake and three of us hit the mid river.
This year lakes and rivers produced large rainbows. In the lakes we saw bows as large as 6.7lbs and this year one of the guys enticed a large bow to smack a large hopper in the shallows. I was right there when it happened and this was the largest bow I have seen on the river estimating it at 5-6 lbs. Unfortunately it snapped off but I got to see it take air four times within a few feet of where I was floating.
Although fortunate that this year we didn’t have any fires near us, due to other fires at 70 and 140 mile the air quality sucked. What was really nice was we didn’t have any super hot days but rather overcast and partial rain which made for nice moderate summer temperature.
Top highlights this year:
Love getting out and practicing my Czech nymphing fly fishing technique.
Today I landed a nice bow but buddy hooked into two steelies. Got to love the chrome!
Hit another flow and got into some nice rainbows and whitefish as well.
Good times.
So excited to report that after years of Flyfishing still water I have finally landed my personal best Bow in the double digits.
May long is usually the weekend I get to fly fish with some buddies up in 70-108 mile house. This trip we hit the usual lakes plus a new one one.
Overall fishing was slow in some lakes and decent in other lakes.
Weather started off with some snow but ended up being pretty decent for the five days we fished up in the Cariboo.
The cool part about my PB trout is that I caught it on a size 20 pheasant tail.
This slab hit right beside the boat in six feet of water. After the indicator went down the line ripped out almost taking all my backing on my 4 weight rod. When the slab stopped running I was able to start reeling in as the bow started to swim towards the boat. Commenting to my buddy that it feels like a three pounder we quickly realized that this was not the case but in fact a 11lb 14 ounce slab.
Always enjoy fishing with this crew on this weekend. Already looking forward to next year.
Lac La Jeune Resort hosted our annual derby this year hosting 27 fly fishermen for this years event.
Although fishing was generally slower for everyone, some decent fish were weighed in.
This year Matsumura won landing a 4lb 22 ounce rainbow trolling a micro black vampire leech behind his boat. I was able to secure second place (3 lb 14 oz) with an indicator fish caught on a small green and black chironomid and Sean came in third place landing a 2.9 lb bow under an indicator with the cherry cola leech.
A big thank you to the guys who came out and joined the derby. Although the derby is the excuse to come together, this trip is really about bringing a group of fly fishermen together to relax and learn.
Fyi although this was advertised as the 27th year…..after redoing the trophy labels it was discovered that actually this is the 26th year! Since we started in 1998 and we didn’t hold the derby for two years….means that 2030 will be our 30th!
Well it has been a long time since I have tapped into a steelhead. Although not the nicest looking steelhead it was sure great to hook into it and bring it in with a 10ft 4wgt rod.
We only fished a few hours but between the two of us we managed to land two steelies, two rainbows and a bunch of whitefish .
Amazing day and marks the 6 fishing day of 2026.
Winter fishing withdrawal is a thing especially when warmer than usual temperatures arrive in late February!
Last weekend headed out with a buddy to the Squamish River to practice my Czech Nymphing technique.
The weather was amazing with plus 10 degree temperature, no wind, blue bird skies and although there was a lot of traffic we managed to find a long stretch of good water to wet our lines.
Nothing beats the first few casts after hibernating over the winter. Yes winter is a time for tying flies, watching fly fishing videos with your buddies and if you are lucky…fish somewhere hot and tropical but when I toss your first cast after this long winter stretch one feels nothing but happiness because this marks the start of another season.
One of the perks about finding untouched water in a high pressure system is that you have to walk a lot which also targets the other goal which is to get off my ass and walk more.
We managed to find some amazing water at our first stop. After a few holes on the stretch I switched from an egg pattern to a small white streamer pattern. Not long after switching my fly drifted back to the shore line after crossing a deep cut bank when I felt a tug. Thinking it was a snag I pulled but then it started to pull back. Unlike some strikes this one was a gradual tug but quickly realized it was a possible bull trout by the way it was fighting.
Landing the fish and getting the beautiful landscape in the background was fantastic.
Although we didn’t land another fish that day we managed to do a lot of exploring and ended the day visiting my buddy Burt’s new food truck and brewery called Hop Creek Farm. If u haven’t been it’s a must! Best beef brisket ever!
Now that lake fishing has finished for the year it’s time to shift to moving water. Yesterday’s sturgeon trip turned into a personal best for largest sturgeon caught in the lower river for my boat measuring in at 7.4ft long. But not just long .:::this fish was thick.
It took all three guys to rotate reeling in this bad boy. At the end of the day me landed 4 but went through a lot of bait and after the last fish bit so softly….we were left wondering how many sturgeon we might have missed!
Nevertheless…..it was another great day on the water and look forward to getting some more in before the end of 2025!
