Comment Gif

A Train Up The Pitt?
Good Idea. Now Bend Over and Let Me Put This Railway Spike....

Just when we thought it was safe to go back to sleep on the river bank (hey, a river never sleeps, but us fishermen do) along comes a train whistle, to wake us up.

Just as we were preparing the February edition for posting on the world wide web, we heard about a proposal to build a railway from the Fraser Valley, along Pitt Lake, up the East side of Pitt River, and across the mountains to Whistler.

This is supposed to be a $200 million answer to the troublesome transportation questions that keep cropping up about the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympic bid.

British Columbia, or at least Vancouver and Whistler, have got the hots for the winter Olympics. And with Vancouver being the most beautiful city in the world, and Whistler being the greatest ski mountain in the world, they would seem to have it in the bag.

Except for the Sea-to-Sky Highway, that links the two. That twisting piece of blacktop is cut into the side of sheer mountain that likes to release boulders the size of pick-up trucks every time it freezes, then thaws.

The highway has a reputation for being deadly - despite the fact that the majority of the accidents can be blamed on alcohol, drugs and speed, not avalanches.

The word is out in international circles, with some critics calling it Death Highway, in the hopes of making British Columbia look more frightening than say, North Korea.

So the Vancouver-Whistler bid has had to start looking around for a transportation fix.

There are some good ideas out there, that call for adding an extra lane to the Sea-to-Sky Highway and putting new, dedicated Olympic trains on the tracks that already run from Vancouver to Whistler, with a nice stop in Squamish.

Then there is the nutty Pitt River option.

Look, a railroad up the Pitt makes about as much sense as shoving a railroad spike up you know where.

For starters the precipitous mountains along Pitt Lake would make it a daunting engineering job. It would be pretty easy to run a line along the Upper Pitt River Valley, if you ever got that far - but pretty soon you’d be facing glaciers and rugged peaks - and you’d be cutting through three beautiful provincial parks along the way.

Expect huge cost over-runs. Enormous environmental damage. And avalanche problems that make the Sea-to-Sky Highway seem as safe as a walk on the Stanley Park Sea Wall.

The government should be taking action on the Upper Pitt. But it shouldn’t be going there to undertake a mega construction project.

What the government should do up there is turn the entire river valley into a park.

Make it British Columbia’s first fishing park - and leave the trains on the tracks that already run to Whistler, where they belong.

What do you think? Visit our online discussion area and post your views.

Letters can be sent via e-mail to: letters@ariverneversleeps.com

Letters Gif

Overcoming Trout Blues

Good Morning Nick !

I was introduced to your site by a friend and as of late. I have been spending a good deal of time reading the articles. This is truly a first class publication. The writers are superb and your photography certainly plays a major part, no doubt about it.
During this time of year, I generally overcome my trout blues by replenishing my fly boxes and I am always on the lookout for new patterns and ideas. With the myriad's of new materials these days, it's most interesting to see what is spurned from the creative minds of fellow tyers. I was a bit disappointed however, that I was unable to find the dressings for some of the patterns shown in A River Never Sleeps.com. Particularly, in the October 2001 issue covering the fly tying contest. Is there a possibility that these could be included in future issues?
Please don't take this as negative criticism, you guys have done a masterful job ! I wish you all the best for continued success in for years to come.

Regards!
Robert Cormier
Co-author / Illustrator of Mayflies
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta

Robert:
That is a great idea. The Flybox is one of the most read sections of A River Never Sleeps.com and we were wondering what we could do to improve it. The descriptions of the Logan Lake Fly Tying contest winner is a natural and we will try for it during the next competition. As always we take the mail and creative ideas like yours very seriously and appreciate you taking the time to write us. If you have any other suggestions for the site or notice any broken links please let me know straight away. Again thanks.
rgds
Nick Didlick

