they can also be caught by trolling
from a boat near the mouth of the river, the sport being varied by an
occasional rainbow, often of a larger size than those usually caught
with the fly. In May, 1903, a Dolly Varden of 15lb. was taken. It is a
curious fact that during the fly season in July very few of these fish
are ever taken, either on fly or spoon, or by trolling in the lake.

The fly-fishing season at Savona's really begins about the first of July
and lasts till the salmon first arrive in the beginning of August, when
fishing invariably falls off, probably owing to the fact that the trout
follow the salmon to their spawning beds to prey on the eggs; at least,
such is the local reason given. Whether this is true or not it is
impossible to say, but in any case the fact remains that about this time
fly fishing falls off for a few weeks coincident with the appearance of
the salmon, and generally is poor during the whole of August, at any
rate at Savona's. (It is often as good as ever lower down the river.) If
a grasshopper is used some fish may still be caught, especially if the
bait be allowed to sink. Later on, at the beginning of September, the
fish will again take the fly and continue to do so until the end of the
season, about the middle of October, while I have been told by an ardent
fisherman that he had excellent sport in November during a snowstorm,
regardless of the law of British Columbia. The excellence of sport in
July depends a good deal on the rise of the stone fly, or "salmon fly"
as it is locally called, and it is not until this fly makes its
appearance that fishing becomes really good.

This insect in appearance is the same as the English stone fly, but is
much more plentiful on the Thompson than I have ever seen it elsewhere;
in some seasons every bush on the bank is literally covered with the
flies, and later on the rocks are strewn with their dead bodies. A good
stone fly season is always a good fishing season, for the fish are
clearly very fond of them, and may often be seen sucking them into their
mouths as fast as they fall into the water, or jumping at them as they
dip down to the river's surface to lay their eggs. I have often seen the
salmon fly become suddenly very numerous about mid-day or an hour or so
before that, the hot sun hatching them out, and at once the trout are
on the move, readily taking a fly tied to imitate the natural one, and
continuing to do so as long as the living fly i