Down the fish hole

With the weather holding in the negative, but not too negative, I decided to get in some ice fishing before Christmas.
On Saturday I made it out to Cobb lake to find plenty of ice. With the wife and kids in tow we trekked out on to the ice and drilled a couple of holes. It wasn't long and we had a small brook trout to hand. A quick picture and it was back down the hole to its friends. We stayed for a couple of hours, the kids played on the ice and I watched a few more fish sniff my bait, but no takers. One even tried to eat my swivel just below the ice right in front of my face.

Today I went back to Cobb to try my luck again. I drilled a hole, near to where I was two days before. After about twenty minutes i could see a brookie swirling around my bait. I twitched it a couple times and watched the fish slurp it in. It doesnt matter how many times I have seen it, I love watching fish taking my offering. I set the hook and after a quick fight I had the first fish landed. I quickly dealt with the fish and had my hook back in the hole. Within minutes, and out of no where a good size brookie shot out from under the ice, smashed my offering and took off with my bait. Line was instantly peeling off my reel and my rod had a good healthy bend. This fish had energy and went on a few good runs.
The day ended with me enticing a few more fish but they decided they weren't hungry, just sniffed it.

Both fish I landed today were hooked just inches under the ice, in about 6 feet of water, and the bait of choice was procured shrimp. I did pump the stomach of the fish and found lots of mayfly nymphs, some shrimp and a water boatman. These fish were well fed.

Can't wait to get out again, and neither can my youngest daughter.

First time fishing hard water.

Well the weather cooperated, the stars aligned, school reports are done so I went fishing. Ice fishing that is.
This was a new adventure and my first time ice fishing.
I had a late start and packed up all my gear to head to Cobb Lake. Through a snow filled back road and to the lake, I found two groups already on the ice. One guy was just landing a nice brookie and my hopes were high.
I carried all my gear out onto the ice and drilled my first hole. Easier than I thought it would be, I was expecting it to be harder. The ice was about 5-6" thick. I put on my bait, procured shrimp, and dropped it down the hole. With my bait in the water and the occasional lift to give it a bit of movement I took the opportunity to gaze around the lake. After all, there no need to watch into a hole in the ice all day. No sooner had i taken my eyes offthe hole, I felt a little tug, then another and then another. I set the hook and had a fish on. Now, I'd like to say it was a long hard battle but to be honest it was over pretty quick. My bait was probably only a foot under the ice and the little rainbow came in with ease. I pulled out my phone and quickly snapped a shot, but the fish must have been shy. It flipped out of my hand and back into the hole it went. It would have been nice to get a proper picture with my first ever ice fishing catch, but I was going to let it go anyway.

Unfortunately for me, I only had one other fish on all day which spat the hook before i realized it was on. In my books it was still a good day out, and I can't wait to try again soon.

On a side note, the thermometer read -15 degrees Celsius when I left this morning. Officially my coldest day of fishing.

Yes I am still around

It has been a long time since I have written on here. Probably the longest stretch since I started this blog. I felt I should let people know I am still here, just really busy.
I started a new job this fall and moved to a different part of the province. Unfortunately the job keeps me working long hours at the moment and I have not had the chance to get out fishing. Which is really tough for me. Hopefully soon I will embark on some new fishing adventures as the lakes freeze and ice fishing opportunities become available. I have never been ice fishing so it will be an interesting quest.

Fish Lake

Another day, another lake. With the leaves on the trees turning to bright yellows and reds as they begin their descent through gravity to the ground, fall is in full swing. Figuring I don't have many warm days left this season I took advantage of the sunshine and spent a couple hours fishing the appropriately named Fish Lake.

The lake is a quick 25-30 minute drive north of Vanderhoof towards Fort St James, so it took me no time at all to get there. The lake was quiet and a perfect size for a float tube or pontoon. I rigged up my fly rod with my go to fly for lakes I have never fished, a doc spratley. Seeing this lake had a bit of colour to it I opted for a red one. I barely made it 100 yards from where i launched my pontoon and I had a fish on. Apparently fish lake has a lot of fish in it. I lost count how many rainbow trout I caught. It didnt matter where I fished on the lake I was catching. The fish were not big, averaging 8-10 inches with my biggest on the day at 11", but there were plenty of them.

I didn't stay long as my wife and kids were waiting for me and exploring on shore. However, I did stay long enough to know that if you are in the area and are looking for a great little lake to take the kids where they will catch lots of fish then Fish Lake is a good choice.

