[Bill Parker]

Hey all I am going to be moving to Prince George come the fall and was wondering if I should go with an 8-9wt Fly or Spey setup. I will fish anything that swims and was looking at the TFO spey setup which is around $500 my budget is somewhere around that if possible. Basically I want to know if its a better idea to get spey gear or fly gear, I have no Spey history only a few years of fly. Thanks in advance guys much appreciated.

Bill

 

[professori]

To start, I'd suggest a 6 wt single hand. You're going to be doing a lot of lakes and some smaller rivers (the Stellako is only 1 1/2 - 2 hours west). There is a lot of gear fishing up there as well, a lot of very big lakes. A Spey is not a rod you would find very much use for in a pontoon anyway.

 

[Bill Parker]

by gear fishing you mean trolling and such, I imagine? I have a 3 and 4-5 wt now and loads of conventional gear... fly rods ARE COMING but what gear should I bring? I have anything from UL 4.5 foot rods to 10ft casting rods for steel (bringing forsure) and salmon/muskie trolling gear. Thanks for any help again.

 

[HOOK]

i'd say take EVERYTHING cause you dont wanna be "sh** i should have brought that" :wallbash:

 

[Bill Parker]

lol... If I could I would take everything, but to be honest it is unrealistic as I am moving there from Ontario and will have just the room in my SUV. and my gear alone would take up half the car... we are talking 15+ rods and the same number of reels... and thats excluding my 6 or so Ice fishing setups... Plus hunting gear and the like. That reminds me... do people icefish in the area much? Should I bring my rods and auger? Thanks again guys!

 

[HOOK]

looks like your renting a trailer for the trip :beerchug: then you can take it all :thumbup:

 

[Rib]

Moving eh...? Well, leave the bulk of your rods at home. Here's what I would bring...

-Your 3 and 4-5 wt single handers

-The 8-9 wt single hander

-1 centerpin or levelwind set up, ie: typical float fishing set up for your rivers out east, only take one that has a little extra backbone to it, not the ultralight

-Buy a spey as well, that 8-9 wt single hander will come in handy on some of the smaller flows, but you'll find it tough work on some of the larger rivers up there...the spey will be a definite asset...if you already use a spey as a gear rod as many east coasters do, just buy a good large arbour reel, a decent starter spey line, like the skagit, but there are others, and a variety of different sink tips...

Good Luck,

rib

 

[Bill Parker]

Thanks guys... I am in the process of finding an 8-9wt Spey and single handed rod. How necessary is a pontoon on most of the water? I want to get one but may hold off for a little while if possible.

 

[professori]

Thanks guys... I am in the process of finding an 8-9wt Spey and single handed rod. How necessary is a pontoon on most of the water? I want to get one but may hold off for a little while if possible.

You should PM pgbilly and get the scoop from a guy actually living there. It has been many years since I lived there, but there are some huge lakes in the area and pontoons are not really that usefull on the big lakes. That said, there are a lot of smaller lakes up that ay as well. Some of the rivers are pontoonable, but it is pretty remote country and there is a lot of wild water there as well. To be honest, when I did live up there, I only fished gear (20+ years ago), but I have been up there the a few times since took up flyfishing and am surprised that there does not seem to be a lot of flyfishers up there even now. There are plenty of them on the famous steelhead waters, the Bulkley, Dean, Babine, etc. but trolling gang trolls still is big part of northern fishing.

 

[Tacheeda]

I have lived here (PG) all my life :drunk:

I live to hunt/fish, so when you get here PM me, I need a new hunt/fish partner, mine just moved back to Van for a couple years.

I use a 5wt Sage for most trout fishing around here. There are so many lakes close by you'll never fish 'em all. And being that the fishery here is kind of a undiscovered jewel, lots of hardfighting fat fish around with little pressure.

Use my 8 wt Sage when lookin for Lakers, or when the sockeye are open on the Nechako.

Have 2 speys, but I usually only use them when I head to Kitimat/Skeena/Bulkley, except for Chinook on the Bowron ( mid-July to mid-Aug and only about 45 min ride from PG), and Sockeye on Nechako.

Stream fishing around here can be phenomenal and that when the 3wt comes out, the fish arent usually very big, but very aggressive and but up a great battle.

Pontoon boats are awesome to have ( have 2, with another later this year) great for the small lakes, and some of the larger lakes (if you know where to fish them), most of the rivers are an fairly easily float, but never go alone, too many big grizz around. Also make sure its of good quality and at least a 9ft'er.

Lots of ice fishing. this is the time to find lakers and Burbot. If it wasnt the worse year for snow this year ( I do snow plowing and it didn't friggin stop :wallbash, i'd have gotten out quite a bit for them Burbot :yummy:......maybe this weekend :thumbup:

Now that Spring has finally arrived, i might have some time.....been trying to get down to Chilliwack for last month but couldnt, so gonna have to wait till later in April and hit the Kitimat for some Steel!

Any questions feel free to ask.

Curt

 

[Bill Parker]

I have lived here (PG) all my life :drunk:

I live to hunt/fish, so when you get here PM me, I need a new hunt/fish partner, mine just moved back to Van for a couple years.

I use a 5wt Sage for most trout fishing around here. There are so many lakes close by you'll never fish 'em all. And being that the fishery here is kind of a undiscovered jewel, lots of hardfighting fat fish around with little pressure.

Use my 8 wt Sage when lookin for Lakers, or when the sockeye are open on the Nechako.

Have 2 speys, but I usually only use them when I head to Kitimat/Skeena/Bulkley, except for Chinook on the Bowron ( mid-July to mid-Aug and only about 45 min ride from PG), and Sockeye on Nechako.

Stream fishing around here can be phenomenal and that when the 3wt comes out, the fish arent usually very big, but very aggressive and but up a great battle.

Pontoon boats are awesome to have ( have 2, with another later this year) great for the small lakes, and some of the larger lakes (if you know where to fish them), most of the rivers are an fairly easily float, but never go alone, too many big grizz around. Also make sure its of good quality and at least a 9ft'er.

Lots of ice fishing. this is the time to find lakers and Burbot. If it wasnt the worse year for snow this year ( I do snow plowing and it didn't friggin stop :wallbash, i'd have gotten out quite a bit for them Burbot :yummy:......maybe this weekend :thumbup:

Now that Spring has finally arrived, i might have some time.....been trying to get down to Chilliwack for last month but couldnt, so gonna have to wait till later in April and hit the Kitimat for some Steel!

Any questions feel free to ask.

Curt

Sounds pretty darn awesome to me... Thats pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear! And believe me I will have alot of questions to ask you in the coming months. Planning on getting a pontoon either right before I leave here or when I get there... Hoping the hunting up there is as good as the fishing sounds too... I have my 6 mos restriction to become a resident but after that and when I move off the campus I'll be getting my hunting gear back in order. Thanks for all the help guys!