8 THE STEELHEADER NEWS Spring 2003 Edition ARMY & NAVY Licenses Rods & Reels Complete Tackle (Salt, Fresh & Fly) DAIWA SHIMANO PENN SCOTTY GIBBS QUANTUM ZEBCO BERKLEY MUSTANG SCIENTIFIC ANGLER FLIES Fishing & Camping Headquartrers Unit 100 5501-204 St 604-514-1774 New Store Now Open Langley 502 Columbia St. New West. (604) 526-4661 27 W. Hastings St. Vancouver (604) 682-6644 Unit 100 - 5501 - 204 St Langley (604) 514-1774 DAIWA SHIMANO PENN SCOTTY GIBBS QUANTUM ZEBCO BERKLEY MUSTANG SCIENTIFIC ANGLER FLIES Fishing & Camping Headquartrers Licenses Rods & Reels Complete Tackle (Salt, Fresh & Fly) 13756-104 ave.Surrey, BC (604) 582-2771 We’ve Got it All “The Best Little Lure House in the Lower Mainland” JING’S RESTAURANT Chinese & Thai Cuisine 604 792-7394 45709 Hocking Ave. Chilliwack LUNCH 11-2:30 DINNER 4-9 Smorgasborg $8.99 $6.95 Lunch: Dinner: Smorgasborg T o ake ut 15% off Mention The Steelheader extent scuds. And as a matter of anecdotal reference Rowley says that trout are predominantly in the upper column or the bottom column of water or somewhere near the top or bottom similar to rivers. The last gadget that Rowley recommends are binoculars. In concluding his seminar on basic trout lake angling Phil reiterated two points: 1) Comfort (zone) - proper temperature, oxygen and barometric pressure and 2) Protection - water surface, light, structure/vegetation and water depth. Phil recommended focusing on weed beds, shoal areas, insect life cycles, food sources and behaviors. After the seminar came the tour of the hot items for sale at unbelievable prices that Roger Dornan, owner of Hub Sports in Abbotsford, is known for – ie. , float tubes for $59.95 . . . unbelievable. To round off the day Kevin Longard taught all of us a refresher on fly casting in his comedic and entertaining manner. The loop was the most important part of casting and we payed particular attention to it ie. , if you move your wrist back and forth while casting your loop formation goes all to pot – so to speak. During casting it’s important to keep your arm at your side and to use a rigid wrist. Two casts reviewed as well, which incidentally are extremely important in river fishing, are the roll cast where you lift the rod in front of you and flip the loop out and the steeple cast where the cast is sent up high in the air at about a one o’clock angle almost straight up from the back of your head. Both casts are used in restricted back cast scenarios. During normal casting circumstances, looking at the caster from the side, the actual casting angles are between about 11am and 1pm on the clock – with a drop in the rod tip after the forward cast. When casting into the wind Longard crouched down and casted horizontal to the surface and from the side. As well, while casting into the wind Longard attempted a tighter loop. Longard also reviewed the double haul – the cast I still have problems with - the line hand makes a jerky down and up motion while lifting the line off the water and again when propelling the loop from the back cast. Kevin made the double haul look so easy and rhythmic in contrast to my attempts which looked like a drunken boxing match. With what appears to be the certain demise of pacific salmon on the west coast of BC it’s comforting to know that there will almost always be trout to fish in the lakes of this great province. You can’t go too far wrong with the fly. Rowley From pg. 7 VANCOUVER, BC -For the second year in a row, the Okanagan River has earned top spot on the province’s “ten most endangered riv- ers” list. It is followed closely by the Englishman River and the Taku River, both of which face immedi- ate and serious threats. “The Endangered Rivers List highlights the many threats confronting our wa- terways while also illustrat- ing the need to better care for our rivers” notes Mark Angelo, Chair of the Out- door Recreation Council’s Endangered Rivers Commit- tee. The Okanagan River is under serious threat due to the impacts of water extrac- tion, channelization, urban encroachment, riparian habi- tat loss and the building of dams and weirs. Fish habitat has been severely degraded and, in many sections, the waterway resembles more of a ditch than a river. In spite of this, the Okanagan continues to sustain one of the few viable sockeye populations in the Columbia system and has great potential for a significant river restoration program. Second on the list is the Englishman River on Vancouver Island. Steelhead stocks on the Englishman are at crisis levels and, on many river systems throughout the Georgia Basin, steelhead returns are just 10 - 15% of what was observed in the 1980s. While deteriorating ocean conditions may be partly to blame, the decline of fresh water habitats has played a key role as well. The Englishman is also facing new threats as local major forest companies be- gin putting large riverside lots of land for sale, com- pounding existing problems with urbanization, water extraction, water contami- nation and the destabilization of steep banks. In third place is the Taku River in northwestern BC. The Taku, BC’s most threat- ened wilderness river, faces the prospect of a controver- sial mine and 160 km long access road along the unde- veloped valley bottom. Creeks, sloughs and aqui- fers of the Fraser farmbelt occupy fourth place on the Endangered Rivers List this year. Fecal coliform and streptococcal levels have been found in high levels in many irrigation-linked wa- terways, making this a major environmental and health issue. The major cause is the inappropriate disposal of large volumes of manure, in winter months, in violation of waste management regu- lations. The Fraser, a perennial member of the list, finds itself in fifth place. New to the list this year is a summary of the top manage- ment and policy issues re- lated to BC’s rivers, based on province-wide input from river enthusiasts. Heading these concerns is the shortage of staff and funding for provincial environment agen- cies and the federal DFO. The number 2 issue focuses on the hundreds of small scale hydro-electric propos- als now being reviewed and the difficulty in properly evaluating all these from an environmental perspective with so few staff. The third issue cites growing concerns about excessive water extrac- tion on some systems at the expense of fish. In response to the list, said Angelo, “the Council is calling on the BC govern- ment to follow through on its commitment to implement an extensive and effective Liv- ing Rivers Strategy. Such an initiative would aim to proactively protect fish habi- tat while trying to restore those rivers that have been damaged in the past.” The Endangered Rivers List represents the views of river enthusiasts across BC, as well as the Council’s 120,000 members. In addition, nomi- nations are received from resource professionals throughout the province who are responsible for managing our rivers. The Council’s Endangered Rivers Commit- tee oversees this process. BC’s ten most endangered rivers of 2003. Threats to each river are provided in brackets. 1. Okanagan (channelization, water extraction, agricul- tural runoff) 2. Englishman River and other Georgia Basin Steel- head rivers (habitat loss, logging, urbanization, in- dustrialization) 3. Taku (mine development, road construction, resource extraction) 4. Creeks, Sloughs and Aquifers in the Fraser Val- ley Farmbelt (agriculture practices and inappropriate manure disposal) 5. Fraser River - with a special emphasis on the lower main-stem and the Goat River headwaters area (urbanization, logging, in- dustry, loss of riparian habitat, contaminated sites, gravel extraction) 6. Nechako (dam related impacts, possible new dredg- ing above dam impacting water quality, temperature and flow regimes, concern over endangered sturgeon) 7. Iskut River (proposed independent power project, new road construction) 8. Rivers of the Broughton Archipelago (fish farms af- fecting survival of wild pink salmon on the Kakweiken, Glendale, Wakeman, Lull and Ahnuhati) 9. The Zyomoetz (extensive logging, road development, increased fishing pressure) 10. Tied Kiskatinaw and Nicola Rivers (excessive water allocation) (ORC, March 8, 2003) Okanagan river tops 2003 endangered rivers