Stellako River

I ventured the 40 minute drive today to a gem of a river, the Stellako River. It is a fly fish only river, a class two classified water and catch and release only. After fishing the river, I can see why.

Upon arriving at the river I took in the beauty as I rigged up my fly rod to the sound of sockeye splashing in the river.
The river itself was quite low and an almost limitless visability. The sockeye were chasing around the various runs and the rainbows were following looking for eggs and holding behing the many boulder within the soft current. Keeping an eye out for local bears (plenty of signs of them along the bank) and working my way down stream i fished a few beautiful runs. And the best part is the solitude. We had the river all to ourselves.

I was told the cinnamon caddis would be the best bet if the fish are rising, if not then a stonefly or egg pattern.
It didnt take long to get i to a fish. My first fish took a dry fly caddis pattern off the surface. It was a beautiful 10" wild rainbow which was soon followed by another about 12" long.

As the day progressed I managed to catch fish on the dry fly caddis pattern, a golden stonefly nymph, an olive stonefly nymph and an egg pattern. The fishing was great and the scenery was fantastic.

The last fish of the day was the biggest (about 16") and was sight fished. In fact it was less than a rod length from shore right in front of me. I literally dangled the stonefly 2 feet down from the rod tip and watched the fish come out from behind the rock and slurp in the fly. I set the hook and the fish took off jumping down stream. After putting up a valiant effort the fish came to hand and i removed the fly from its upper lip and sent it on its way.

Nechako River Sturgeon Hatchery

I visited the Nechako River sturgeon hatchery today and got to go on a tour of the facility.
The tour started with a little sterilizing. Everyone was asked to use hand sanitizer and to step into a shallow puddle to help sanitize their shoes or anything they may be tracking in. The person from the hatchery took us around the tanks and talked about the sturgeon in the river and the program they are running there.
They use river water in the hatchery (from the Nechako river) and are able to reuse the water at a rate of about 94%. Some is obviously lost to waste.
The sturgeon eggs and milt were collected from the river and some pitt tags were put in the mature fish they collected. The estimates of the population of sturgeon in the river are measured in the hundreds instead of the historic thousands. Apparently they are considered a distinct strain from the fraser river white sturgeon and are considered endangered. The reason for the low numbers is thought to be due to habitat loss because of lower water caused by a dam upstream. More silt in the water is also thought to be choking out the eggs. Apparently the river doesn't get a proper freshet due to the dam so it doesnt 'flush' out all the silt.
I did ask if the Nechako sturgeon ever venture down stream into the fraser and apparently they don't really do it which is part of the reason they are considered a seperate strain.

The hatchery collects and hatches the eggs. The young are reared and fed multiple times a day through an automatic feeder. The feed is a small pellet in which their nutrients are mixed in. They are grown to about a foot in length and then released into the river to do their thing.
In a seperate pool at the hatchery they have two female sturgeon. This two gals (Slimey an Khaleesi) were kept because their eggs were premature and not as formed as they were expected to be for their size (about 6' for Slimey and around 7' for Khaleesi). They will be holding onto them until May when they can hopefully harvest the eggs and release the two back into the river.

It was a very cool tour. I learned sturgeon have a spiral intestine and therefore when they defecate in the water it comes out in little coils. I also left my contact information for when they need volunteers for tagging and egg harvesting/fertilizing. Looking forward to going back again.

Region 7 : Cobb Lake

Well our house move is done and we are now living in Vanderhoof BC. There's a lack of salmon fishing in the immediate area but I am closer to the Skeena system now, which I will visit in the future for sure. For now, there's supposed to be excellent lake and river fishing for other species such as rainbows, brookies and dolly varden (to name a few).

I got out for my first fishing trip up here in region 7 today. It was a late start and i didnt get to the lake until about 11:30. I went out on the lake with my fly rod and a black doc sprately (my go to lake fly). After rowing around a bit (i need an electric on my pontoon) and tiring my arms I anchored up near some fallen trees and began casting. I was hoping there were a few fish hiding under the tree.  I saw a few rise and one even rose to the fly just after it hit the water but I didn't hook into anything. I rowed back down the lake trolling a fly and at the drop off had a rainbow smash my fly. It hit hard and peeled line right away. I landed that fish and circled back. That stretch of water gave up about a dozen bright rainbows of varying sizes. I circled back a few more times before calling it a day.

Not a bad day out for a first trip in the region. The lake was deadly quiet and there was only one other person fishing this so called "urban" lake.

Next week I may take a trip to the stellako river. A class 2 river with a lot of potential...