Hi,
I will be shortly travelling from jasper to vancoover August, i am intersted in doing some spin casting and fly fishing for trout or whatever comes my way, i have allready purchased a fishing licence but have no fishing equpiment really, i would say that i am a a beginnner with fly fishing as i have only fished a couple of summers hear on the rivers in Ireland, Could you please advise on some suitable gear for fly fishing(rod/reel/fly line/traces and accesories) on lakes rivers in August in BC for a beginner with some experience with 5 days to do as much fishing as possible!,
yours sincerely,
Zinadeen

Zin, you're asking a question that is almost impossibly broad. BC, as they say, is big country and the fishing is tremendously varied.

In general, it's very hard to go wrong with a 9 foot 5/6 weight rod and matching reel with a general purpose WF line . This is an almost universal trout rod that can take on many different types of water and do it fairly well. You'll want a 4 piece rod so it travels well.

A spinning rod will depend on what and where you want to spin fish. Again, a as a general purpose rod, I'd be tempted to go for something at about 7 feet in a light to medium action.

Beyond that it's hard to be more specific unless you lay out more specific intentions. Be sure to save for other gear, you'll most likely need waders, boots, and a vest if you don't already have them.

Grouse

Very simple Zinadeen, leave plenty of room in your case and buy everything out there.
The local tackle shop will kit you out with exactly what you need at a price that is mostly better than anything here at home.

Zinadeen,

I was in BC last August/September. When you get close to Van stop in a small town called Hope. You have the Fraser River there. Call at Cheyenne Sports and they'll put you right. Last year there was a huge run of Pink salmon - humpies to you & me. They can be ludicrously easy to catch, fight like mad and weigh in at around 3-6lb on average. There are two or three good spots in Hope. Buy your flies at Cheyenne.

Also near Hope is the Skagit river. This is a super little river, but is a bit remote - about a 50km drive up a forest road. However, it's worth the effort.

Your route should take you through Kamloops. There are more lakes there than you could ever hope to fish plus the Thomson River. About 2 hours north on Highway 5 you'll come to Clearwater and on the way you go through the little town of Little Fort. There's an excellent tackle store there who will give all the latest and best info. In Kamloops visit Wholesale Sports Outfitters - it is a tackle store to wonder at. It's on Notre Dame Drive.

If you stop in Clearwater head for the Clearwater river. It is a stunning river in really wild country. There's a fairly decent roadway up towards Helmecken Falls and a gravel forest road beyond that.

I used a 9'6" 7/8 for both steelhead and for the pinks. Make sure you have a good sink-tip or better still a decent floater with a fast sinking salmon/steelhead polyleader. Also take a couple of packs of spilt shot in BB and AA sizes. You'll find them useful. An 8'6" or 9' 4 weight will be fine for the Skagit.

If you need any more info just pm me.

Cheers, there is some really helpful info there, think i will do a little more research...

hi,

bobp is right,i was there last year early sept and there where pinks everywhere i tried the sinking lines tips all worked but found if you get flies with a tungsten head put on an intermedate line and you'll have sore arm the sinking lines tend to fool hook a lot of fish,I alsi fished roddicks dam out by hope mountain lake with wild rainbows..**** there is monster in there..use hare's ears size 10 and corixa if the weather gets cold and for real easy fun use an indicator....i had 32 trout in there from 9inches to a 10lb...well worth a shot if you can..we went with Sts Fishing Guides - Your best guides for fishing in the Fraser River have a look at the photo's..what a place canada would love to live there...best of luck and if you need any more info just ask

Blobby