By Don Daniels
If you know someone who really wants to learn fly-tying or want to learn yourself, the next session will be this Friday at the Vancouver Island Regional Library in Campbell River from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
To register, go to the library during regular hours and enter your name in the draw box and those who qualify will be contacted prior to the Friday session in the activity room. Also, three books will be drawn for. They are Fly-tying by Craig Woods, The Pleasure of His Company by Ralph Shaw and Fly Fishing for trout by Charles Jardine. Those who entered will be contacted by phone and everyone will be looked after as far as tying sessions or if you won a book.
All materials are supplied and seven vises will be set up to get you started in a hobby that will give you endless hours of enjoyment and learn to tie the patterns that actually catch fish around Campbell River. Also, I have made up material packages and they will be given away to those who have qualified to join us on Friday at 12:30.
Beginners chosen will have a chance to work with various materials and you will have a hands-on chance to learn basics and build classic fly patterns like a Green Montana, Doc Spratley or Mickey Finn streamer and the ever-popular black ant pattern that works right now in the Campbell River area and there are ants aplenty.
Weather has been cooler in the month of May and there are high elevation lakes that are still frozen but open water lakes are producing trout and kokanee even on the fly. Echo Lake has good catch reports of trout who are biting snails and various bugs off the bottom. The small fish in the shallows are sticklebacks who average in size 3 to 4 inches and are easy to identify.
Signs posted on the Quinsam River will inform you of what you can fish for and when, later in the summer. Pinks open July 15 to Sept. 15 with a limit of four per day. Coho opens Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 with a limit of four hatchery and only two which may be greater than 40 cm. There is a bait ban and use only single barbless hooks, foul hooked not allowed.
There are a lot of camping and fishing opportunities around Campbell River, driving north to Sayward the boats are on the move. Campsites are getting full and the halibut catch reports from Kelsey Bay have been good and the local campers have spotted otters dragging up halibut carcasses on to beach.
As we approach the month of June we know that the weather will get better and since we have salmon fishing close by, the tourists will start coming and those who supply boats and lodging for anglers this year should be busier than the two previous summers and many lodges will make some changes with staff and how they operate.