Tom Johannesen
Steelheader Contributor

Nestled in the heart of the Caribou mountain range runs a steady flow of cool vibrant green water as it cuts its way through rough untouched wilderness on its journey towards Quesnel Lake. With birds and wildlife around every bend of the river, the trip from the lake up stream is a true wilderness experience. The upper Mitchell River has been unchanged for many years due to the fact that it's only accessible by jet boat. Without a guide the river is virtually impassable as there are numerous sandbars and large boulders hidden beneath the broken surface. A good fishing buddy Mark and I arrived at Quesnel Lake one late September afternoon. We were greeted by Gary Zorn who was to be our outfitter for the next couple days. Once we were unpacked in our small wooden cabin overlooking the large intimidating lake we headed over to the Zorn's residence for dinner.

Throughout the evening Gary and his wife Peggy showed us various photos of what we could expect to catch on the following day. The lake itself contains rainbows, dollies and lakers in excess of 20 pounds, but we made the eight hour trip to experience a truly unique fishery. In the fall a large run of over a quarter million sockeye migrate up the Fraser River through the Cariboo and Quesnel river systems and miraculously make their journey across the lake where they return to the Mitchell River to spawn. When this incredible incident occurs dollies and rainbows follow the salmon upriver to gorge on their eggs as they spawn. The rainbows and dollies we could expect to hook on a fly would be anywhere from three to eight pounds. Fish of this size taken on six weight fly gear could result in one very exciting fishing trip.

It was still dark out when the boat was loaded and our journey up the north arm of the lake began. Our excursion began in a 24 foot cabin cruiser, which took us across 25 miles of open water. At the estuary where the river and lake merge awaited a 14 foot aluminum sled with a 50 horse jet outboard on the back. As the jet boat slid around the numerous bends in the river Mark and I just sat in the bow grinning while hanging on for dear lives. Gary took us approximately seven miles upstream before we hit a point in which the river was no longer passable due to a log jam extending from bank to bank. At this point we allowed the river to settle down from our wash as we prepared our gear for the first cast of the day.

Once we felt the water had settled back to its original flow, we slowly drifted a few hundred yards downriver to the first fishable pool. This piece of water and the majority of the other runs on the river were named by Gary himself. We flipped a coin and I was the lucky recipient of the first cast. The run was approximately a hundred feet across and two hundred feet long. This location was perfect for large rainbows and dollies to hold in as a steady flow of eggs settled in the slower moving water.

With the use of polarized glasses, shadows of fish were faintly visible in the shallow currents leaving the large pool dubbed the aquarium. My starting gear of choice was a six weight outfit with a 10 foot fast sink tip fly line. For a fly I started with a #8 black egg sucking leech synched on to a five foot six pound test leader. Finally it was time for me to make the first cast, Mark and Gary stood back as I dropped my fly at the head of the pool. There was total silence as I threw a mend into the line and patiently waited in anticipation while it drifted past.

As I picked up a little slack the line gave a quick tug, I set the hook and watched in disbelief as a six pound rainbow took to the air shaking its head violently from side to side. While the reel was screaming off line at an alarming rate I gave chase after this highly energetic rainbow. A hundred yards down river I finally caught the fish and my breath. At this point the large bow settled down in the shadow of a submerged log. Before we were able to land and photograph this beauty it wrapped itself around a branch and broke me off.

While walking back up to the aquarium I noticed myself shaking like a leaf over the incident which just occurred. Back at the top of the pool, I tied on a new fly and waited for my turn again. Mark and Gary enjoyed my little fishing show so much that they insisted I go again. I fought with them for a good couple seconds and then said ok and made another cast. At least this time I had an idea on what was in store for me if I was lucky enough to hook another one.

As the line completed its drift I started to slowly retrieve it back toward me, once again it tightened. Within seconds I again found myself running down river in desperation trying to catch up to another prime bow. I caught up to it in slower water and gently persuaded this fish to the beach. Gary said it's not a bad fish but we can do better, I replied not bad it's a beauty, sure it only weighted a little more than five pounds, but it fought like a summer run steelhead with an attitude. I looked at Mark and Gary and said if these fish come any bigger and stronger I'm going to have to go back for my 8 weight rod.

