Fishing the Thompson River

We've wanted to fish the waters of British Columbia on this trip to Alaska, and we found a day today to go out and try our luck.  British Columbia's fishing regulations are highly complex and restrictive. Other than fishing for trout on local lakes, our only stream fishing choice was along one section of the beautiful Thompson River, one of British Columbia's most important rivers, is home to many species of game fish. Named by Simon Fraser, the namesake of the Fraser River, after the Northwest Trading Company's explorer/topographer David Thompson, this river is huge, with a drainage area of more than 20,000 square miles.

One of the Fraser River's major tributaries, the Thompson provides the highway for millions of spawning Sockeye, Chinook, Coho and Pink salmon. The Thompson River supports 24 fish species, including two that are considered endangered. It also hosts carp, which are not native to the watershed. The river is home to large populations of Pacific salmon, including coho, sockeye, pink and chinook. The Thompson has one of the largest sockeye salmon runs in the world. Rainbow trout are also common.

Several bird species are found in Thompson River environments, including osprey, merganser, wood ducks, and dippers. Golden eagles are found near the confluence with the Fraser, and Bald eagles congregate on the river during the salmon run. Trumpeter swans use the South Thompson on their migratory route. Rattlesnakes are found in the dry sagebrush regions of the lower river. Aquatic insects found in the river system are dominated by three groups: mayflies, midges, and caddisflies. Many of these species emerge with the spring snowmelt, which greatly increases the volume of flow on the river, and they provide ample food for the many fish that inhabit the river through the year.

The only nearby fishing access to the river lies, luckily, in nearby Juniper Beach Provincial Park. Juniper Beach, which lies east of Cache Creek, where we are camped, and west of Kamloops, was established as a Provincial Park in 1989. The park protects a representative desert landscape which contains sagebrush, prickly pear cactus and of course, juniper. Part of the landscape includes deep post-glacial deposits and large scale erosion features.  It also benefits from a special exception to the standard seasonal fishing rules in British Columbia, allowing licensed fishermen to drop a line in the Thompson River before the normal trout season begins on June 1.

When we arrived, we eagerly changed to our waders and rigged our rods, then trekked out over the rounded river stones to the margin of the river, where locals advised us we should try our luck in the backwaters and eddies because the river is currently running so high and hard.

We found a favorable looking stretch along a gravel bar and set about trying to remember all of our fly fishing techniques.  Here is a view looking downstream on the Thompson River, from the point of view of a fisherman:

Upstream views revealed similar desert landscapes and a wide, fast-flowing river:

We both had to make some educated guesses about flies to use.  There was no apparent hatch during the morning, but a friendly fishing couple suggested we try black stoneflies.  Here, Kathy is tying on her stonefly with focused anticipation:

Within a few casts, David's stonefly attracted a 12-inch rainbow trout, which he landed with the assistance of Kathy and her net:

This gave David bragging rights for the day.  We didn't have any further luck all morning, seeing nary a rise and having nary a hit on our lines.  We adjourned back at our truck for a refreshing lunch and then explored downstream to see if we could find better luck in another spot.

The spot we chose was below the park campground, much more isolated than the first spot we had tried in the morning, but graced with some beautiful trees:

We saw a solid caddis hatch and tried to match it with some caddis emergers, but those failed to attract any trout who - nevertheless - were rising around both of us but never attacking our flies. After a couple hours of fruitless attempts to find the flies the trout might find tastiest, we gave up and hiked back to our truck, now just enjoying the scenery and the beautiful, warm, sunny day.

Along the way, we spotted a variety of wildflowers and flowering cactus, including this beauty --

-- and this bright yellow primrose:

It was a quick ride back to the campsite, where we laid our fishing gear out to dry and enjoyed a cool beer while reminiscing about the day's adventure.  We realized it has been many months since we last fished, and we toasted to the hope that we'll find several more fishing opportunities before this Alaska trip is finished.