It was a bright sunny afternoon late February on the lower Vedder River. A strong, cold and merciless wind blew from the east. My hands were cupped over the heater of the truck, hoping for any heat available. Another vehicle pulled up and parked. Two people got out of the vehicle and grabbed their rods. As they walked toward my truck, I recognized their faces as Gord and Carol from the Kootenay Fly Shop in Fernie. I rolled down the window and, after a refresher, they remembered me from my trips up to Elk River last July when I made regular stops at their shop for information. Since they were a long way from home, I prodded: “So, I guess it’s way too cold to be doing much fly-fishing on the Elk at this time of year?” A scene of deep snow and ice covering the river came to mind.

“Well, no! We’re headed to Vancouver and knew we’d have a couple hours to spare, maybe get into a steelhead if we’re lucky,” Gord said. “The Elk has been pretty good. We got into about 15 the other day and a couple of really nice Dollies.” As my head nodded, it registered.

“Really?” I exclaimed, almost in shock.

Written by Peter McPherson