wild West Slope cutthroat trout, are best enjoyed from the tranquility of drifting watercraft. The main drift runs are from Sparwood to Garrett’s, Garrett’s to Hosmer, Hosmer to Fernie, Fernie to Morrissey, and Morrissey to Elko. During our visit, we took the seven-hour drift trip from Garrett’s to Hosmer. All the guides told us that this drift would be the most pleasant and scenic. The put-in is near Garrett’s Cement Plant (6 kilometres south of Sparwood, and 19 kilometres north of Fernie). The drift then meanders 10 kilometres south to the take-out at a new highway bridge by the small town of Hosmer. We were astounded by the drift trip. In this entire section of river, there were only three drift boats — our own team of two, and one other guide’s. After stopping to do some fishing and photo work, we lost sight of the third boat altogether. Our own guide, Paul Samycia,
promised and delivered ever- changing views of the river and mountains. Each bend in the river gave us a different perspective of Mount Hosmer, the Rockies, and the Lizard Range. We also experienced changing river conditions: exciting rapids, shallow braids, side channels, deep pools, sharp cutbanks, and dangerous-looking sweepers that threatened to carry our drift boat under log jams. Until the Elk River reaches the
reservoir at Elko, this wild freestone river is allowed to run relatively unrestrained. Each year during the spring runoff, the Elk gouges new channels, depositing boulders to create shallow, well-aerated riffles with the deep pockets and seams so loved by trout, char, and whitefish. The river is rich in aquatic insects, with prolific hatches of mayflies, stoneflies, and caddis flies. Paul turned over two randomly selected boulders from a shallow riffle to show us about a dozen
caddis cases under one rock, and another half-dozen stonefly nymphs under the other. West Slope cutthroat trout, for which the Elk River is renowned, provided us with some of the most exciting dry fly fishing that we have ever experienced. Paul explained to us that with so many different flies available, it would be more important to make short, accurate casts into a trout’s feeding lanes than match the hatch. Flies that landed on razor-thin foam lines within 15 centimetres of a cutbank, or where the slower waters of a shallow riffle intersected a fast-flowing deep main channel, were almost guaranteed to elicit a rise. The cutthroat trout that we caught and released were some of the prettiest fish that we have ever seen. These chunky fish, with deep golden flanks, are heavily spotted to blend in perfectly with the shadows between the light-coloured boulders. When the afternoon hatch came on, we could only see these fish (even the more brightly coloured males) when they rose fearlessly, their wide shoulders and big jaws halfway out of the water, to slurp down some hapless insect that had drifted over them. A quick, accurate cast along that insect’s path would often bring an immediate and explosive strike! While the world-class dry fly fishing for West Slope cutthroat trout is what draws purists to the Elk River, the fishing is excellent for other species as well. Rainbow trout will take most of the flies that catch cutthroat, but are usually found in the faster, deeper channels. Early autumn, when the river is very low and clear, is the time to target monster bull trout (up to 9 kilograms) using big streamers fished near the bottom of deep pools. During the colder months, nymph patterns fished with a wet line will take whitefish. The Elk’s other drifts offer fishing and scenery to match the
drift that we did, but as we had observed during our drive, will sometimes come within view of the highway. When we floated by some cattle fencing during the drift from Garrett’s to Hosmer, though, we realized that it was the only sign of any permanent human activity we had seen all day.
CONTACT INFORMATION Fernie Chamber of Commerce 102 Commerce Road Fernie, B.C. V0B 1M5 Phone toll free: 1-877-4Fernie Fax: (250)423-3811
www.ferniechamber.com info@ferniechamber.com
Provincial Campgrounds All reservations toll free: 1-800-689-9025
http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/ BC Parks District Manager Box 119, Wasa B.C. V0B 2K0 Phone: (250)422-4200
Sparwood and District Chamber of Commerce Box 1448 Sparwood, B.C. V0B 2G0 Phone: (250)425-2423
Elkford Chamber of Commerce Box 220, 4A Front Street Elkford, B.C. V0B 1H0 Phone toll free: 1-877-355-9453
www.tourismelkford.ca info@tourismelkford.ca
Elk River Guiding Company Limited P.O. Box 568 - 7th Avenue Fernie, B.C. V0B 1M0 Phone toll free: 1-877-423-7239 Fax: (250)423--7995
www.elkriver.ca info@elkriver.ca
Kootenay Fly Shop and Guiding Company Box 2140 Fernie, B.C. V0B 1M0 Phone toll free: 1-877-423-4483
www.kootenayflyshop.ca guiding@kootenayflyshop.ca
Enter to win a trip from Charlotte Queen Adventures at
www.thesportfishingguide.com 55
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