Stories by Scott

With the rain and cooler temps during the month of June, the Little Campbell (Tatalu) River was running strong during early summer.  But we knew it was only a matter of time before the river eventually de-watered in a 1-2 km reach centred around 200 Street, in the Brookswood-Fernridge area of South Langley, and salmon fry stranded in disconnected pools would require salvaging. The first extended heat wave of summer, beginning the first week of July, really kicked the de-watering into high gear. On Friday, July 12 the river was still connected and flowing. Two days later, a section of it was dry and there was already salmon fry mortality in one of the disconnected pools. The organization that I volunteer with, A Rocha Canada, quickly mobilized a salvage response with DFO and on Monday morning July 15 we were on the river with nets and DFO's water tank trailer. Fish were seined and dip netted from pools, placed in buckets with battery powered aerators, and the buckets carried to the ...

 For the past number of years I've dreamed of beach fishing the Mexican Baja Peninsula. Here on BC's west coast, beach fishing generally involves waders and sturdy footwear but the idea of fishing in shorts and barefeet for blitzing roosterfish on the Baja has captured my imagination for some time. Last week my wife and I visited Cabo San Lucas, our first trip to the Baja, and I booked two days of guided surf fishing with Wesley Brough, aka cabosurfcaster on social media. Normally I don't book guided trips but two days of guided fishing would give me a good introduction to the gear, tactics and locations that I could then apply on my own future trips. Wes is a native of Cabo and knows these waters. He's been guiding for 20 yrs and his social media and website are bursting with big fish. In fact, he holds the all tackle world record for pacific white snook.  I was thrilled to spend two days with him but less thrilled at the hours he keeps. Wes likes the early morning bit...

 In early August, my son mentioned that he and two buddies were returning to the Elk River valley for their annual elk hunt. I threw out a "Hey, can I tag along and fish while you guys hunt?", half expecting that three mid to late twenties young men would not want a dumb old dad in the tent with them for a week. Turns out I was wrong! After we set up the wall tent and stove, felled a dead tree and chopped enough firewood for the week, I joined the hunters for a evening scouting trip as we glassed the slopes for game. What we saw amazed me. In the span of an hour, after glassing both sides of the valley, we saw a band of mountain goat, several deer and elk, a sow grizzly and two cubs, a solitary boar grizzly , and a black bear. I've never seen a grizzly in the wild (never mind four) nor have I seen a mountain goat (never mind a band). It was like I was watching a Nat Geo special and I was stunned at the vast diversity of wildlife in just the couple of slopes that we glasse...