Itchy and Scratchy
I love fishing. Whether it’s fresh water or salt water, the idea of going out with friends or family and spending the day outdoors is a good thing.
In October of 2008, I went home for a week to spend some time with the family. Upon arrival, my dad gave me a fly rod that had been given to him by my uncle. I’d never really spent any time fly-fishing. I usually spend more time in the saltwater and on Quadra Island, if you don’t have hip waders, you’re pretty much using a casting rod because of the trees and bushes surrounding the lakes and creeks. You say, “well use a boat”, but the best fishing spots are usually a good hike through the woods, and the thought of packing a boat around in the woods wasn’t a realistic one, until I got that first big trout on the fly rod.
October 21st 2008
I was pacing back and forth waiting for a phone call from my friend Scotty Stride. I couldn’t wait to try out my new fly rod. We drove out to Straumberg Lake around 11:00am and hiked in the back way along Benner’s Woodlot. This is our regular fishing spot on Straumberg Lake. It’s just open enough to get an okay cast with a fly rod, however it’s really an area for a spinning rod. Scotty and I hung around for about 2-3 hours catching nothing on the fly rod, but we managed to hook a couple cuttys on the casting rod. The whole time I kept looking across the lake checking out possible spots to fish with a boat, while wondering if it was possible to get a boat down to the lake somehow. After getting home I called my buddy Matt and asked him about it. He told me it’s possible, but we would have to go through private property and carry a boat a long way. I convinced him to call me if he could get out for a fish one of the next few evenings.
October 22nd 2008
I got up around 7:00am and brewed up some good ol’ instant coffee for the thermos. Today the old man and I were going to Main Lake, which is easily accessible by boat. The fog was beginning to lift as we broke water about 8:45am. I began practicing my fly-casting technique as my dad maneuvered the boat along the shoreline. We spent the majority of the day fishing behind the Camp Homewood campsite about half way up the first part of the lake. After many failed attempts at “fly-fishing”, combined with tangles and ineffectiveness, we went home. Our only catches of the day were fish too small to keep. However, even with the lack of productiveness, the itch for catching a nice fish on the fly had begun to grow.
October 23rd 2008
Just like the day before, I got up at around 7:00am and headed back to Main Lake with my dad and mom this time. We paddled out to the same area as the previous day and set up for a morning of fly-fishing. I knew there were cutthroats in this area, as the creek was running into the lake, and the time of year was perfect for anything red. After fishing the reeds for a half hour, with no luck, I paddled back over to an area closer to the mouth of the creek. It was now around 9:30am. After a few casts, I decided to let my fly sink a bit longer with each cast. Within two casts, bang, there he was. I pulled the cutty into the boat and it was about 11inches. Not huge by any means, but still bigger than anything prior. Now I was excited about the potential here. A bit later, I caught one about nine inches and had a couple more strikes. After trying out some other spots it was time to head in.
At about 3:30pm the same day, I got a call from my buddy Matt. He was off work early and he wanted to go look for trout on Straumberg Lake. We drove out along some logging roads until we came to what looked like some kind of homestead. We followed the creek, along this person’s property, down to the lake. We saw a nice looking Kokanee holding its position in the bottom of the creek and I knew we were into something. We borrowed a boat that was sitting in the bushes and decided to fish the mouth of the creek, about 30 feet out. On my second cast my itch was scratched. The rod went down hard and the fight was on. Headshakes followed by aerial routines and long runs exploded before me. The fight lasted about 12 minutes and the cutthroat laid on its side in defeat. We continued to fish until the sun went down, catching five more and having countless hits. I used the same fly the whole time, a wet fly with a red body and a peacock tail on my dry line.
I went fishing the next day with a casting rod from the shore, however the excitement wasn’t there. When I get back to Victoria, the search is on for good fly-fishing on the south end of Vancouver Island.
