New shop in Squamish

Its about time! if you're in Squamish, come Check out our new fly shop location downtown Squamish at 1316 Main Street on the ground floor of the Artisan Building. Stocking hot local patterns and a good selection of tackle, drop by for a while and pick Brians brain for some local advice. 604-567-8777

Squamish guided trips, winter Trout and Char

Dean with a nice Bull

This winter has been a particularly good one for Rainbow Trout and Bulltrout, check out some of our recent pictures from guided trips on the Squamish and Cheakamus rivers.

Elaine with a beauty Squamish Bow

Harrison and Pat with another nice Rainbow

Stuart with a chrome Char

The release

Great day to fish the Squamish

Bulltrout love the single eggs

Although the Steelhead are not around yet and there is about 2 feet of snow on the road, there are still fish to be caught in the Squamish, and great scenery to go with it. If you find spawning Coho, egg patterns are a good bet for the trout in the area, otherwise Sculpins and ESL's work well enough. Thanks to a phenomenal Coho run, the trout and Eagle numbers are the highest I have seen in a long while at this time of the year.

Snow and fog in the upper valley

Lots of eagles just hanging out, eating the dead fish

Tying the Squamish Poacher shank style

The Squamish poacher is a local favorite for fishing the Squamish and Cheakamus rivers. However most people don't seem to know the trick in tying it. In this case I put my own spin on it and it looks a bit different then the original but hey, but its the same technique, and its not like the fish really care. Having the fly on a shank with a trailer hook however is a big advantage to a regular hook, as you tend to loose less fish after hookups and the little gammies used on these flies can be easily swapped out for nice sharp ones once they dull. You will need:

SHANK - Partridge waddington 25-55mm
LOOP - 35# slickshooter or Rio knot-able wire
THREAD - White or Orange G.S.P or stronger type thread
HOOK - octopus #2
TAIL - Red/Orange Polar bear and a few strands of pearl flash
BODY - Orange Chenille
HACKLE - Orange Schlappen
SHELLBACK: Edge Bright/Lazer wrap
EYES: Melted 50 pound monofilament
WEIGHT: lead wire wrapped along the shank, this is very important if you don't want your fly to swim upside down!

Krazy glue optional

Start off wrapping the shank in thread. Feed the slick shooter through the eye of the shank (hook attached) and tie it down on both top and bottom. I like to Krazy glue it after too.

Wrap Some lead wire along the lower portion of the shank. Then wrap the chenille in for the head but don't cut it. Add the Polar bear (or something similar) and some flash. Then tie in the set of eyes. I like to use some more Krazy glue at this point too

Tie in your Schlappen (or similar) by the butt end and wrap the rest of the chenille to the eye of the shank. Then wrap the Hackle up to the eye and tie off.

Cut off a strip of Lazer wrap about the some width as the body of the fly and tie it in starting at the shank eye. The original pattern has the shell back attached at the tail as well but I think this way gives the fly a little more movement. Tie the shellback off in about 3 or 4 sections and make sure to give each segment a few wraps. Tie off the fly right about where your hackle starts. Cut the lazer wrap into a point above the mono eyes, and a V cut out on the other side so the there is room for the line. Krazy glue any thread you see.

Done!

Squamish area Steelhead

A few pictures of recent Squamish area Steelhead from the last few weeks by staff and friends. Hopefully the fishing here will continue into may as it did last year, but its nice here for now

Ryan and a nice Cheak Chromer

Nice Squamish fish on a sunny day

This fish took some sort of a jungle bug intruder fly

As did this one as well

Chrome Squamish buck, they don't come much nicer

2010 Olympic Bronze medalist goes flyfishing in Whistler

After getting Bronze in the Whistler 2010 2 man Luge, Patric-Fritz Leitner had another dream to finish the games in whistler, with a day of flyfishing in BC Canada before he went home to Germany. Armed with a camera Crew and whistler fly fishing head guide, Pat Beahen, Pat had a great sunny day out on the water and even got into some Bulltrout! The trip was briefly featured on a German TV news station. Here are some pics of the day, taken in the upper Squamish valley.

Whistler winter fishing during the 2010 Olympics

The most common misconception people have about fishing the Whistler area is that fishing is non existent in the winter... its quite the contrary actually!
Generally winters here tend to be mild, which makes for some nicer fishing conditions usually starting in February. The weather we have been having for the last few weeks is quite exceptional, with warmer average temperatures and light amounts of rain in the Valley, the Rivers around whistler have been fishing quite well for the last few weeks and should fish great Into the upcoming 2010 Olympic games.
Sea-Run Bulltrout, Rainbow, Cutthroat and the odd Steelhead are around right now with plenty of char being taken in the 24"+ size bracket.

