Up at 7AM we’d decided to take on the hike down into the Wigwam Canyon to try to set a fly rod Bull Trout World using 16lb. tippet. The current record was 10 lbs. by Bo Nelson of California and we knew there were big fish in the Wigwam. We rigged our rods and prepared our backpacks with wading shoes, Orvis breathable waders, 5wt. & 9wt. fly rods, raincoats, flies, nets, snacks, water filter bottles etc. The packs were heavy. Next stop was Subway for a lunch sandwich.

The fly shop had given us two locations to access the Wigwam, the Canyon trail or Mile-Post 32 (actually Klick-Post 32) and we weren’t sure which to try. Upon arriving at the Canyon trailhead, there were already two trucks parked next to the trail so we decided to check out the second spot. Crossing the Lodgepole River bridge, the water looked low but fishable. At MP32 pullout we saw one truck with two guys (a guide & client) searching the woods while whistling for a dog. Come to find out, a truck had come down the gravel road at high speed and hit the guides’ dog. The dog wandered off into the woods and hadn’t been seen. We helped the guide look for his dog for about a half-hour, then AM/JR hiked down the trail to check out the river access. They returned 20-minutes later saying the trail was flat in the woods along a high canyon wall, then plunged down the wall into the canyon. We left the guide telling him if we spotted his dog we’d take him back to the Fly Shop.

Heading back to the Canyon access point and arrived about 10:30AM.

We loaded on our packs and headed down the hill for a 1-hour, 3-mile downhill walk.

About half way down the trail we saw three men walking up the trail. We stopped to exchange pleasantries and ask how the fishing was. One man was carrying a sawed off pump shotgun slung over his shoulder, another a pack with several fly rods and AB noticed that the third man had an IGFA (International Game Fish Association) logo embroidered on his shirt. Then AB noticed his name embroidered on his shirt….it said…Bo Nelson!

AB knew the name Bo Nelson as he’d been competing with Bo for IGFA records for several years. AB wanted to be the first name in the IGFA record book for catching the Royal Salmon Slam (catching all 6 species of salmon) and it took him a bit of time to research and catch an Atlantic salmon. After catching the Atlantic, AB submitted his paperwork only to see that Bo Nelson had also completed the Salmon Slam. AB then decided to take on the Trout Slam (catching 7 species of trout), the Golden trout being the last species he needed. After all, who would have both the Salmon & Trout slams? A trip was planned to fly to Bakersfield, CA, then drive to the California Sierra Nevada mountains, hiking 12-miles from 9,600’ to 11,600’ to catch the beautiful Golden trout. AB submitted his paperwork to the IGFA for his Trout Slam only to find that Bo Nelson had done it months earlier. So….AB decided to be the first angler to capture the IGFA Salmon, Trout & Bass Slams. You guessed it….Bo Nelson had done it before AB had caught all the needed species.

AB & Bo had never met before, what are the odds that we meet on a canyon trail in the wilds of British Columbia?

AB introduced Bo to the YG as "his greatest competition"….all chuckled.

Asking Bo what he was doing down on the Wigwam, he responded, "Trying to raise the bar on the 6# & 16# fly rod tippet Bull Trout World Records! The same fish and tippet sizes AB was trying to break. Bo went on to say that he had raised the size of both records from 10# & 11# respectively to the 12.5# neighborhood. AB said, "Looks like you’ve raised the bar Bo…..so I guess I’ll have to catch even a bigger fish than I’d planned." Bo said, "Watch out for the Bears, there’s lots of sign down there!" Photos were taken of AB & Bo and all hiked off. ……What are the odds of this meeting??? It still stuns me that we crossed paths.

At the bottom of the canyon trail, we’d walked about a ½-mile too far downriver, so we back tracked and cut thru the brush to access the river. All were talking loud and blowing our whistles since we’d seen lots of bear sign that Bo had warned us about. Breaking out onto a gravel bar we moved down river. JR spots a large black animal running from the river toward the woods, but couldn’t make out the species. We cautiously approached the brushy point where he’d spotted the animal and found large wet wolf prints in the sand.

We set up camp at a large log on the gravel bar, dropping all our packs and putting on our waders. The weather was cool and sunny and the river was low and crystal clear.

All spread out looking for a pool with fish. AM is first to find fish, but no takers. JR finds a huge pool full of Bull Trout….there must have been 30 or more large Bulls in the pool with several cutthroat / cutt-bows feeding at the head of the pool. AM & JR fish the pool for a while without success, then move upstream looking for cutthroat. AB & MS continue to fish the pool.