Clean Up The Garbage Dump Now Before It Leaks Into The Pitt River

The Editors:
I grew up in the Haney, Pitt Meadow area, worked as a laborer for many of the farmers in the area of Pitt Lake . We spent many hours on Pitt Lake, canoeing, duck hunting and fishing for cutthroat trout and coho on many of the streams that enter the lake. I remember seeing the mighty Samson ploughing down the lake; it was a converted paddle wheeler that was used to pull dead heads. Logging has been carried out for many years in the Upper Pitt and with it the logging practices of that era are now starting to rear its ugly head.
I purchase my fishing license each year and tied to it is a Habitat Conservation Fund surcharge. I feel that this money would be well spent to help clean up the dump area on the Upper Pitt before a catastrophe that we will all be sorry about takes plaes. I hope that many others think as I do and they will not be so complacent as to not voice their opinions to the proper agencies. I thank you. I thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,
ROBERT A. PINDA
Kelowna, British Columbia ,Canada
Windjammer@cablelan.net


Hi Robert:
Thanks for your note. We agree....that’s exactly the kind of project conservation money should be spent on. And it would be better to spend a little bit now, averting a disaster, than waiting until the dump gets washed into the river by a spring flood.

-Mark Hume

Fan Mail & Envy

Dear Peter McMullan:
I wanted to email you to let you know how much I have been enjoying your work on A River Never Sleeps.com. I developed an interest in fly fishing a couple of years ago (although I am very much still a novice) and I have been soaking up as much about the sport as I can. I just finished reading To Know A River by R.H.B. Ross told me that you were writing for the site quite some time ago and I have been reading it faithfully ever since. . . As you may well imagine, I read your most recent piece about the Pitt River Lodge with true envy.
I am hard pressed to think of a web site on any subject that is better produced. The quality of the writing is superb and the photography is equally breath-taking. Please keep up the fine work.

Best regards,
Jeremy Fraser
Calgary, Alberta

Cover Flies Look Made For B.C. Interior Rivers!

Hi,
First time visitor to your site, with many thanks to the Angler's Atlas site for steering me here.
I am quite impressed and will be sure to tell all my fishing buds! I look forward to having a closer look shortly, but on first glance love the look of your streamer flies for river fishing here in the B.C. Interior.
Regards,
Doug Andrew
Kamloops, B.C.
dgandrew@home.ca

A Fan In Florida

Editors:
This is a wonderful site -- full of great graphics and text. As a retired English teacher who is just now starting fishing, I get all happy when I see "A River Never Sleeps" land in my mailbox. Happy New Year to all on your staff and all the readers of this site.

- LuciaAnne Bliss-Hay
Largo, Florida USA
shadbuddy@yahoo.com

Hi LuciaAnne:
Thanks for your kind note. I can't tell you how much it means to the people who put out A River Never Sleeps to know that their efforts are appreciated.
And stay tuned....in an upcoming issue we're going to feature some bass poppers that I think might come in useful in your home waters!
-Cheers,
Mark Hume

Re-Runs for A River Runs Through It?

The Editors:
You should review "A River Runs Through It". This was a great movie about some Montana boys and how their life was influenced by fly fishing and their priest for a father. Eelpouts 4 Ever!

-Trevor Sliwk
flyfishesalberta@hotmail.com

Hi Trevor:
Thanks for the suggestion. We all know the movie here, and love it. We sometimes forget that others haven't discovered it yet....and the great book it was based on. We might review both the book and the movie sometime in the future.....every fly fishermen should know about them.
-Cheers,
Mark Hume

An Open Letter To Canada’s Minister of Fisheries

Honourable Herb Dhaliwal
House of Commons
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Parliament Buildings, Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON   K1A 0A6
 
Dear Minister:

How can the Department of Fisheries and Oceans continue to allow this herring roe fishery? The herring seine fishery uses aircraft to spot the herring concentration near the kelp beds. Under these conditions, the total allowable catch is too high. Many areas that used to have abundant herring populations are now almost devoid of herring. It all comes back to the almighty dollar. Let's ruin our resource for the sake of the Japanese love for roe herring.
 
