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IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:
Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com
Salmon
fishing in Canada – on the cheap!
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Two at a time on the Quinsome river. Where to go |
Our November 2001 contribution from Rufus
The Mission – Rufus and Jester to catch as many salmon as possible for as little money as possible.
The Result – over 120 salmon in 12 days of fishing for just £1200 each, all in.
There is no finer salmon fishing anywhere in the world. Canada has it and Campbell River is the self proclaimed Salmon Capital of the world. So that’s where we went.
We were fishing the east coast of Vancouver Island around the regions of Courtenay, Comox Valley and Campbell River. Based with friends in Courtenay, (Big thanks to Rob and Audrey for the great hospitality) which is perfectly situated in the middle of the Island and 10-30 minutes drive to the best Salmon fishing possible. Vancouver Island has an annual salmon run of roughly 15 million fish. The East coast gets more than it’s fair share of them. They tend to be a little smaller than the west coast fish with Coho an average of 6-8lb.
The West coast fish average 8-10 lbs. The salmon grow big here and this year fish of 82 and 83 lbs were caught on the west coast!
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What to choose
Firstly we had to choose a salmon to fish for. With five species to target, we wanted to catch a more than a few with fly rods so we decided to go the last two weeks of September which is the end of the Pink run and the beginning of the Coho. Pinks are a beautiful fish and develop a huge hump on their backs when their minds turn to those sexy female fins. They average 3-11 lbs and fight like the devil. They amass off the beaches in the millions and will take any pink fly you throw at them (which is handy). Unfortunately we landed just as the last Pink had moved into the Love Zone or Rivers as they are otherwise called.
But all was not lost as the Coho run had just started and they fight like the Devil on steroids compared to Pinks. Coho have a definite identity crisis and I’m sure they are descended from Birds. Once hooked, they spend half of the fight flinging themselves into the air, doing loop the loops and tail walking. Add in the four or five 60 yard runs and you have a very nice way of spending the afternoon. They average 4-10 lbs with fish up to 18lb common. If you fancy something bigger, you can splash out on a boat and go for Springs, which average somewhere around 20-70 lbs with fish over 50 lbs regularly caught.
The time frame for each species is roughly as follows. Chinook and Sockeye start about July and can run up to the end of August/September. This is followed by the Pinks, which run Middle of August to middle of September. This is in turn followed by Coho, which run from the middle of September into December.
These are a general guide and each year each species may vary by up to a couple of weeks. These times are for Beach fishing and the fish are all still there in the rivers after the times above and can be caught. The various species have different return cycles too, which makes things even more confusing.
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in Canada. |
What to take
Equipment needed would include a 7/8 wt 9-10ft fly rod and a saltwater proof reel that holds at least 150 yards of backing. A good drag is a bonus as these fish are off like torpedoes once hooked. A Float tube and neoprene waders are required to save you pulling your hair out. Canadian salmon have the uncanny knack of jumping just out of your casting range no matter how far you can cast. It drove us crazy and by the second day we were in the local tackle dealers splashing out £60 each on one. We probably caught 400% more by having it so it was money well spent. You will need tape for your fingers as the skin soon disappears from your stripping fingers from hauling, stripping and running fish. We found Elastoplast’s ‘Shear’ in the green and white box, to be the best and it lasted all day.
The only line to use is a sink tip. It’s amazing that a line can make so much difference. The line retrieves the fly 12” under the surface but can be recast at any time for jumping fish. It can also be stripped back and left on the surface ready for recasting unlike an intermediate, which sinks.
Flies can be purchased locally but a good handful of deceivers in Chartreuse and white with a hint of silver or copper are good for Coho and the same in pink for Pinks. These should be in two sizes 3” and 1”. Also Clousers in the same colours tied sparsely to imitate sand eels work well.
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polar bear hair |
The locals tie up a pin fry pattern that is 2” long and tied with crystal flash over white polar bear hair (that turns an amazing clear translucent when wet and is so strong it cannot be snapped).
All hooks must be barbless and should be stainless for salt water. I was using size 4 Mustads 34007’s and they work well.
For the rivers, egg patterns are all you will need. The hot orange, peach and yellow all work well in 3mm, 6mm and 10mm diameters. The bigger ‘flies’ take the bigger fish.
A sight indicator (the dough type or roll on type work well) and a packet of split shot to get the fly right on the bottom are also needed. The split shot is added 12” up the line from the fly so that the eggfly moves naturally in the current. We caught 70 Salmon in ONE DAY using this technique.
