Day 3, Friday, August 25, 2006 (Wigwam River)
Today we were scheduled to fish the Wigwam River with the guides from Ned’s Fly Shop and were up at 6:30AM. JR made breakfast of Deviled Crab Omelets with sliced Avocados and Hollandaise sauce and toast
We arrived at the fly shop at 7:50AM and met our guides, Darcy Richardson, Bret Mason & Kevin Green and discussed the strategies of Bull Trout fishing.
AB & MS had caught Bull Trout before, (but MS didn’t have a picture of one), and both were rigged to attempt to break an IGFA Bull Trout Fly Rod World Record. JR, GK & AM wanted to catch their first Bull Trout and record the event for their IGFA "Royal Trout Slam". AB reviewed the requirements for World Record fishing with the guides, including not touching the rod or line, photographs and measurements required and most importantly, the care of the fish during the process.
We loaded our gear into the guides trucks and headed south from Fernie, turning onto 10-miles of gravel road where we reached the trailhead to the river. The Wigwam River was located in a quasi-canyon requiring a 45-minute downhill walk.
The weather was cool and clear.
Arriving at the river, MS & AB teamed up with Bret who showed us a large pool, near a huge log and root wad, which contained more than a dozen large Bull Trout setting quietly at the bottom of the pool. GK and Kevin moved downstream to another slack-water pool that held several more Bull Trout.
AB had researched the Bull Trout in the Wigwam River, and noted that they often attack Cutthroat Trout being played by anglers. Seems that unless the Bull Trout is offered a large meal, it is difficult to pull them up and out of their deep lairs. He discussed tying a few special Bull Trout flies with the YG and he and JR decided to tie a few. Armed with photographs of Cutthroat Trout from the area, JR & AB went to the Puget Sound Fly Company (http://www.pugetsoundflyco.com/ ) in Federal Way, WA. where we purchased fly-tying materials that matched the Cutthroat’s colors.
The flies were tied with bullet-head or barbell-head weights, barb less hooks were wrapped with lead wire, the bodies were made of natural goat hairs & synthetic crystal-flash to create a streamer that resembled a Wigwam Cutthroat and weighted to reach the deep-running Bull Trout.
MS & AB quickly began to prepare their equipment; AB was using his 9’, 9wt., Orvis Trident fly rod, an Orvis Battenkill large-arbor reel with a sink-tip fly line and IGFA rated tippet. MS was putting on his waders as Bret was stringing his custom 9wt. fly rod. When Bret reached the tip guide on the rod, the tip broke off!! Oh No! Now what? Mike hadn’t used the rod for several years and assumed it was in good condition, but apparently the rod had suffered some undetected damage in the past.
Both MS & AB had brought their 5wt. rods with them to fish for Cutts on the Wigwam, so MS took his 9wt. reel loaded with a sink-tip line and put it on his 5wt. rod. Not a perfect solution, but given the circumstances we had no other option.
While MS & Bret continued rigging up, AB tied on one of his Bull Trout flies, waded across a swift, shallow section of river and made a few "down & across" casts into the pool. JR & AM with Darcy moved even farther down stream about a hundred yards to an area with a high bank and lots of woody debris.
AM worked several runs unsuccessfully for bull trout using the traditional chuck and duck method of casting combined with the two step downstream steelhead swing. Kind of sounds like a square dance! Soon the radio came alive, it was JR shouting "Fish On!", he’d hooked his first Bull Trout. Seems he was fishing the tailout of the debris and had a strike right at the end and he did not set the hook. He jerked the rod to slack the line so he could reel up and re-cast when he saw the Bull make a run for his fly, one more tug and the fish shot out of his lay like a torpedo chomped at the fly, turned as JR set the hook and the fight was on. JR says it was like dragging a log around the stream they have that much muscle. Darcy nets the Bull and what a beautiful fish, JR brims with excitement as AM is getting ready for photos, Darcy asks JR if he is ready to grab the fish from the net, JR still shaking from the fight tells Darcy you grab this one, JR kneels down, Darcy lifts the might fish and AM brings the camera to the ready when the Bull decides he misses the water too much and leaps out of Darcy’s hands before AM can snap the photo. Lesson learned here, the new YG photo rule is picture of fish in net first then take out of net. Darcy feels bad, but that does not stop JR from a little ribbing, besides the day has just begun, there’s more Bulls to catch right. Little did JR realize that that will be the only Bull (fish that is) he catchs this trip. AM is up next to catch a Bull and his day will be a long one. After some time JR puts on a size 12 Western Green Drake and starts to catch some beautiful Westslope Cutts.
