Rockin' on the West Coast (of British Columbia that is!)

publication date: Mar 8, 2008

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author/source: Paul Sharman - www.fishandfly.com

by Paul Sharman

Arriving in Vancouver early last September on the Air Canada flight from Heathrow, I checked into the very comfortable Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel located right in the terminal (note to self - best hotel shower ever and definitely Fish & Fly recommended!) where I was to meet my travelling companions, Doug Olander - editor in chief of USA's "Sport Fishing" magazine and his wife Jackie. We had a quick overnight stay before we moved on the next morning via internal flight 350 miles north of Vancouver to Bella Bella and then a short 15 minute float-plane hop to West Coast resorts "Lodge at Milbanke Sound". While the main reason for coming was too help photograph a feature on using light-tackle conventional gear for the local salmon and bottom fish, I had taken the opportunity to stow a 7-piece Orvis Frequent Flyer travel rod, Mach IV reel and multi-tip line in my bag for some hopefully stolen moments when I could go and target the local rockfish along the rocky shorelines. (See the gear guide at the end for details)

I'm not sure if it is the happy memories of boyhood holidays in the western highlands of Scotland, but anywhere that mountains and pine trees meet the untamed ocean just does it for me. The feeling of wildness and isolation (there are no roads here) in areas such as this is the perfect antidote to the realities of every day life back in the urban landscape we all know so well. It is easy to reflect in quiet moments when all you can hear is the local otter family chowing down on the remains of the days salmon carcasses right outside your window, that we do not 'get away' nearly often enough. Anyway, after the usual welcome and briefing by lodge manager Terry Schultz over the first of many excellent meals, we all knew what to expect the next day and for the rest of our stay. Boats and guides were assigned as were the essential Helly Hansen survival suits we were to be so glad for to keep us warm and dry all week. The lodge itself is a custom-built floating facility that spends the early season at Whale Channel and then is moved to Milbanke Sound to follow the migrating salmon for the later part of the season. Moored in one of the areas myriad small picturesque coves on Wurtell Island, it is out of the weather and remained still and calm despite whatever was happening on the "outside" in the sound itself.

While most of the week was spent in pursuing the runs of coho (silver) and chinook (king) salmon by deep trolling with light spinning and baitcasting rods, as well as using the same tackle to then deep-jig for halibut, toothy lingcod and the many varities of colourful rockfish, my thoughts kept returning to the fly rod sitting waiting in my room back at the lodge. However, rain, wind and cold weather hampered my opportunities to try my luck for a few days. Doug and I did try small jigs in the sheltered entrance near to the lodge one afternoon and had very good sport with several varieties of small rockfish which gave me hope. My time would come and I now knew where to try first. You can either choose to have a guide at the lodge or you can also 'self-drive' your own 18' custom-built aluminium skiff as we had chosen to do - I'd even brought along a mini Union Jack flag to fly from the radio antennae as we were in friendly territory! The dockhands would clean and prepare the boats at the end of each day so you did not have to worry about them either.

Finally a break in the weather and after dropping Doug and Jackie off at the dock one evening I elected to grab the fly rod and head back out into the bay. With the fast sinking tip already attached to the fly line and a heavy clouser minnow tied on in those hot saltwater colours of limey-green chartreuse over white, I was ready to go and steered the boat towards a small island that split the bay neatly in two with St Johns Harbour on the far side where another floating lodge was operating out of as evidenced by the other boats and anglers we saw both bedecked in their own unique livery from ours. While a majestic bald eagle watched from its lofty perch on a broken pine tree, I steered the boat into the lee of the small island and put the engine in neutral to try and drift near to the rocks. My first problem I found was that my line was not getting down quickly enough as I quickly drifted away and over deep water. So I had to push the boat in a little further to give myself the extra time needed and there was no time for several false casts either, just get a short line in the water quick so it had a chance to get the fly down near the bottom where the rockfish would be holding. This indeed made the difference necessary and a succession of small rockfish came my way. Some brightly coloured and some drab, but all game with a quick 'smash and grab' take and a dash for their favourite rocky lair or kelp strand. Using an abrasion resistant leader such as the Orvis Super Strong was definitely necessary as the line was often dragged over rocks or having to be pulled out of weed when the fly would snag on some unseen strand below the surface. This as it ended up was the only shot I really had at using the fly rod. In more normal years I am told, the coho salmon often run nearer the surface and it is possible to gets shots at them with the fly rod using bait patterns such as deceivers and clousers with some flash in them to mimic the silvery baitfish the salmon feed on. Good to know as I would like to go back and try this again sometime, maybe earlier in the year when the weather may be a little friendlier and it would be possible to fish more shallow areas both inside and outside without the risk of being blown onto the rocks.

The coastline of British Columbia has so many places like this to investigate and it just goes to show that no matter where you go fishing, it's always worth having a fly rod with you somewhere to take advantage of whatever opportunities there may be. Whether you book with West Coast Resorts or one of the many other operators, I can't recommend the BC experience highly enough! During our last night before flying home back at the Fairmont hotel in downtown Vancouver, it was strange looking out at the urban jungle once more. Despite Vancouver being probably one of the closest cities to nature with its surrounding mountains, ocean and famous salmon and steelhead rivers, it did remind me of my vow to try and get out more often into wild areas back at home and abroad this year, and I've already started planning!

Contact Info

Air Canada

Fairmont Hotels

West Coast Resorts

Tourism BC 

Gear Used

Orvis Frequent Flyer 7-piece 9' 8 weight

Orvis Mach IV Fly Reel

Orvis Multi-tip fly line

Orvis Super Strong knotless leaders