Scouting new fishing waters

Yesterday, Sunday, my wife and I drove to the Fraser River near Chilliwack, British Columbia to scout that portion of the river for future fishing trips. Trough the grapevine we heard that this area holds lots of fish, among them salmon for which BC is world famous, and cutthroat trout. The weather was cold, overcast and at times drizzly rain, this did not hinder the natural beauty of the area. Yes, I am in love with British Columbia and will readily admit that after all my international travels I have not seen a more beautiful place yet. We walked along the riverbank searching the water surface with binoculars for changes in the current giving an indication of the structure below the water surface. I found plenty of good and promising features that look promissing to hold trout. Lots of submerged trees, big rocks and other underwater features that trout like. I definitely will be back there on a warmer day when the cutthroats rise, with my fishing rod and an assortment of lures.

It is said that 2007 is a good pink salmon year here in BC. This became quickly obvious when we walked the shoreline of the Fraser River, which was littered with thousands of salmon skulls and skeletons the air still saturated with the smell of rotting fish. It's a cruel joke of nature that these fish have to swim thousands of miles to their birthplace, encountering all sorts of life threatening encounters along the way, including the abundant numbers of hungry grizzly bears we have here in BC, until they reach the exact spot where they where born to give life to a new generation of salmon and then die.

With so many rivers and lakes, full of fish in all sizes and shapes, British Columbia is not only the ideal place for fishers but also the bald eagle. Indeed BC is the North American capitol of bald eagles. Seeing on any given day five to ten of these majestic birds sitting high in the trees or gliding seemingly weightless trough the air is not uncommon here in the Lower Mainland, even in the big cities such as Vancouver.

All in all we have had a very good weekend that we spent out in the great outdoors. My wife, an accomplished photographer found many pleasing subject to photograph and I found a new promising fishing place that I definitely will visit again. I am looking already forward to the coming weekend when the largest hunting and fishing show here in BC opens the doors for three days over the weekend.

Bald Eagle Photo courtesy of Artemis Graphics and Design

Tags: Fishing, Wildlife, British Columbia, Salmon, Cutthroat Trout, Fraser River, Chilliwack BC, Bald Eagle