JR with a beautiful cutt
AM cutt photo'd in the net (was by myself at the time)
Soon after, AB felt a strike and set the hook. It was a powerful fish and took off downstream. AB didn’t want the fish to run downstream too far, as chasing a fish on the round, slick rocks in the river wasn’t that easy. So, AB put the tip of his fly rod in the water, using a downstream loop of fly line to put drag on the fish and control it’s run. It worked, with the fly line now pulling at the fish with a downstream angle, the fish’s natural response was to resist the direction of pull and it swam back upstream.
A few minutes later Bret netted a beautiful 7+ pound Bull Trout. Not a World Record, but a nice fish. A few quick pictures, some gentle resuscitation and the Bull swam back to his lair.
Hook-up!
In Shallow Water!
In your hand!!
AB took a break as MS stepped into the river. A few casts later he hooked a fish, but the hook didn’t stick. Soon after, another take with the same result, then another & another. MS is an experienced Steelhead fisher, and his extensive numbers of hook-ups were likely due to his "high-sticking" expert delivery of the fly.
MS tried one of AB’s custom tied Bull Trout flies and had another hookup and LDR (long-distance-release), but a couple casts later broke the fly off on a root wad across the stream.
A few minutes later Darcy walked up the far shore, where he could see the number of Bull’s in the pool. He said there were nearly 2-dozen fish in the pool and they’d moved down lower in the hole. We told him about the fly stuck in the stump, so he crawled out on the log and retrieved the fly.
A few minutes later, he’d tied the fly to GK’s line and Greg had a fish on. Unfortunately; another LDR.
AB and Bret sat on a log on the shore anticipating that MS would catch a Bull Trout at any moment. Then on one swing of the fly Mike had a hook-up, but assumed it was a rock. He lifted the rod tentatively and the "rock" began to swim upstream, as soon as he realized the "rock" was a "fish", he set the hook…..and broke the tippet! Mike hooked at least a dozen Bull Trout that day without landing one. Frustrating! Later analysis of the problem surmised that the 5-weight rod, loaded with the heavy 9wt. sink-tip line, drifting in a swift river, didn’t have the backbone to set the hook properly.
AB went back into action to again knock down a big bull trout - while MS had the numbers for hookups this day, AB won the "bring to hand" contest!!
Meanwhile AB went downstream to an area where GK had hooked a couple of Bull’s. The river was wide and slow, flowing over a boulder-strewn bottom. GK had fished the area from the opposite shore, which proved to be a better approach to the pool. AB had to make 70’ casts to get a drift thru the prime area and it wasn’t long before the heavy line, heavy fly and long casts wore AB out without a hook-up.
Near the end of the day, MS took a break from a long day of casting. AB stepped into the hole and tied on a small sparkly, purple, bead-head Atlantic Salmon fly tied by Jeff Morgan (www.donnerundblitzen.com) . Five casts later another nice Bull Trout came to the net. Neither Bull Trout that AB caught were large enough to break the IGFA World Record, but they were a thrill to catch anyway.
Meanwhile, GK and Kevin had hooked up with several Bull Trout, but hadn’t manage to bring one to the net, so Darcy recommended that they hike back up to the trucks and check out a new stream. We’ll call it "Stream Y", as the guides would prefer that we not identify the stream. (Again, if you’d like to fish this area, you can contact Ned’s Fly Shop in Fernie….they’ll give you all the inside skinny.)
