Driftfishing: The British Columbia Way. Rev. ed.

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

The decreasing supply of fish available for sports fishing on Canada’s
West Coast (and, indeed, in most other areas as well) has spawned a
mini-industry: an increasing number of books detailing how to catch
these dwindling stocks. Two small B.C. publishers have been particularly
active in this market—Hancock House and Heritage House, both located
in Surrey. Heritage House, a newcomer to the scene, bids fair to match
competitors output. Driftfishing is its third such effort in recent
years.

Gilbert is a native Vancouver Islander who spent much of his youth
guiding salmon fishermen throughout western Canada. He now runs a firm
that “imports and manufactures fishing lures.” He serves on several
sports fishing councils and boards; he is also an artist of some renown.
He defines Pacific driftfishing as “fishing with a painted or plated
metal, rapidly-sinking lure, weighing from one-half to four ounces and
varying from about two to six inches in length. It is a lure fastened
alone to the line (without weights, ‘hardware’, etc.) which gets its
action generally through alternately lifting and lowering the rod tip,
or reeling.” Fishing like this is preferably done from a
“drifting” boat, but the method has also proven successful from
docks, shorelines, and other land-based vantage points. Gilbert
considers the technique, which he calls “light tackle fishery,” a
throwback to simple “jigging” for bottom fish using a hand line.

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, “Driftfishing
Fundamentals,” explains the method’s basic skills, including the use
of lures. Part 2, “Secrets of the Lure Experts,” presents short
descriptions of various lures (the Buzz-bomb, Zzinger [sic], Stingsilda,
Deadly Dick, Striker, and Laser) by such experts as Doug Field and Bob
Straith. Finally, Part 3, “Expert Advice on Fish and Fishing,”
brings technique and tools together, offering chapters on fishing lore,
mooching, and chinook and coho salmon. This book deserves a place in the
tackle (and lure) box of expert and novice alike.