Tales from the British Columbia's Elk River

Last week’s story featuring the deer-hair Black Ant mentioned the fly had fooled many westslope cutthroat trout on the Elk River in British Columbia. So many, in fact, that I headed back across the border last week for a return trip.

Twenty years ago, I fished the Elk River from Sparwood to Morrissey Bridge, a few miles downstream from Fernie, at least three times each fall. The river was crowded at times, but the fall fishing, especially in the afternoons, was outstanding. A special treat was to see bull trout follow and take swipes at a hooked cutthroat.

In 2004, the British Columbia Ministry of Environment instituted an angler management plan to cut down the number of people fishing the Elk River. Their management method was pretty simple — raise the price of fishing the Elk so high that many people will fish elsewhere.

I’ll cover the specifics and how well the plan has worked in a future story. Right now, nonresident aliens (you, me and Mork) pay $40 to fish the Elk River for one day. That fee includes a $20 one-day angling license and a $20 Class II waters license. Annual non-resident alien angling licenses are $80, but you still gotta pay $20 per day to fish the Elk River.

OK, back to the fishing. The Black Ant fooled a half dozen fish, but leaves floating on the water made following the fly difficult. My ol’ cutthroat standby, Madam X, did most of the damage.

When I heard the fly shops charge $40 for a shuttle — and most of the best fishing now is between 3 and 6 p.m. — I wade fished. Wow, could’ve been an $80 day.

But then we forget how many times back in the day when we drove to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and sat all day in the truck because the wind was blowing too hard. Stunning mountains, yellow-aspened shorelines, hungry cutties. Sometimes you just gotta go big!

And the memory of that bull trout at my feet, twice as long as the 13-inch cuttie it was chasing. Priceless.