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A general selection of the usual tackle bag junk will also be needed including forceps, leader (I used 10lb double strength but 12 lb would be better. Re-tie it to the hook every couple of fish or so as the battle can be severe). Some oil for your reel to keep the salt at bay is a must. This can be bought locally . A line-cleaning pad is also a good idea to keep the line shooting and stop it wearing your skin off. A bottle of Ibuprofens also come in handy for the muscle ache!
How to fish
The techniques we found to be the best all came as standard from Stillwater and river fishing in the UK. In salt water cast near a jumping fish and strip back in short 12” pulls and wait for the arm wrenching take and then hang on to your rod! You rarely catch the fish that jumped but you picked up one of the five or six that were with it. During our second week, the fish had other things on their mind and were ready to head up the rivers. A slower retrieve with a smaller fly still took fish on a regular basis. Once hooked the fish would go crazy. Barbless hooks certainly add to the challenge as they cavort and jump during the fight. Pinks are much easier than Coho and will take readily, whatever you are doing. An average of six fish in four hours was normal.
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In the rivers it was a whole different ball game. Fish would throw themselves on the hook with reckless abandon. When you have 200 fish in every 10 yards of river, it’s not surprising! The technique is similar to Czech nymphing where the fly is cast a short distance upstream and followed past with the rod. Strike at any hesitation in the line as it travels. A fish can be had every second cast with practice. These are Pinks in the 3-6lb range and Coho in the 4-6 lb range but we both hooked into MUCH larger fish well into double figures.
The best thing is that you don’t have to wait for a spate, rain or for anything else. The fish are there 24 hours a day and can be caught at high or low tide. We enjoyed 23 degrees and a flat calm sea for 80% of our fishing.
What it costs
This could be an article in itself as there are so many ways of reducing the overall price but some general guidelines include shopping for cheap tickets at one of the online cut-price sites like www.ebookers.com or www.cheapflights.com . I paid £430 for my ticket. Jester paid a little more so we could fly together. The local salt water license for tourists costs Ca$ 108 for a year (about £50).
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A
busy day on the |
Car rental can be arranged online via one of the big car hire companied such as www.hertz.com or www.Avis.com and I would recommend an SUV such as a Grand Cherokee or a Ford explorer. (There is a deal on Ford explorers where the loss waiver damage is included in the hire price at the moment due to the tire law suits) These large cars are particularly useful when it is raining as you can get changed under the rear door and can carry two float tubes and all of the gear with ease. Canada is a safe country and it was nice to be able to leave a car full of gear and not worry about it being there when we returned. We paid £388 for 15 days including all insurance. Check for SUV special offers on the web. Petrol is only 34p per litre.
Accommodation can be had for as little as Ca$ 29 per night (£12) each for a B&B and a hotel can be found for around £40 per night for as many people as you can get into the room. The hotels are rarely full even at peak salmon times. Food can be as extravagant as you wish with a multitude of fast food places and restaurants to suit all tastes. It could be found for as little as £15 per day for three meals. Beer is much the same price as the UK. Tackle over in Canada tends to be slightly cheaper than the UK so any extras you find you need, can be purchased without pain once you arrive. The tackle shop in Campbell River is Tyee Marine at www.tyeemarine.com. The local superstores such as Canadian Tire and Zellers also sell tackle.
Getting there
To get onto the Island once you are in Vancouver, you can either fly to Comox International Airport or take the ferry. We did the latter and costs Ca$48 (about £20) for two people and the car. It takes about two hours and is a very nice way to ease into the holiday, as you will be travelling through some of the best scenery in the world. There is always a chance of seeing killer whales on the way across too. The ferry to Nanaimo can be taken from either Horseshoe Bay in the North of Vancouver or in the South of Vancouver at Tsawwassen. The ferry times are available at www.bcferries.bc.ca/schedules/mainland/index.html
It is then another 1.5 hours drive up island to Courtenay or two hours to Campbell River.
If you would like to fly, it is only a 30-minute flight from Vancouver and costs about £100 return. It is also possible to fly to Calgary and on to Comox from Heathrow.
Extra info
All the extra information you will ever need can be found at a fantastic site at www.bcadventure.com/adventure/index.html this site will take you a good five or six hours of total pleasure to navigate and has local info on flies, maps, reports, fishing spots, local accommodation and the Fish BC section is one of the best sites I have ever found. If you need it, it’s all there. There are also unlimited opportunities to fish the local streams and lakes for wild rainbows but with so many salmon we didn’t have time. Gold River, which is about a 30-minute drive from Courtenay, also has the best winter steelhead fishing in the world. I will be fishing there in February for a couple of days during a snowboarding holiday.
Of course for more info you can always email me at carlh_hk@yahoo.com. We will be planning another trip for 2002 shortly and I can offer accommodation on a very limited first come first served basis at my own place over there.