Summertime in Canada, especially the West Coast is about as good as it gets.
Having recently spent six and a half months adventuring around the world we were stoked to come home to beautiful British Columbia in the summer time when it’s light from 5am through to 10pm and the good times are a plenty. From mid August through late November we love getting out into the wild to go camping and fishing. One of my favourite places for fly fishing is in the remote wilds of Northern Vancouver Island.
Some of my earliest memories are of me fishing with my Uncle Dave. I was no more than 4 years old at the time and to me fishing was the best thing in the world. Both Uncle David and Uncle Bruce were avid fishermen and their love of the sport rubbed off on me. We would spend our days fishing for bass in Beaver Lake close to Victoria BC and when they were old enough to drive we would take the canoe to the ocean and would fish for salmon and cod. We never had fancy gear but we always caught lots of fish. They were simple times full of laughs, good fun and amazing fishing.
40 years later I’m still as crazy about fishing as I ever was and just like then, we fill our freezer each fall and eat salmon through the winter. While my brother Jason and I love fishing be it rain or shine, my wife Josi loves it best when it’s sunny and when everyone is catching lots of fish. For all of us it’s as much about getting out into the wild and off the grid as it is about the fishing. One of our favourite places to explore is Northern Vancouver Island because it’s so remote and full of amazing uncrowded rivers with fantastic fishing. On any given trip we are almost guaranteed to see elk, deer, bear, lots of eagles and sometimes the occasional wolf pack, although you hear wolves a lot more then you see them. The rivers are picture perfect, the forests thick and full of wildlife, and the good times are a plenty.
During the day we often break to tie up some new flies because when the fishing is good it’s not uncommon to loose a few. Come evening we cook baked beans over an open flame, tell stories, laugh a lot and camp under the stars.
The video above we shot in about an hour’s time on a remote river that we love to fish. It’s not professionally shot, but it gives you a good idea of what we are most likely up to when we don’t answer our phones. Hope that you enjoy.
