Sept_2015_Newsletter

HARDCOR FISH TALES
Another successful bid at a SCI auction in Drayton Valley
brought me the great fortune of meeting the Hillman family
and friends. The Hillmans have a fishing camp set up south
of Atlin, British Columbia, which is accessed by a half hour
helicopter ride. This trip was going to be one I will never
forget and recommend to anyone who enjoys angling for big
Salmon and seeing Grizzly bears. I was accompanied on this
particular trip by my friend Ryan.
The day had arrived at the end of June, Ryan and I were packed
up and on a plane headed for Whitehorse in the Yukon. Upon
arrival in Whitehorse we settled into our hotel and the hotel
bar for a couple of drinks before our fishing adventure was
to begin. Now on a side note, I'm a big fan of Gold Rush, low
and behold but who came into the bar that evening......Parker
Schnabel, one of the cast members from Gold Rush. I must
say now I'm not as big of a Parker fan as I was before. He
asked for a beer but last call had already passed so I said “Hey
Parker, I have an extra one if you want it.” He just scoffed at
me and left. What a pompous jerk. Anyway back to the fishing.
The next day brought our transportation from Whitehorse
to Atlin. Ryan and I were picked up by the Mayor of Atlin,
George, a witty older gentleman that sort of had that Colonel
Sanders look about him. As George was driving us he had
many stories of the town of Atlin as he had lived there most
of his life. The one story he told Ryan and I which I will never
forget is; "Boys, there are two girls for every guy in Atlin.....the
same two, but two never the less". Both Ryan and I had a huge
chuckle over that one and will never forget it.
Our first fishing day had now arrived. We were at the heli pad
where we met up with Mary and Elaine. These ladies were to
be our camp cooks for the week while we were in the camp.
We boarded the helicopter and flew south along the Atlin
Lake over a continental divide and arrived at the Hillman
camp. The camp was set up on the mountainside some 100
yards up from the Nakina River, which we would be fishing
during our stay. The accommodations were cabin style with
beds and a fireplace, what more could you ask for in such a
remote accessible camp.
Ryan and I were guided by Jordan, John and Brad during our
five days. We walked and waded into fishing holes like "Home
Pool, Rainbow Pool, Lees Run, The Gorge", etc. Ryan and I
fished a variety of different methods for our quarry, which was
the Chinook salmon. We used gear rods, Spey rods and also I
brought along my 8 weight fly rod. The gear is easy to fish; bait,
foam float, cast, repeat…pretty straight forward. The Chinook
were hitting this method repeatedly, and don't get me wrong
after a couple hour drought with no fish on the Spey or fly rod
I would chuck some gear just to get a couple landed.
While I did manage to catch and land a couple of Chinook
on my fly rod, the method in which I fished almost entirely
was the Spey or Skagit. While Spey and Skagit are similar for
casting techniques, Skagit does employ relatively short lines
and shooting heads. I had never tried this method of casting as
compared to the regular fly cast but for chucking big flies and
weight with minimal effort, this is the way to do it. I learned
three different techniques of casting the Spey rod, all of which
involve using the water as an anchor. The variety of casts I
learned and used were: the Double Spey, the Snap-t, and the
Snake Roll. All were useful in my new found method of casting
big flies and weight to willing salmon in the river.
Catching these monsters that average 16 to 30 pounds on a
14 foot Spey rod was right up my ally and as near to a fly rod
as you can get, you feel everything that fish is doing both in and
out of the water. Rolling up on these fishing holes you could
see the salmon stacked up waiting to move further up stream
to their spawning beds. We would wade into the water a bit
cast, drift, wait, repeat. An explosion of power would erupt
when these fish would lash out at our offerings. The sheer
thrill of having one of these big fish on was something I will
never forget.
While both Ryan and myself caught and released many fish
everyday, it was Ryan that caught the biggest fish of our trip,
sorry bud have to say it.......while using gear. Nevertheless it was
a 50 plus behemoth and he had a battle on his hands for sure.
After setting the hook on our last day on this huge salmon it
took off back to the ocean or downstream from where we
were. Brad and I had moved down to Home Pool to await
Ryan and John. They never arrived the 500 yards downstream
and managed to land this fish mid River between pools and
took some great photos of the last fish landed on our trip.
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