North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine December 2016 | Page 18

is temperate and full of fishable water. In Telkwa,
we snagged shuttles from obliging Canadians
who surprised us with their gracious tolerance
for foreigners. And in Telkwa, we rubbed elbows
streamside with spoon-swinging Austrians and
spey-fishing Italians. “Quanti Pesci?” the Italians
would yell across the river to their pipe-smoking
brothers. “Due Pesci” (two fish) seemed to be the
refrain. It seemed that the Europeans were just as
enamored with the steelheading in this corner of
the world as we, wading into the camp water each
morning, even before our alarms went off. I guess
if I came to the other side of the world, I’d be a bit
eager too….
With a riverside pub overlooking the boat launch,
multiple floats above and below town and a
streamside trail system affording bank anglers
access to that “Magic Mile” of water, this Telkwa
place seemed like Nirvana.

Great White Northern
Steelhead
But, why would European anglers fly halfway
across the world for a fish? Well, remember those
30 lb. steelhead on display at the Smithers airport?
I guess word has gotten across the pond about the
outsized fish swimming the piscatorial highway
known as the Skeena. Bound for legendary tribs
such as the Bulkley and Morice, the Copper, the
Babine, the Nass and the Cranberry, and the
Kispiox, these fish are long on muscle and short
on patience. In fact, one or two tributary streams
lay claim to the largest steelhead strains on Earth.
Unfortunately, I never found out first hand—but we
knew they were there.
Case in point: day three at the take out, an Austrian
Benny Hill look-alike is hanging out on a log,
lighting his pipe. After a beautiful, bright blue float
(but a thorough, all-day skunking), the four of us
are stashing gear, tails between our legs. Nearby,
the Austrian rigs up and says “Three o’ clock bite.”
Whatever?! We go about our business breaking
down. So this Euro wades into the head of the run
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