Squamish New Years Slushy

With all the cold and snow and wind it is highly likely that you were feeling the fishing withdrawals as much as I was.  The forecast was for sunny and bright but I didn't know if the temperature would come up enough to stop the eyes on the rod from freezing up when I would make it up the Squamish Valley.

Turns out just getting up the valley would by a challenge as the snow was about a meter deep and more than a few brave souls with more rubber, winches and tow ropes than I have were having their fair share of adventure trying to get into the upper reaches of the river.  

Turns out as i had gotten a few kms up the gravel road (wit was a two tire track in the snow) I got stopped by two Jeeps who were trying to get themselves unstuck.  Slowing down didn't do me any good and I found myself high centered and breaking out the shovel.  Thankfully only about 25 minutes of digging followed by 4x4 in low first gear, some tricky back and forth rocking and about 40  micro turns got me facing back towards getting out of there.  

​I decided to leave the road for the snow mobiles and the go for broke 4x4 afficianadoes who had more cash than I had to repair their vehicles or get a tow.  One poor fellow was there with a friend and they decided to forge on up in the hopes of retrieving his pickup which had been stuck up past the 20 km mark for the last two weeks.

So, deciding to head back lower down was still a good option as I wanted to explore some new water that I had never been to, summer, fall or winter.  

The sun, snow and stillness with the -5°C temperature made this a winter wonderland with some of the frost feathers that formed in the river.  Winter fishing is more than just keeping warm and catching fish. (Though don't get me wrong, catching fish is important!)

The cold weather created these stunning frost angels that were in the river and on the crystal clear ice making fragile flower like formations that were wonderful to look at as they were such delicate works of winter art.

Of course tossing the fly line was fine as long as there was a little sunshine but as soon as the shadows began to develop the eyes of the rod frosted up and casting became challenging unless the eye-icicles were regularly broken off. 

Wading in this type of water presents some unique and possibly deadly challenges as the shore ice can give way at any time.  So wading requires forethought and resisting the temptation to wander out onto ice.  As I was heading back downstream towards the road I saw two young fellows heading towards the water.  They did not take the ice and current into account properly and one of them slipped into the river and disappeared.  For a few frightening seconds it looked deadly as the river flow consisted of slushy patches with lots of broken chunks of ice and he was nowhere to be seen.  Luckily he surfaced close to the shore and was able to scramble back on the bank.   However being soaked in zero degree water with -5°C temperature was a deadly combination and his Jeep was about 100 yards away.  He was quickly put inside and the heater set on full hot......hard lesson learned!

In the end, I was looking at a braided side channel that cut a riffle into the main stream and as I gave my line a 10 foot toss to begin casting, a flash of sliver hammered the minnow pattern as soon as it touched the water and my rod gave that sweet bend that ended all too quickly as the bull trout arched out of the water and spit my hook back at me..........I was momentarily dejected but then a smile quickly formed on my face.

Winter, cold, sunshine, frost angels, a life retrieved.....and fish that could be outwitted some time in the future.....could it get much better?

Tight lines!