By Don Daniels
For many people living in Campbell River, winter fishing can be varied, but the people who have gone south to places like Mexico are thinking “what are they doing?”
So far this month, the weather has gotten colder and we have been surrounded by reports of snow and the Northwest winds have been blowing on certain days. There are a handful of anglers that get out fishing for salmon in this but they simply get out and get back in. There are many anglers who think it’s not worth the effort to get out spend money on gas and get cold fishing.
The winter springs are out there but the bottom line is being comfortable and being safe on the water. This time of year you can see the limited boat traffic by the Lighthouse and the Hump. Water taxi services run 12 months of the year and they know the water like the back of their hand and they run across certain situations during the cold bad weather days.
Kim Eccles has been operating a boat that runs from Campbell River to the Bute Inlet area and the weather can be challenging. Water taxi operators take people and supplies to various locations around the Islands.
A hazard to navigation is a partially submerged buoy can at Fawn Bluff located 50 meters off the beach. A few days ago there was an attempt to free the buoy but the chain has it anchored and the can is still there. I had a chance to be in the area last year just before the whale watching season began and this area has heavy boat traffic in the spring and summer months. The summer is also the busy season for salmon fishing and plenty of boat traffic is evident.
At the beginning of the week, local lakes such as Echo, Mirror and Little Echo had ice on parts of the lake but there is open water although temperatures have fallen. The colder weather will thicken the ice but not enough to walk on so in general STAY OFF THE ICE and leave ice fishing to the anglers in the Interior of B.C.
I have four confirmed dates for my free fly tying for beginners sessions in Campbell River and Sayward. Sessions would be of interest to anyone who wants to get started in learning the basics in fly tying and all materials are there to get a hands-on experience to see if this is for you. Dates in Campbell River are the last Sunday of the month in January, February and March and times are from 1 to 3 p.m. In Sayward I’m at the new library Sunday, Feb. 9 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Come on down try your hand at fly tying and talk some fishing.