I agree with the late Mike Crammond quoted below. 
"DFO has the God-damndest record you ever saw." In 1972, Mike Cramond wrote:
"Anyone who looks at the statistics. . .and still wants to allow a herring
seine fishery in Pacific Coast waters doesn't give a damn for the common
welfare, or the future of his country's resources.”
 
DFO give your head a shake!
 
Neville Gosling
Surrey, British Columbia


And The News Release That Prompted The Missive: 
 
FOR:  FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA
JANUARY 4, 2002 - 15:26 EST
Management Plans For Roe Herring And Herring
Spawn-On-Kelp Announced

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced today that the 2002 Integrated Fishery Management Plans for roe herring and herring spawn-on-kelp (SOK) fisheries have been finalized and released.  These fisheries are scheduled to open in late February and continue until the end of April.

Herring catch quotas are conservatively set based on a fixed harvest rate of 20 per cent or less.  The abundance levels of all five herring stocks, located in the Strait of Georgia, Central Coast, Prince Rupert, West Coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI) and Queen Charlotte Island areas, are at sufficient levels to allow harvest. Small harvestable surpluses are available in the Queen Charlotte Islands and WCVI, areas that were closed to commercial roe herring in 2001 due to low abundance levels. Roe herring and SOK harvests in these areas will be managed in a precautionary manner in 2002 to allow the stocks to continue rebuilding.

The largest of the herring fisheries is the roe herring fishery, with many First Nations commercial fishermen participating.  For the roe herring fishery, the specific fishing locations in each region are determined by major concentrations of fish and the potential for the highest roe yield. Opening dates and times for the commercial fishery are announced on the fishing grounds according to when the roe reaches a maturity level of optimum quality.


First Nations fisheries for food, social and ceremonial purposes have been allocated between three and five per cent (approximately 1,360 tonnes or 1,500 tons) of the herring fisheries total allowable catch (TAC).  Food, social and ceremonial fisheries include whole herring, spawn-on-kelp and spawn-on-bough. 

The TAC for the commercial roe herring fishery has been set at approximately 75 to 80 per cent of the allowable catch of all herring.  This results in an allowable harvest of 24,040 tonnes (26,500 tons) coastwide for commercial harvesters with a category "H" licence in 2002.  Licences in this fishery are limited to 252 seine and 1,257 gillnet licence privileges being issued annually.

Since the implementation of pooling as a management tool in roe herring fishery, these fisheries have seen a substantial improvements in compliance with quota limits.  The fishery will also include an on-grounds monitoring and 100 per cent dockside monitoring of all commercial landings.

The recreational sector participates in the herring fishery, with a daily limit of 20 kilograms of whole herring. Methods of harvest include dip net, herring jib, herring rake and cast net. Recreational harvest of spawn-on-kelp is not permitted.The recreational sector participates in the herring fishery, with a daily limit of 20 kilograms of whole herring. Methods of harvest include dip net, herring jib, herring rake and cast net.

Recreationally harvesting SOK is not permitted. The 2002 commercial SOK fishery will be carried out in four of the five major stock regions in B.C., as well as a number of other locations outside the major stock areas. The SOK fishery is carried out under the authority of a category "J" and "FJ" licence that is issued either to an individual or to a native band. 

Currently, there are a total of 46 commercial SOK licence privileges available annually, of which 37 are held by First Nations. The herring allocation for the SOK fishery is 3,746 tonnes (4,130 tons) commercial licence holders.  

Improved harvesting practices in the SOK fishery are reducing the number of herring mortalities.  To date, the majority of SOK operations are carried out using closed pond techniques that incur
some incidental herring mortality.  However, in recent years, precautionary strategies such as open pond techniques have been utilized more extensively, thereby minimizing herring mortalities.

Working to develop precautionary harvest strategies recognizes the critical importance of herring SOK fisheries to the financial well being of many coastal aboriginal communities. This precautionary approach is consistent with advice received from First Nations and the herring fishing industry.

