How often do we travel direct from one place to the other? We do it all the time, and for some people, it’s how they make a living. I remember as a child staring out the car window, looking at the passing scenery and then I’d see a river, a creek, a stream. My heart would jump a beat and I’d enthusiastically ask, “Do you think there would be any trout in there dad?” “Oh I bet there are,” was his normal reply, but rarely did we stop, so for the longest time I’d merely dream about such places. Then something happened, I grew up, got older and got my own car. For a while I was more concerned about getting from point A to point B, and then it hit me, I didn’t want to get from point A to point B in the quickest amount of time. I wanted to stop along the way, make the trip part of the adventure.
This past summer, on my way back from dropping my fiancée off at Bamfield, I lived by this plan. With a pocket full of licences from both BC and Alberta I stopped anywhere and everywhere that looked interesting. You know, it took me an extra day to get back, but along the journey I found a stream with sea run cutthroat that ran to 18 inches. I stopped at a beach and watched people catch pink salmon. I stopped at a neat looking creek that was a complete bust. They can’t all be great. I hit Moose Lake, near the Alberta BC border and caught not one, but several kokanee off shore. I also caught whites and a lake trout at Moose. Plan for some stops along the way and you will surely discover many cool and exciting places.