A River Never Sleeps

When the glaciers retreated from the south coast of British Columbia a little over 10,000 years ago, one of them drew back into a deep, narrow cleft in the mountains from which the Pitt River now flows. The glacier laid down great fields of gravel as it melted; time and the endless currents molded some of that deposit into perfect spawning beds. And the salmon came.

Today the Pitt River, which is still fed by glacial melt, provides some of the most remarkable and productive fish habitat in the province. Bull trout, steelhead, rainbow trout, cutthroat, Dolly Varden, chinook, coho and chum salmon can all be caught in the river. In one tributary is a small, but amazingly beautiful fish that is found nowhere else on the planet - it’s a genetic mix of bull trout and Dolly Varden, two species that have never been known to successfully cross breed before. Here in the valley of the great Pitt River, anything is possible.

You would think a resource like this would be treasured by a nation, which prides itself on environmental awareness. But incredibly enough, within a few months, the government of British Columbia may license away the future of this river by approving a gravel mine that proposes to gouge out as much of that precious glacial gravel as it can in 35 years. The gravel is worth millions, as an aggregate for concrete, as a bedding material for roads and in construction sites.

Oh, did we mention it’s important to the salmon too? Apparently that’s been forgotten.

Mainland Sand and Gravel wants the right to mine in the Pitt watershed, on the banks above the river, and to build a huge shipping facility on the lakefront, between the mouth of the river and Red Slough, where narrow channels and rich weed beds create a perfect nursery for young salmon. ``It is the intent of MSG (Mainland Sand and Gravel) to mine an area of approximately 250,000 square metres in a 33-hectare parcel of land, over a 30 to 35 year period,'' states a government report, recently released by an environmental coalition. The plan shows a barge loading facility extending 150 metres into the lake, and calls for both the relocation of a tributary stream, and the possible draining of two trout lakes, by disrupting groundwater flows. Just so you have the picture complete, the mine would empty trout lakes, "relocate" a salmon stream, disfigure a beautiful waterfront, put up barriers to migrating juvenile salmon and turn the lower Pitt valley into an industrial highway system, with trucks roaring by every five minutes. Hands up all in favor.

Incredibly enough, the B.C. government is leaning towards approving this project and the federal government, which in recent years has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to restore salmon stocks in British Columbia, has not moved to block the mine. The government’s view appears to be that the promise of increased industrial commerce is worth the risk to future salmon stocks.

The Pitt River Area Watershed Network, a coalition of recreational and environmental groups with a collective membership of 60,000 people, has been fighting the gravel mine. But the project hasn’t stirred much of a protest beyond that, for two reasons.

The first is that the river is relatively unknown and the second is that it lies just a few hours from Vancouver. People think a river this close to the city couldn’t be a wilderness treasure. But it is. If the Pitt was located deep in the wilderness there would probably be all kinds of international environmental groups battling to save it, as they have in the past for the Tatshenshini, the Khutzeymateen and the Taku. Where are they now that a river practically in Vancouver’s backyard is at stake? True, the Pitt is not a pristine watershed. Big chunks of it have been logged.

But the river is still remarkably beautiful because there are two parks protecting large portions. The gravel mine is proposed for a narrow, unprotected corridor that runs along the valley bottom. This is the same area that has been heavily logged. Danny Gerak, a fishing guide who has a small lodge on the river, had long hoped that when the last logging show pulled out - which should happen in the next few years - the

watershed would finally be allowed to heal. Now he’s looking at a new threat. "I sometimes wonder if it will ever end," he says. "Where is the government in all of this? Shouldn’t they be here, protecting this for the public?" Indeed they should.

The Pitt is an incredible fishing river. Almost every month one run or another moves into the upper river from Pitt Lake . There are cutthroat in April, steelhead in May, chinook in June and July, sockeye in August and September, Dolly Varden from August to November, coho from September to December and steelhead again in February. Rainbows move in and out of the river and can be hit in any month. Two pound trout are routine, and six pounders have been caught. Dolly Varden and bull trout in the 8-10 lb. range are common - and they reach 20 lbs. Coho run to 20 lbs, but are more typically in the 10 lb. range. Chinook, or springs, reach 35 lbs., but they are few in number. Sockeye are usually 5 to 10 lbs. The river is restricted to single, barbless hooks, and all fish must be released.

When the river is low and clear, the fly fishing is superb, as you wade from bank to bank, moving from up through a series of pools and riffles, crossing gravel bars where there are bear tracks, and spooking big, blacktailed deer that vault for cover. Patterns that imitate fry are deadly for char.

The trout, which are wild, aggressive and unsophisticated, will come up for a Royal Wulff, Adams or Humpy. The fishing often rivals that found in only the most remote areas. But, as in any coastal river, timing is everything. Between runs the river can drop dead. And when the weather warms, glacial melt makes the river too murky or high to fly fish. In the fall, heavy rains can have the same effect because logging has created siltation problems.

When you hit it right, however, the Pitt offers fishing that is as good as anything you will find - anywhere. If you arrive when the char are running - in the fall they follow the salmon up from the lake - you can expect at some point during the day to have your rod practically yanked from your hands. Hooks get straightened. Leaders pop routinely.

When bull trout ( a primitive char related to Dolly Varden) take a fry pattern they do so with a savage slash, typically turning into the fast current the moment they feel the hook.

Fishing down through one run recently, I mended the line to drop the fly back where I’d seen a dorsal fin. The fish created a whirlpool when it turned on the fly, then it turned into the main stream and made a blistering 40 yard run that made me think I was wired to a steelhead. Several minutes later I wrestled a 10 lb. bull trout into the shallows. He glared at me as I twisted the hook free, then thrashed wildly and was gone. My right bicep ached from holding the rod back.

In almost every trip there will be at least one fish like that. It will take you into the backing at high speed, which is a wonderful feeling. The Pitt is relatively lightly fished because it is hard to get to. It takes only 40 minutes to drive from downtown Vancouver to the south end of Pitt Lake, but that's where the road ends. After that you're faced with a daunting boat ride down a lake where the mountains act like a wind funnel. Fishermen do make the trip in car toppers, but when they get to the north end, where the upper Pitt River begins, they find they are still miles away from the best fishing water.

Some take up mountain bikes. Some hike in. The difficult access, together with strict catch-and-release regulations, have given the river a low profile in British Columbia. It is only recently that the river's secrets have started to get out, thanks to Danny Gerak, who built the Pitt Lake Lodge in a grassy clearing on the riverbank. He provides boat or helicopter access (by chopper you can be fishing 40 minutes after leaving a downtown Vancouver hotel) and he has barged an old bus into the upper river, to provide transportation along a network of logging roads. He drops clients off at good runs, and arranges for pick-ups later in the day.

Danny, a commercial fisherman, grew up on the river, and knows it intimately. He is one of those trustworthy guides who will tell you not only what’s running - but more importantly for a moody river like the Pitt, he’ll warn you when conditions are poor. And he will undoubtedly ask you to help in the fight to save this remarkable river. If you’re going to, do it now. Next fall might be too late.