One of those Big Bulls, fat N' silver and full of Coho eggs

With The temperatures this warm, the Salmon Alevin/Fry migration should be happening soon, and when this does happen (with a little rain to help as well), you can expect fishing to get really good in almost any local river that had Salmon spawning in it.
Bring your 7wt switch or small Spey if you can, or a single hander can work too. Olive Zonkers and Muddlers work quite well during that time, as do flesh patterns, Alevin, Glo-bugs and good ol ESL's. No Need to switch up flies for Steelhead either as they are consistently taken on swung Egg suckers and olive Zonkers fishing for Trout!

Pat and Stuart with a beauty Rainbow

Winter Fly Fishing In Whistler British Columbia

Winter fly fishing is in full swing now in Whistler with good fishing for Bull Trout(Char), Rainbow Trout and Cutthroat Trout in the Squamish and Cheakamus rivers.This is one of my favourite times of year to be on the river as I enjoy the quiet of winter as well as the charm of fishing in the snow. Char fishing is especially productive during the winter months and these fish can reach considerable size in both the Squamish and Cheakamus rivers.

Baby salmon make a great snack

The days are getting longer and warmer and most people are getting excited about spring and the sun. I am however getting excited for the imminent salmon fry migration that should be occurring over the next few weeks. With Chinook, Chum, Sockeye and Coho fry due to make (or making) their appearance within the next few weeks, the Bull trout, Cutthroat and Rainbow fishing should be as good as it will get in a long time. One of the best early-season patterns in Squamish is the Alevin Fly. A very simple pattern that uses a bit of colored wool, pearl flash and a couple of stick on eyes to create an incredibly deadly pattern for early season trout. Alevin are very poor swimmers and easy prey for larger fish, the Trout will hang out near small creek mouths, along with the classic water were they gorge themselves on helpless fry caught in the current. These Alevin flies are best fished on a dead drift with a floating line and long leader in order to imitate the helpless, easy meal trout expect.

HOOK - TMC 200r #6-10

BODY - Pearl metallic braid

WING - Natural or Olive Mallard Flank

BEARD - Orange Wool or Mcflyfoam tied in a loop

EYES - 1.5mm stick on eyes

THREAD- Olive or Grey 8/0

HEAD- Aquaseal or epoxy, doubles as weight

Fishing The Mamquam

Thousands of people drive over it every day and most don't bother a second glance at it, the Mamquam River is perhaps one of my favorite rivers in the Squamish area to fish. If you have ever fished it, Chances are it was during Salmon season for the plentiful Chum, Pink or Coho. Thats usually the extent of most fishing experiences on this urban river. But this river has exceptional Trout fishing as well. During the winter and spring, the Mamquam holds some of the largest sea-run Bulltrout encountered anywere in Squamish, more Cutthroat per Kilometre then the Squamish or Cheakamus, Rainbows, Springs, lots of Coho and even a late run of Steelhead. The Canyon water Holds lots of Rainbows and the reaches above the powerhouse hold Rainbow and bulltrout for almost 20km up the river. Winter tends to be a slower time to fish this river as it is very low and clear, but if you can find a couple nice runs, you can usually get into some larger sea run Bull, sea run Cutthroat and Rainbow trout. When the Cheakamus and Squamish Blow out during high water, the Mamquam usually gets back into shape the fastest. Large flies tend to work well for most species here, especially for the Char, but a simple egg sucking leech, rolled muddler or even a stonefly Nymph will work almost anytime of the year for the smaller trout. If the opportunity arises, don't be afriad to test your skills on the Mamquam.

Winter Sea-run Cutthroat Fly Fishing

The Sea-To-Sky corridor (Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton) is home to some of the best winter sea-run Cutthroat fishing anywere. Sometimes called Harvest trout or Coastal Cutthroat, these ocean-bright but often colorful fish move into the Squamish and Lillooet rivers, along with numerous other creeks, in late fall to overwinter and feed on eggs, flesh and eventually Salmon fry.
Between the months of December and Febuary, the tributaries of the Squamish, upper Squamish and especially small creeks flowing into Howe Sound become the home of these scrappy fish, overwintering and feeding on almost anything resembling eggs and smaller fish.
In Febuary, March and April, the Lillooet system becomes the best place to fish them, using Salmon fry imitations and smaller streamer patterns. They are easy to locate, often using available wood cover to hide near in rivers. In lakes and rivers both, the fish can sometimes be feeding only a few feet from shore. In lakes near creek mouths, they often create quite a disturbance on the surface, gorging on salmon fry. Casting and stripping a Rolled Muddler to boiling fish can be one of the most exciting ways to fish them, especially as they form a wake behind your moving fly and smash it at your feet.
A 4-5 weight rod is usually sufficiant in most streams, but sometimes a 6wt is needed to punch out the line through wind to those fish feeding offshore, especially in lakes. Boats can be used, but often fishing from shore is quite effective. Floating lines are standard but intermediate and type 3 tips are sometimes used.
If your thinking of Fishing in the winter, try the elusive Sea-run Cutthroat.