Advice for Fernie BC area "classified waters"

Para_Adams

Para_Adams

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I considering a trip in summer 2027 as a celebration of a decade since an unexpected major life-saving surgery. One idea is to re-visit the Fernie BC area after a long absence maybe a couple decades. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

- Have there been any major changes in the quality of the local rivers to be aware of?

- Any advice on obtaining one of those new-fangled one-day "Classified Water" licenses (there's one stream in particular I recall enjoying on foot before such licenses were required?

- Any guides for an Elk River float you liked?

- Any particular campgrounds, lodgings, restaurants you liked?

- And I'll just toss this out there for grins...if you were planning a special celebration fly fishing trip, where would YOU go?

Tight lines, Ron
 
I think you need to reserve one of the classified waters permits within the first minutes of openings if you want to succeed. Look at how many non resident permits are allowed for each week and fishery, it can vary substantially and your chance of success can depend on that number.

So I have been told. I didn't get a permit the times I tried, but I wasn't serious.
 
Wow! I fished out of fernie in the 80's. Now it would cost me almost $250 in licenses to fish for a week. I guess that's good for the locals but I wonder if tourist dollars fell? Xmas island is only 100 bucks.
 
Never fished Fernie, but North Idaho may give you a similar feel without all the red tape. Silverbow Fly Shop (Spokane) can float you down the Couer D’Alene, but it’s also very approachable on foot. NF Clearwater and St. Joe would round out the trip. That would be my special celebration trip.

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MarshRat said:
Never fished Fernie, but North Idaho may give you a similar feel without all the red tape. Silverbow Fly Shop (Spokane) can float you down the Couer D’Alene, but it’s also very approachable on foot. NF Clearwater and St. Joe would round out the trip. That would be my special celebration trip.
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CDA river will be to low to float.
St Joe would be ok still, though it will be dropping still, warming where typical floats are.
I’ve never floated Clearwater.
 
Last time I fished Fernie area I needed to get up at the crack of dawn to get my permit for that special little stream that I know you’ve fished before Ron… and that was at least five or six years ago. Lots of boats floating the big river as well, unlike the earlier years I’d been there.
Having said that, I think the shops in Fernie have daily permits for the folks they’re guiding.

Your second question… fun to ponder but if it was me… Andros Island, for bones on the west side. I’d go back in a heartbeat, but only after hurricane season.
 
Greg Armstrong said:
Last time I fished Fernie area I needed to get up at the crack of dawn to get my permit for that special little stream that I know you’ve fished before Ron… and that was at least five or six years ago. Lots of boats floating the big river as well, unlike the earlier years I’d been there.
Having said that, I think the shops in Fernie have daily permits for the folks they’re guiding.

Your second question… fun to ponder but if it was me… Andros Island, for bones on the west side. I’d go back in a heartbeat, but only after hurricane season.
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Indeed, I re-read an earlier post by you on Andros and it sounds like a trip of a lifetime, very special!
 
Para_Adams said:
- Any particular campgrounds, lodgings, restaurants you liked?

- And I'll just toss this out there for grins...if you were planning a special celebration fly fishing trip, where would YOU go?
Click to expand...

Lodging - https://www.blackstonebandb.com/

Food - https://www.himalayanspicebistro.com/ & https://beanpod.ca/


Option B without getting on a plane or crossing an international border… The South Fork Hilton



idfg.idaho.gov

Georgia angler reels in new Idaho catch-and-release record brown trout

After a nearly 10-minute fight with what she knew must be a lunker of a trout, angler Caroline Langdale's wildest dreams soon meandered its way to the surface.
idfg.idaho.gov idfg.idaho.gov
 
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