Blackwater
Adventure
(May 31, 2006.)
"Last day of May, beautiful day; bugs are biting, so fish oughta be fighting."
4:30 a. m. Instinctively, I jump out of bed, not sure why at the time; whether it be Janice's snoring or a sub-concious urge to go fishing. Janice hears me stirring at 5:30, figures out my intentions, decides no, she doesn't want to come along but fixes me an incredible breakfast while I get my gear together. ( gotta love that woman) A brief walk outside tells me it is unusually warm, still and humid out with some high cloud cover slowly moving in. Again, that instinct kicks in and I decide to make Blackwater Lake my destination, just a 2 hour drive north;should be a good choice of lakes for a day of fishing.
Instantly, I decide to take the dirt bike along also, in case I experience a lull on the water. In the past, before we were so tied to our retreat accommodation, Janice and I often went lake fishing together with our 16 foot canoe. She'd become a master at maneuvering the canoe delicately along the shoreline while I cast my fly into all those great hang-outs that trout love to lurk in. One cannot flyfish properly alone in a canoe easily. Last fall I bought a pontoon style float tube which is the perfect answer to this problem.
By 10:00 a.m. I was on the water. I must have tried all my best fly's but could not interest the trout, yet they were jumping vigorously all day. At 2:00p.m. I decided to go for a dirt bike ride so I flippered my way back where I discovered an incredibly large dragonfly hatch happening around the wooden dock. Here there were big fish feeding in less than 2 feet of water. Had one on, but lost it as they were spooked by my presence. I thought, ' I'll come back this evening after my ride'.
A half hour drive took me down to the small Indian settlement of D'arcy on the south end of Anderson Lake. The local Indian band has had a blockade here since April to stop logging from happening up along the 28 kilometer stretch of what they call the 4by4 highline road to Seton Portage. I asked them if they'd mind if I parked my truck with them for a few hours while I scoot up with the bike for some pictures of Anderson Lake. The native leader was a native woman who looked like boredom was more her enemy than the loggers they were protesting. She had no problem with my request and they all looked quite docile so I thought,' better here than on some secluded stretch of road on the reserve'.
Native settlement of D'arcy.
This has got to be one of B.C's top scenic 4by 4 routes. Excuse all the transmission lines as there is a 10 megawatt micro-hydro power station located at Seton Portage.
Eat your heart out', wanna be 'B.C. dirt bikers!
Portage; the distant lake is Seton Lake which extends around the mountain, out of view, for amost 50km to near Lillooet.
The above photo is as far as I rode (28 km) from the south end where i left my truck at D'arcy with the friendly natives. Time to head back to take in the evening fishing, boys.
South off one of the highest points of the highline road. Back in 1990 I drove this route as a shortcut to Lillooet rather than taking the longer highway route over the Duffey. (Doug wrote about the alternative Duffey Lake route on his Prince George trip with Sue recently.) I remember I darn near shit my pants on some of the hair pin turns! This road was really rugged back then. It's a breeze now; or is it that I'm just used to it, maybe?
Ooooops! How'd you get in there? ( that's Brielle and her lamb tucked in her rhubarb blanky happy to see her granpappy home from fishing )
You look closely you will notice that the original bridge was washed out recently. Come low water Doug and I will have to check out some of these stream beds for gold. Back to the Indian barricade by 5:30 p.m. where I call Janice from a phone booth at the one and only little grocery/gas stop in the village. "Expect me around 10:00 this evening, honey." The truck was in good hands, load up and back to Blackwater Lake for a couple of hours fishing. The lake was dead calm and skitters biting near as bad as Lorne and Vivians woodsy haven in Southern Ontario. Good sign! Within the hour I picked up a fat twelve incher and missed a few good strikes too. The fish in this lake are well fed, fat and happy but being of the wild, native variety they are tricky to catch. I think the bird wildlife are they're number one predator. A resident eagle and osprey are often seen but the loons are incredibly aggressive. I asked a conservation officer one time why the fish in Blackwater leap so high out; sometimes six feet out of the water in quite an amazing show. I have never seen this before on other lakes. I was told that they are trying to knock off their lice. It sure doesn't affect their flavour. They are delicious. I have my own theory about these trout. Its not lice that makes them jump in this manner. I believe its the loons.
Too often I have battled a loon for the trout I am trying to land. As a matter of fact, this trip makes it my third encounter with a loon while fishing. This time was the last straw. These loons need to be taught a lesson. From now on I've decided to carry a paint ball gun with me. You can't believe the feeling of helplessness and frustration that I get when these creatures invade my fishing. First they watch carefully which fisherman on the lake is having the best luck'then they move in and wait for your fly to be snatched up by a fish. Instantly, they submerg like a heat-seeker torpedo and the next thing you know you've got a tug of war happening that only the loon can win. The reason I sound so pissed off is because last night a loon took what could quite possibly be the largest trout I have ever caught on a fly rod. I played this trout with amazing skill and coolness. It must have been 10 minutes or so with all its leaping and diving while all the while wondering how I was going to land it as I had no net. I was only about 100 feet from the dock so my plan was to play it out and drag it up onto the shore. By the time I had the fish tamed this loon showed up just 5 feet in front of me. It was so huge my heart skipped a beat and all hell broke loose. The fish suddenly came to life and dove hard. I felt and incredible surge of pulling and the fish was gone.
Blackwater Lake
I could go on to say how big this fish must have been but I was too upset at the time. I literally flippered to shore, packed up and went home. I can laugh at it now but I am serious I will be armed next time. If you see any loons with yellow splotches on them they came from Blackwater.
Tales from Wildwood Warren.
back to thedougsite dirt bike picturs