Gone Fishin'

Last week, Dayven joined his friend Nate, along with Nate's stepfather and stepbrother for a boys' fishing excursion in Fernie, British Columbia. They fished on the Elk River, situated in the East Kootenays of the Canadian Rockies. It originates from the Petein Glacier, which gives it a very clear, emerald green color and also frigid temps. It's said to be the best dry fly river in North America for large West Slope Cutthroat Trout, known as "Cuttys".

Although the others had been fly fishing before, they hired a guide to enhance their experience. It was Dayven's first time and he found it a little more challenging than he expected. It's much more active than the normal fishing he's used to where you just sit in the boat and drink beer. First, you cast your line, then you must continually "mend" the line so that the fly appears to be naturally drifting in the water and not being pulled in the current, which would tip the fish off that it's a set up. Once you see a fish hit the fly, you must "set" the hook by jerking the line to make sure the fish is hooked. Then you begin reeling it in and collect it in your net.  You spend most of the time standing, watching, adjusting, recasting.

The first part of their day, the guide was out in the water and they fished from the drift boats. They must have looked a little too comfy because the guide had them jump in to get the full experience. Dayven and Nate didn't have waders so they just stood in their boots and pants. At first the icy water brought searing pain, but then it just gave way to numbness. Sounds fun, right?

They had pretty good success - catching about 6-7 fish each the first day and 9-10 each the second day. Since the river is strictly catch and release, they weren't able to bring any home so we won't be dining on fresh trout. They still had a great time, with two full days of fishing, followed up with dinner and drinks over many fishing stories, I'm sure. Fishing, outdoors, beer, male bonding - what more could a man ask for?