AM & JR report catching rainbows & cut-bows upstream.

 AM catches his first Bull Trout…..Congratulations Al….on an Orange Stimulator. That fish now qualifies AM for the IGFA Royal Trout Slam as he’s caught the required 7-species. Brown, Brook, Bull, Cutthroat, Rainbow, Lake & Golden Trout!

 JR also claims a bit of the glory since he’d hooked and lost the same fish earlier in the day and pointed the fish out to AM on their way back downriver. JR receives the IGFA "Guide of the Year" Award for his assist! To return the favor, AM tied a mayfly pattern for JR which promptly drew a strike and a broken leader. JR says it was a bad knot? AM also hooked another Bull Trout on a Purple egg-sucking leach, but the fish won with an LDR. (long-distance release).

Meanwhile MS & AB were still casting flies at the large bull trout in the pool. Nearly 7 straight hours of casting without a strike! We’d both gone thru almost all the flies in our boxes when AB decided to try a small fly with a bit of purple marabou wrapped on the hook….pretty much a nothing fly…but I’d tried most everything else. A couple casts later and I felt a pickup and my line went taught! I set the hook….it was a strong fish! The fish tore to the front of the pool, then reversed gears and ripped to the tail out. Fortunately it was a large pool and the fish decided to slug it out in the pool and not run down thru the boulder field and riffles below making me chase him thru all the large slippery rocks. I could see the fish in the gin-clear water….he was BIG.

I yelled at MS and he came in to provide the photo assist. We got a couple great shots of fighting the fish and I laid my fly rod tip in the current to use the fly line to help bring the fish toward me. It worked and the fish came to my side of the pool, but ran off one more time. A few minutes later MS had him in my Orvis Catch & Release net with an 18" opening….he barely fit! AB was ecstatic! AB pulled out his Boga Grip and weighted the fish…..10 lbs…..tying the current World Record on 16# tippet! Oh no! Had Bo Nelson not told me he had just raised the bar to 12.5#, I would have had a tie for a World Record. I was excited…and a bit disappointed and released the fish without taking the required length and girth measurements of the fish since I’d assumed the fish wasn’t large enough for a record. (Later back at the condo we began to wonder if Bo was telling us a fish story? After the trip AB checked the IGFA pending records and there were no pending entries listed….either Bo hadn’t sent his paperwork in yet or……I’d been snookered!)

A few moments later, while AB was recovering from catching this beautiful fish, MS yelled out "Fish On!". MS also had a nice bull trout on the line. AB reached behind himself to grab his net….it wasn’t there! Mike, do you know where my net is? Did you throw it up on the shore? No, it was at your feet in the river when we were taking photos of your fish. Oh no! My net had floated down river!

I grabbed MS’s net and we landed a beautiful 6# Bull Trout! ……a personal best for MS! Congrats Mike!!

AB decides to try to find his favorite net and tells MS he’ll be headed downstream. AB finds a piece of wood similar in size and weight of his net and threw it in the river near where he’d lost his net….then followed the stick downstream. Over riffles, around boulders thru pools AB followed the stick for a 1/4 –mile, then a ½-mile and eventually a mile. As he approached a bend in the river he watched the stick float down near a bunch of willows along the stream bank. There was a lot of brush on the shoreline so AB broke out his whistle to let any bears know he was in the area. After 15-minutes of breaking thru brush and crawling over logs he came to the place where the willows were on the bank. Stepping out in the river to get a better view, he couldn’t believe his eyes…..his net was stuck in the willows!! ….and the stick he’d thrown in was resting next to the net!!! Unbelievable!

Hiking back upstream AB calls MS on the radio to announce he’d found his net…..MS was astonished.

MS & AB called AM & JR and told them about he bull trout they’d just caught. They come back down to the pool and fish for a while, AM catching a nice cutt-bow.

It was getting late so all decided that it was time to head out.

Boots removed, rods broken down and back packs loaded we hit the trail. Cutting thru the woods, blowing our whistles, we ran into 4 horses grazing in the heavy thicket. Shortly after, AM & JR spot a Black Bear off the side of the steep trail. At 8PM after an 1-1/2 hour uphill hike we were back at the vehicles.

Someone (AM?) had written "Go home Yankee" or some such thing in the dirt on the back of JR’s Jeep window….signed "Bo" (AB?). When JR saw it he was convinced it was Bo’s doings….we all snickered every time the subject came up…..for the next three days!

Since all the restaurants in town were closed, dinner consisted of beef jerky, trail mix, and scotch…all passed out early….we’re exhausted!