I'd like to tell you
a little about myself so that you know the source from whence the trivia
is coming.
Origins
The Vancouver
area (Lower Mainland) has been my lifelong location (born, raised and
worked here for the past 54 years). I currently reside in Port Moody with
my life partner, Linda. I’ve seen a lot of change in the area, all
of it related to population increase. Streams I used to fish as a kid
are either gone, changed or crowded with people . The commute to work
used to be fifteen minutes. It’s now half an hour on a good day.
Bad days are committed to memory delete, and I fill those spaces with
day dreams about fishing.
Angling background
My lifelong passion
for flyfishing began about age 14. This passion was strongly influenced
by PGE rail trips to the bountiful upper Cheakamus River for rainbow trout.
There was hiking/fishing trips in the Rockies
, where trout were elusive and challenging. These excursions in the scenic
mountains suggested there was much more to successful angling than catching
fish . I did start with bobber and worm. However, almost immediately this
was replaced with flyrod and fly after being influenced by expert flyfishers
on the Cheakamus, and being the fortunate recipient of a mint cane fly
rod, and all the gear. Perhaps my angling education has been narrowed
in scope by this early specialization. Sometimes I feel guilty about it
- mostly I don’t.
The beauty and technique
of casting a fly has always fascinated me. Recently, I have spent more
time studying casting techniques and the art of teaching fly casting.
I am a certified casting instructor under the Federation of Flyfishers
"Fly Casting Instructor Certification Program".
I do not feel qualified
as an "expert" in the world of angling and would rather be considered
as a "dabbler" in most aspects of flyfishing. I’ve fished
in a lot of different areas for a lot of different species with a lot
of different fly gear. I tie very mediocre flies (which seem to be getting
shabbier as my patience ages), and I cast a single handed rod reasonably
well, but am only starting to get the hang of this two handed stuff.
In 1968, I was one
of a small group of keeners who started the Osprey Fly Fishers of BC .This
is the second oldest fly fishing club in the province. I’ve weathered
and enjoyed the ups and downs of this group’s dynamics to this day.
And then there
is work
For the past 29 years,
I have worked as a provincial government fisheries biologist in the Lower
Mainland Region, mainly concentrating on the management of steelhead and
other sea-run trout and char. These days, many different interests compete
to make fisheries management both frustrating and challenging. It may
be presumptuous in my thinking, but I feel that the job, and my interests
in angling, give me a rather unique, and hopefully, useful ability to
interpret things of importance to anglers.
Writing background
My writing experience
is not varied or extensive in any formal or professional sense.
For 24 years (until
1996) I was the editor of the "Osprey News", the official paper
of the Osprey Fly Fishers of BC. In 1986 I was a chapter contributor in
the Canadian best selling angling book "The Gilly" (edited by
Alf Davy). Remarkably, this book survives today in its ninth printing,
having raised almost $100,000 for conservation as part of the BC Federation
of Flyfishers "Gilly Fund".
Writing outlook
for this column
In my writing and
photography for BC Adventure, I hope you will allow me to dabble in a
variety of topic areas including innovative gear and methods; the aesthetics
of the angling experience; the future of angling; being neighbourly on
the water; fish and fly casting. What I will try my darndest not to do,
in this age of instant communication and growing angler population, is
direct a lot of anglers to sensitive fisheries, with small wild fish populations
and very little angler elbow room. So forget the "secret spot"
stuff from me.
I will welcome and
appreciate feedback from anyone in computerland who wants to comment.
Peter's
Arcticles...
