Newsman's sport fishing column and report

Weekly Fraser Valley Sport fishing column; July 13 to 20, 2014

Last week I made public the great fishing to be found in and around the city of Mission. This week I wish to make public the other sides of fishing around Mission.

I am sad to say that while Mission has good fishing opportunities, within ten to twenty minutes from its downtown; it is not the fishing friendly town it could be, if all its venues were opened to the public. Mission has great potential, besides what is available along the Fraser River. It has two trophy bass lakes; Silvermere to the west and Hatzic to the east, with Silvermere feasibly being the best bass fishery in the province. Unfortunately neither of these lakes have a public boat launch for our community or our visitors. To make matters worse, one of the lakes is so anti angler; that anglers who do manage to fight their boats onto it, have been met with very unfriendly conduct from the locals. For example; anglers have had their watercrafts rammed, and swamped, as well as been pelted with rocks, and on occasion shot at. One of those firearms offences happened to be against a father fishing with his eight old son.

We also have the Stave River which provides reasonable opportunities for trout, steelhead, white fish, and first class salmon fishing; but there is next to nothing for pullover parking. Most of the ruffed out parking that was used in the past, has been posted, no parking, by the City of Mission. Then there are the many streams that feed into the Fraser River, to the east and west of the city; all hold a healthy population of cutthroat trout, again none have reasonable access or efficient parking. Of the handful of lakes to the north of town, only two have reasonable access and only one could be considered family friendly.

The question is; does Mission want fishermen, tourists, and their families to visit this city and enjoy their stay while they are here?



The Report

Fishing on our lower mainland lakes is slow to fair. We are in full on summer mode, so early mornings and late evenings are your key to success. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try: Wooly Bugger, Zulu, Baggy Shrimp, Dragonfly Nymph, Doc Spratley, or Halfback. For dry (floating) fly fishing try: Griffith Gnat, Royal Coachman, Black Gnat, Irresistible, Renegade, or Elk hair Caddis. For kokanee try: Bloodworm, San Juan Worm, Red Ibis, Red Spratley, or Kokanee killer.

The bass and pan fish, fishing is good. For bass try: Big Black, Clouser’s Deep Minnow, Lefty’s Deceiver, Dolly Whacker, Wooly Bugger, Pumpkinhead, Gomphus Bug, Popin Bug, Foam Frog, Chernobyl Ant, or Stimulator. For Pan fish try: Wooly Bugger, Micro Leach, Halfback, Pumpkinhead, Dolly Whacker, Tied Down Minnow, Popin Bug, or Chernobyl Ant.

Our interior lakes are slow to fair. Try: Pumpkinhead, Big Black, Micro Leach, 52 Buick, Sixpack, Butlers Bug, Dragon Nymph, Green Spratley, or Baggy Shrimp, for fishing wet. For dry fly action try: Lady McConnel, Big Ugly, Black Gnat, Tom Thumb, or Irresistible.

Our rivers are still running a bit on the high side. Reports have been slow and spotty. The salmon count remains excellent. Spring fishing on the Fraser opens on the Wednesday the 16th.