But as we’d quickly be taught, higher Fernie has no scarcity of first-rate trout streams, all set in opposition to the dramatic spires of the Canadian Rockies. If the Elk couldn’t be our focus, we’d nonetheless have a good probability at success.
The small town of Fernie rests close to the southeastern nook of British Columbia, roughly 4½ hours’ drive northeast of Spokane, Wash. (or 11 hours east of Vancouver, B.C.). Coal was discovered right here close to the flip of the final century, and mining shaped the core of the town’s economic system. Several mines are nonetheless in operation, although Fernie has additionally embraced outdoor-recreation-related tourism. In the winter, it’s snow sports activities that draw guests, together with cat snowboarding (the place a snow-grooming machine carries skiers and snowboarders uphill to recent powder); in the summer time, it’s mountain biking, mountaineering, rafting and fly-fishing.
“Many of our clients come from the United States,” mentioned Paul Samycia, proprietor and information at Elk River Guiding Co. “It’s less crowded here than many of the streams in the American West, the people are friendly, and the exchange rate is generally favorable. The Elk is a relatively undiscovered river, full of native species — westslope cutthroat and bull trout. Floating down through the Canadian Rockies, casting dry flies, catching native fish — that ticks a lot of boxes for anglers.”
Catching trout with a dry fly is one among fly-fishing’s nice satisfactions. Battling a fish on a gentle rod is actually enjoyable. But the visceral, visible thrill of watching a fish stand up by way of the water to inhale a little bit of feather and fur is extremely satisfying.
Westslope cutthroat — one among the trout native to the area, identifiable by the sprint of crimson beneath their jaws — have a repute for being very prepared to rise to a dry fly. But when my fellow angler Mark Harrison, information Brian Lees (from Fernie Wilderness Adventures) and I started fishing under a Canadian Pacific Railway trestle on Michel Creek, it appeared the fish had did not learn the memo. Clear and straightforward to wade, Michel Creek is famend for producing a few of the area’s largest cutts, as much as 20 inches. But my casts, utilizing a flying ant imitation, went ignored by fish massive and small. Harrison, nevertheless, fishing subsurface with a nymph, quickly connected. The 16-inch trout he delivered to the internet was good to behold — plump, with a physique of yellow and reddish orange, specked with wonderful black spots. “They’re like pumpkins,” Lees enthused.
When the solar hit the water and inexperienced drake mayflies started dancing on the floor, a fish decrease in the pool started feeding on prime. I modified to a inexperienced drake sample, solid close to the place it had splashed and shortly landed my first cutt of the journey.
Cutthroat want very clear and chilly water to thrive and have vanished from a lot of their authentic vary as rivers have degraded. But populations in southeastern British Columbia are an exception. “We have very sustainable cutthroat and bull trout populations thanks to the pristine, intact watersheds in the upper Kootenay region,” mentioned Heather Lamson, a fisheries biologist with the British Columbia Ministry of Forests. “Most of our rivers are free-flowing [without dams] and ground-fed, so water temperatures stay well below the trout’s temperature tolerances. Angling management plans, including catch-and-release regulations on many rivers and limits on the number of anglers, have also contributed to fish densities.”
As the day wore in, we drove from pool to pool in Lees’s pickup, discovering fish at each spot we stopped. If the inexperienced drake didn’t work, the ant did.
We returned to town with loads of time to take pleasure in a twilight cocktail on the veranda of our room at Park Place Lodge, overlooking the mountains. After a filling meal at the Fernie Taphouse (together with an compulsory appetizer of poutine — when in Canada!), we retired in preparation for a foray to the Bull River. (Both the Taphouse and the Brickhouse, the different eatery we visited, keep open late to accommodate anglers and different outside fans; in the coronary heart of summer time, twilight lingers nicely previous 9 o’clock.)
The Bull sits a bit west of Fernie. Flowing by way of steep canyons, it has a startling turquoise shade, extra harking back to the Caribbean than a mountain stream. We’d put aside at the present time to hunt bull trout, the apex predator in most rivers the place they’re discovered. While cutthroat feed totally on bugs, bull trout dine on cutthroat and different fish and might develop to over 30 inches and 15 kilos. “A run of bull trout migrates up from Lake Koocanusa to spawn and feed on kokanee salmon,” mentioned Linden Mazzei, lead summer time information at Fernie Wilderness Adventures. “There are times when you can sight cast to fish. They are aggressive and respond well to large streamers.”
After dropping our rafts down a steep path, we floated downstream, casting into deep swimming pools and infrequently pulling over to wade and fish a promising run. Bull trout angling is not a dainty enterprise. The heavy flies obligatory to achieve the bulls close to the river’s backside are tough to solid, usually demanding a flinging movement — “chuck and duck,” in angler’s parlance. (It’s a victory to not plug your self or your companions in the head!) Few fish had been in sight; maybe the excessive water had delayed their arrival. But stripping an olive Dolly Llama in a pool above some rapids, Harrison hooked a wholesome specimen. After a jolting strike, it fought exhausting, clinging to the backside. But Harrison utilized constant strain, finally bringing it handy — a fish estimated at seven or eight kilos.
It needs to be talked about that we noticed no different boats on the Bull, a sharp distinction with the bumper-car-like conglomeration of drift boats usually encountered on celebrated western U.S. trout streams.
Heading again towards Spokane, the place we’d first assembled, our foursome stopped close to the town of Cranbrook to fish the St. Mary River, which runs chilly and filter out of the Purcell Mountains. We solid principally from the boat, returning to dry flies — a lot simpler to handle than the Dolly Llamas. “A majority of the trout here are ‘cutt-bows,’ a hybridization of rainbows that have migrated up from the Kootenay River and resident westslope cutthroat,” mentioned Gaby Hernandez, a information with St. Mary Angler. “Some, by their markings, are more rainbow; others, more cutthroat.” All proved extraordinarily prepared to take dry flies solid behind rocks or into seams at the fringe of riffles.
My angling companion Ken Matsumoto and I every raised a minimum of 40 fish, some gently slurping our choices, others taking the fly with a splash. Half got here to the internet. It was the type of day that the majority trout anglers dream about.
The form that may actually carry me again throughout the border to Fernie.
Santella is a author based mostly in Portland, Ore. His web site is steelhead-communications.com.
742 Highway 3, Fernie, B.C.
Spacious, clear rooms with verandas overlooking mountains, plus a pub and restaurant on the premises. Double rooms from about $146 per night time.
A number of burgers, sandwiches, salads and flatbreads, with a full bar, together with native spirits, beers and wines. Kitchen open every day 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.; bar till 11 p.m. Mains from about $14.
A sports activities bar in Fernie’s Old Town space that options sandwiches, burgers and poutine. Local spirits, beers and wines are additionally supplied. Kitchen open midday to 9 p.m.; bar open Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to midnight and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to midnight. Mains from about $15.
Fernie Wilderness Adventures
Located inside Park Place Lodge, this clothing store leads guided fly-fishing journeys on the Elk, Wigwam, Bull and Flathead rivers and Michel Creek. Trips from about $563 per day for one or two anglers.
401 Cranbrook St., Cranbrook
Guided fly-fishing journeys on the St. Mary, Elk, Bull and Skookumchuck rivers. Fees embrace eight hours of guided fly-fishing, transportation, tools and lunch; taxes and licenses not included. Guided float/jet journeys from about $544 per day for one or two anglers.
Potential vacationers ought to take native and nationwide public well being directives concerning the pandemic into consideration earlier than planning any journeys. Travel well being discover information might be discovered on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s interactive map exhibiting journey suggestions by destination and the CDC’s travel health notice webpage.