2013 Highlights at Spatsizi
Early July was once again very productive on our home waters, Laslui Lake. The inlet and outlet saw numerous Rainbows in the 12-16’ range despite the huge Bull Trout (fresh water sharks) tormenting them. On July 4th, Gus and Dana Angus brought their family in for a glorious week of fishing, campfires, and entertainment courtesy of Maggie, Adison and Logan. On our first day of the season, both Gabe and Chloe caught a big 15 lb. Bull Trout! In fact, everyone who wanted a big Bull got one. Tatlatui was crazy all of July. Luke, one of our Spatsizi guides, summed it up well: “The sky was clear and the water even clearer. From everywhere we stood, we could have hit half a dozen to two dozen fish we could see rising. Then, large stoneflies started appearing, floating past us, so we switched up to a rubber-legs stimulator and the bite was on! If not a fish, there was at least action on every cast! Unbelievable! The smiles on the faces said it all…” (reflections on Rob and Larry Keith's day).
The Firesteel always presents an opportunity to 'hunt' some beautiful Rainbow Trout. A small parachute Adams was the fly of the season and it’s always great with rising fish pockets, riffles, and foam lines. The moose of the Firesteel are the fly fishermen's favorite and there isn't an evening or morning when a few are not spotted across the river from our camp. On July 15th, seven showed up to the absolute delight of Jim and Val. Firesteel could not have been better than the week Joe, Jake and his son Tim, had incredible catches - over 250 rainbows touched in a single day! Mike and Nancy didn't want to leave the river and took the hike upstream for the bigger rainbows. Bill Kindler from Washington had never experienced so many rainbows and had the whole river to himself. It was a pleasure to see Mike Pampalone bring his son, Mike III for a week of fly fishing. They even experienced the thrill of a grizzly stalk - the large boar had all the berries in the world, but moose was on his menu as he laid in wait for a 3 year old bull. Ray saved the day for that bull by making some low fly-bys driving him into the mountains.
After 20 years, Don Krogseth and Ross Southam returned to Spatsizi bringing with them, their fishing buddy, Warren Mitchell. It was a pleasure to reflect on the old days, the new improvements and just how beautiful Spatsizi really is. The Jury Family had a hilarious time, especially canoeing back to the main lodge with Anita and Beannie. Not quite navigating the bend in the river, out pops Beannie and the paddle, and the next thing they are drifting backwards down the Stikine! We laughed about this all week and yes, the ladies did finally make it back safely to the lodge. Chuck landed the largest Rainbow of the season (26”) on a dry fly. A week with Wade and Gail Davis is never without excitement and hours of profound knowledge about the world! Everyone listened with true fascination to the stories and history of the Stikine and Spatsizi as told by Wade. We kept very active with a horseback ride up Ella Valley and hiking Terraze with its spectacular views. Jeff, Jessica and their two little ones arrived from Washington with Jeff’s array of flies he has used all over the world. Jeff is a serious Bull Trout stalker – needless to say, he never stopped smiling!
We finished off our season with some local folks from the Smithers area. While canoeing home on the Stikine, Joy was obsessed by those Bull Trout. Anne and Glen displayed their talents canoeing back to the lodge in extremely low waters. We ended that week with a few days of ptarmigan hunting, a first for Joy. She hunted behind Uli (the family bird dog) and estimated 150 birds took to the air - very impressive flushing efforts by Uli! Anne commented: “…just to ride across the alpine and spot caribou off in the mountain was an incredible experience”. The goats of Hotleskwa were consistently faithful, showing up with nannies and kids. The highest daily count was 52 and we observed that the hot weather was not to their liking. Caribou were occasionally spotted however they were staying high in the snow fields to keep cool. We had incredible weather; in fact from July 14th to mid-September, the sun never stopped shining!
Ray & Carrie spent several days filming with Todd Moen from T-Motion Theatre and Catch Magazine. Spatsizi will be featured on the Fly Fishing Film Tour! And, a film will be realeased on Catch magazine february issue. Super exciting stuff!
Our incredible staff was such a delight to work with, making our year in Spatsizi a truly memorable one. A huge thank you to our crew: Tim, Jamie, Heidi, Karly, Luke, and Valerie as well as our wrangler, Tanya who joined us in August for our wilderness and bird hunt. Thanks also to Mary Henderson with her jet boat expertise and knowledge of Tatlatui.
Look for the latest and greatest feeds on our facebook page.
Visit us at the 2014 Trade Shows:
Wild Sheep Show: January 22-25, 2014, Reno, Nevada – Booth #535
Safari Club International: February 5-8, 2014, Las Vegas, Nevada – Booth #507, 509, 511
The Collingwood Family