Only 20 minutes had elapsed since I made the first cast and I needed to sit down and take a little rest. Now it was Mark's turn he must have been the most patient fisherman I've ever fished with, big rainbows just waiting to inhale our flies and he just stood snapping photos, what a true fishing buddy. Mark gently dropped his line out in the same general area as I had touched my fish in, but it just wasn't meant to be. Cast after cast elapsed and no more fish would leave their shelter to take a fly.

Once we had both exhausted our efforts in this run we decided to move down river to find some new holding water. The river was low enough for Mark and I to wade while Gary followed shortly behind with the boat. We ran our flies through ever piece of appetizing water we came across, and every now and then it paid off with a nice fish. Several more bows were landed but none quite as large as the first couple hooked earlier that day. As we still had a long trip back to the cabin, we decided to fish one last run then call it a day.

The run was only 20 feet across and 75 feet long with branches producing from the bottom of it. Somehow we had to get our flies to the fish quick without getting snagged up. The solution was simple, we added a small split shot to the leader about a foot up from the fly. The extra weight allowed the fly to drop into the zone quicker with minimum drifting before being pulled out for another cast. I ran my pattern past the visible shadows several times without any fish taking interest. Then Gary suggested I put on a large purple bunny leech pattern. At first I was a little hesitant but then realized he knows the river a lot better then we ever will. I dropped the three inch long fly pattern several feet above the visible shadows laying on the bottom, as the fly drew close a rainbow with its mouth wide open thrusted itself towards the fly. As the fly was inhaled I set the hook and hung on for the ride. Miraculously this fish avoided all the subsurface structure as it headed for open water. A great battle perused before I was able to hold the beauty for a quick photo.

What an exciting way to finish our day. Throughout dinner and the evening we were already creating fishing stories for our kids to tell their kids one day. Of course they would become slightly altered over the years, but the excitement will still shine through in all the tall tales. Falling a sleep on that frigid night did not come easy for us as we were too geared up awaiting the mornings fishing. On our second morning we once again started our day at the aquarium. This time it was Mark's turn to make the first cast of the day, we were hoping he would be able to duplicate my experience on the previous morning. On his first cast we watched as the egg sucking leech pattern was retrieved out of the clear swirling depths of the pool. Following shortly behind was a dolly in excess of 10 pounds. When the fly appeared within a few inches of the surface the large dolly turned its head and returned back to the security of the deeper water.

When it came my turn to cast I was shaking wondering if this fish was going to inhale my poor helpless pattern. Neither of us would have the opportunity to test our knots on this monster as on that day it never appeared from the depths of the river again. The patterns that worked well on the previous morning were ignored cast after cast on this morning. I only managed to get one strike which turned out to be a beautiful two pound dolly. After scratching my head for a moment I thought to myself when steelhead aren't feeding they will often out of anger hit a bright pink rabbit leech pattern. With a little luck maybe these large rainbows would do the same, besides at this point I had nothing to lose. As I was tying on this large pink pattern I think Mark and Gary figured I had finally flipped my lid. I laid the pattern at the top end of the swirling currents and allowed it to sink before tightening the slack in the line. As the fly passed me I threw a mend into the line to create a little less drag. Like a freight train a large bow raced across the pool and slammed the pattern. The hook was set and the battle with this crazy fish was on.

Before I had even landed this one Mark was tying on a pink rabbit leech hoping to cash in on my luck. After releasing my fish I looked up river just in time to see Mark coming toward me with his rod bent over. Between us was a nice quiet piece of water where I watched as Mark landed another prime rainbow. These pink patterns turned out to be just the ticket as we landed over a dozen large bows on them throughout the day.

With rainbows and dollies in excess of eight pounds it's hard to imagine better fly fishing can be experienced on any moving body of water. We both had an experience which would not be soon forgotten.

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