Catch monitoring is a critical component of the individual quota management system in the commercial SOK fishery.  The industry-funded monitoring program provides the necessary management control and contributes to the control of illegal fishing activity in this fishery.  As with the roe herring fisheries, there will be 100 per cent dockside monitoring of all commercial landings in the commercial SOK fishery.

Both the roe herring and the herring spawn-on-kelp Integrated Fishery Management Plans were developed through extensive consultations with the herring fishing industry and coastal First Nations.

Each year, Pacific Scientific Advice Review Committee (PSARC) formulates stock forecasts and harvest recommendations by assessing current abundance and determining the factors that may affect a stock's abundance. With conservation goals in mind, these scientific recommendations are the basis for the fishery management decisions that are made by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Diana Trager
Pelagics Coordinator
(604) 666-3637

A Reader, Offended

Editor:
I just learned about your website from the Penticton Flyfishers Journal. While I like the contents of your site, the black background of all the pages is very unpleasant, to say the least.
I am somewhat disappointed, but I simply refuse to go to sites that offend me. This letter was a waste of time, right???
- Herb Schwabe
herb_31@hotmail.com

Yes Herb, it was a waste of time if you thought it would result in a web site redesign. Although we always like to hear from readers, we've so far recorded only a handful of complaints about the black background, while recording more than four million hits a year from fly fishermen in over 40 countries. The vast majority, it seems, like what they see and read on the world’s greatest - free - fly fishing web site, and they keep coming back!
If you want to know what others think of the site, you should check out the guest book comments.
One of the great things about the web, of course, is that if you don't like a site, you can just click away somewhere else.
Happy clicking!

-Mark Hume
Editor,
A River Never Sleeps.com

Catch A Fish and Let It Go

As I watch other fishermen catching fish with "hardware", I feel both annoyed and saddened that these beautiful creatures are mutilated and very often not released.
If released, most will face certain lingering pain ‘till death. In this day and age, nobody needs to fish for food. Our fish stock is being depleted because of these few who over the years have over-fished and continue to be ignorant of the need to change to a more challenging and rewarding experience of flyfishing and releasing their catch.
As a publishing company you and others in the fishing field have an oblgation to lobby both the public and both governments to implement flyfishing and catch and release only.
As you should be well aware of without fish your buisness is redundent.
I will be looking forward to future articles on this subject.
Thank you,
Barry Radelet
Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Fly2@Telus.Net

Thanks For Turning Me On To The Pitt River

Dear Editor,

I wanted to thank you for your recommendation of the Pitt River and it's lodge run by Dan & Lee Gerak. Dan knows every inch of his river and made sure we hit all the best holes. The fishing was just fantastic as we caught wild Rainbows to four pounds, bulls to nine and silvers till ours arms ached. Some so fresh they were carrying sea lice.
The Pitt has beautiful water up and down it's whole length. Around every bend was another fishy looking run. The Geraks were great down to earth people who went out of their way to make us feel comfortable even though we were the "Ugly Americans". This is really a special place. You know, I first found their web site and yours by accident. I was doing a search for articles on the effects of mining on pristine BC rivers. If the proposed mine had gone through on the Pitt, your country would have lost a national treasure.
And me and the guys would have never found our new favorite river. If your article was seen by us down here in California, I'm sure it had a considerable positive effect on the fight to stop the proposed mining operation. Now if you can just write a rousing article to bring attention to the helicopter logging, this river would be perfect. Thanks to people like you , who value lovely places like The Pitt, we can now go back this spring to try our luck with, what I hear, are some of the most beautiful steelhead in the world. I have no doubt. Please keep up the good work.

Thanks ,

Shawn Martinez
Sacramento, California
desiraem@excite.com


Shawn:
So glad you found your way to the Pitt. It is an awesome river....and those spring steelhead are gorgeous.
Hope to see you there one day!
-Mark Hume

{E-mail letters may be edited for clarity, taste and brevity. It is understood they express the opinions of the writers, not the editors.}