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Fabulous fishing
Monday, May 11th, 2009 by GetawayBC.com
If you’ve never gone fly fishing, maybe it’s time to pick up a rod and licence.
Few activities are more relaxing than getting out on a lake or stream and enjoying the outdoors.
There are more than 13 lakes within Nanaimo’s city limits and most are stocked with catchable size trout twice a year, which means good fishing spots are within a five-minute drive of almost any home in Nanaimo.
You also don’t need a boat, as some of the best fishing can be done right from the shores of most lakes accessible via Nanaimo’s extensive parks and trails system.
Westwood Lake is among the local hot spots for trout.
I haven’t been fishing since 1986 and I’ve never done any fly fishing, so Rick Passek, fly fishing instructor and author of The Freshman Flyfisher, A Beginners Guide for a New Generation, offered to come over from the Lower Mainland to take me out on Westwood Lake for the day.
Within a few minutes Passek had us out in his boat, rods assembled and trolling flies in the water. (I didn’t know you could troll with flies.)
A temperature reading of the water and a scan of the water’s surface told him chironomids (tiny pupae of the chironomid fly) were hatching and drifting up off the bottom.
“There’s usually two hatches a day – one in the morning and one in the afternoon,” said Passek. “They’re members of the midge family. Basically they’re non-biting mosquitoes.”
They’re also one of the most widespread insects, found in most lakes, streams, marshes and bogs.
Within minutes trout were hitting our flies. Passek brought one in and used a throat pump – essentially a tiny turkey baster – to suck some contents from the fish’s gullet to see what it had for breakfast. Chironomids – and from their degree of silvery colour, Passek estimated the depth the fish ate them – about six metres. The trout swam off.
But when chironomid mimics didn’t do the trick, he tried a couple different flies and before long he had trout hitting our lines like crazy.
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“These fish were recently stocked in this lake,” said Passek. “We call them pellet pigs. They’re still schooling, moving around the lake and trying to figure out what they can eat.”
Passek’s fly – a bead-head, black, UV-dubbed, micro leech – must have looked pretty good because I was enjoying the thrill of having a fish on the line for the first time in 23 years. I even got the hang of basic fly casting techniques.
All told we got about 80 hits and brought 20 fish to the boat – all released. Anglers around us didn’t fair nearly so well and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about my unfair advantage of relying on a professional flyfisher.
As sports go, flyfishing is relatively cheap to get into. A basic rod, reel, line and case combination package runs $160. Add a few flies and a fishing license and you’re off to the fishing hole.
“You can get started for under $300,” said Passek.
photos@nanaimobulletin.com
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Sider: Local fly fishing supplies and information contacts
Gone Fishin’
www.gonefishinshop.com
Suite 600-2980 N Island Hwy
Nanaimo, BC V9T
(250) 758-7726
Canadian Tire Associate Store
6900 Island Highway North, Nanaimo – (250) 390-1500
Walmart Nanaimo
3200 Island Hwy N # 100
Nanaimo BC, V9T 1W1
Phone #: 250-758-0343
Island Angler Fishing Magazine
www.islandangler.net;