Posted on April 15 2015
Exploratory Steelhead in British Columbia Part 2
Okay, here we go with the fish pix. As guests of our friend Will (who
also kindly took these photos), and the Heiltsuk First Nation, Yvon and
I knew there was some self-imposed pressure on our hosts. No matter how
much we told them we were just happy to be there to experience the
place (and we were), I think anyone who invites fishermen to their home
waters wants to show them how good it can be. We were more than happy to
oblige, and fortunately, the steelhead were as well. That’s Yvon taking
some pressure off Will by putting the pressure on our first fish.
The fish we found were mostly in pools that don’t even exist on a high
tide. Instead of long, meandering, silt-bottomed tidal pools, these
rivers are filled with great structure and big rocks in tidewater. When
the tide recedes, the pools reveal themselves, along with some very
aggressive fish. Not a lot, but enough to reload the good water, and
with nobody else fishing, we were able to take full advantage.
Another interesting discovery is that the fish, from chrome bright to
slightly colored, were all coming in on the tides. I think this is a
factor of how little time coastal spring fish can spend in
freshwater–some of them are ready to roll the minute they come in. Every
fish pictured here had sea lice, regardless of color or maturity.
While Yvon was old-schooling ’em with floating line and tiny comet (at
one point, as the tide filled a pool and the current quit, he went full
Bill Schaadt with a shooting head and slow-strip retrieve to hook a fish
after I’d quit), I followed up swinging a bit of a sink-tip and joined
the fun.
And then, we were back to work, hoping the tide had brought in more
shiny presents. Awesome. Stay tuned for more from the BC Coast…
original content Dylan Tomine
photo Will