The Essential Guide to Fly Fishing in British Columbia

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., editor of the
Canadian Evangelical Review, and an instructor of Liturgy, Anglican
Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This book introduces the reader to significant waters in every corner of
British Columbia, providing directions on where to fish and where to
camp in places as diverse as Dease Lake in the far north, the Elk River
in the southeast, and Mill Lake in downtown Abbotsford. The more easily
accessible the area, the more space it receives in the book. Advice is
given on fish species, seasons for fishing, gear and flies.

A surprisingly large part of the book is devoted to saltwater fishing.
Here there are special chapters on coastal beaches and estuaries and on
inshore fishing from boats, two types of ocean fly fishing easily
accessible to summer visitors. Perhaps due to the added dangers of the
ocean environment, there are no easy-to-follow directions to specific
places. Care is taken to explain the gear and different methods used on
salt water, for most fly fishers know only fresh water and smaller fish.
The guide closes with a chapter entitled “Favourite Fly Patterns,”
which contains the only good photographs in the book.

The use of geography to organize sections is a potential drawback. For
visitors it might have been more helpful to use the standard areas as
defined by provincial tourism publications or by the annual fishing
regulations. That concern aside, The Essential Guide to Fly Fishing in
British Columbia fulfils the promise if its title.