Upon arriving at Stream Y, Kevin didn’t see any Bull Trout in the area, so suggested that GK tie on a BWO fly. A couple casts later Greg tied into a large fish. The fish took off downstream, thru two pools, stripping the reel into the backing! Greg and Kevin raced downstream thru brush and rocks to keep up with the fish. Kevin netted the fish, a huge Cutt-Bow! Unfortunately, GK left his camera in the truck, so we don’t have a photo of the fish. GK proceeded to catch several more nice Cutt-Bows in this section of stream.
AM, JR & Darcy hiked upstream t hunt for bull and cutts. While AM flogged the water repeatedly, he only got one big strike which tore up the leader so all we got to see was a big rod bend and some whitewater! Working up the stream and switching to dry flies, JR and AM hit multiple big cutts - much more fun fishing to AM's way of thinking!!
At 5:30PM the YG contacted each other on their radios saying it was time to leave the river and hike back up the mountain to the vehicles. Naturally, the weather had warmed to 80-degrees for the uphill climb. About an hour of hiking later we arrived at the trucks. The cold drinks in the cooler disappeared quickly.
We returned to the fly shop and thanked our guides for a great day of fishing. Bret was talking to the other guides about the success of AB’s custom Bull Trout flies when Andy showed up with his fly box and offered each of the guides their choice of one of the flies. JR also provided Darcy with one of his custom tied flies. Darcy also told us about the Anchor B Ranch (http://www.AnchorBRanch.com) where he is the lead guide and where they have great wild trout fishing. This is an Orvis endorsed lodge so the standards are quite high. Darcy can be reached at darcy@elkvalley.net or on his cell at 250-423-1970.
The guides also provided MS with info on a guy that could fix his rod tip. They gave him a call, he said he could fix it, come on over. AM & MS drove a few blocks and delivered the rod for repair.
Back to the condo for a quick clean up and off to town for dinner at the "Mojo Risin" restaurant, where we started up a conversation with a fellow angler and his wife. Turns out the angler was, A. Joseph Armstrong, the author of "T.U’s guide to Pennsylvania’s Limestone Streams"! Mr. Armstrong had fished some 400+ streams in Pennsylvania as research for his book, written it, and donated all the proceeds to Trout Unlimited. He was in the area on business and took a little time to fish the area. The trout fishing in the Fernie area impressed him….a lot!
Upon leaving the restaurant, GK was about to pull out when AB noticed that AM, standing next to his car, had a puzzled look on his face. "Hold up, looks like something’s wrong." AM was talking to JR in an animated manner. Rolling down the window, AB asked, "What’s up?" "I can’t find my keys!" "What about the second set that JR has?" JR said, "They’re in my fishing vest…..which is in the car!!"
Oh no, it’s after 10PM in a small town, where will we find a locksmith? AB said he thought he could break in. He needed a coat hanger. AM, "Where are you going to find a coat hanger?" AB appeared a few moments later with a flashlight and a coat hanger from his gear in GK’s truck. Sliding the straightened coat hanger thru the side of the window, with JR guiding the action looking thru the windshield and using the flashlight, AB tried to press the unlock button, but the wire wasn’t stiff enough to complete the task. A crowd began to gather. AB said, "I need something like a yard stick." JR added, "You mean a meter stick?"
One member of the gathering crowd showed us how to pull the side window back to ease access, AB slid his pocket knife in the gap to hold it open, and kept trying to press the lock with the coat hanger. Another member of the crowd, slightly inebriated….well more than slightly…sporting a mohawk, tattoos and piercings was telling AM & MS that they could break the tip off a sparkplug and use it to break the window. He was rather incensed that we weren’t taking his advice…the big guy, MS, was keeping an eye on him.
A few moments later, GK showed up and said, "Can you use this?" He’d gone to the restaurant’s bathroom and found a piece of wood resembling a yardstick holding a window open. AB, "Oh yes….that’s great!" Meanwhile AM was in the restaurant trying to call a locksmith. He found a number, but got no answer. AB threaded the "yard stick" past the edge of the window with JR providing directions, "Left….now right….a little forward…now press!!" GK shouted, "I heard a click!" and opened the passenger door. Wa La! Success!! AB said, "Someone get to AM and tell him not to call the locksmith!" AM came out of the restaurant…..he was ecstatic with our success!
It was near midnight when we arrived at the condo. We were exhausted!