Ken Currie Fishes Into the Dusk on the Kootenay Elk

Bravehearts

My Scottish pals, Ken, Bob and Al, joined me for a week to fish the Elk Valley this year. Bob Morton has already been out a couple of times but it was Ken and Al’s first trip to western Canada. As you probably know, there are no bears in Scotland. In fact, the only things you really have to fear in the Scottish countryside are cranky sheep and English football supporters.

Ken Currie fishes into the dusk on the Kootenay Elk

Anyway, Al (Pyko) has been winding the other guys up about bears for about two years, since when we planned this trip. Bob already had some deep-seated bear issues, but Ken hadn’t really given the bear thing much thought until then. Why would he? For him, a threat has always meant a wee Glasgow Ned http://www.glasgowsurvival.co.uk/gallery/gallery5.html in a white shell suit. So Pyko keeps up a relentless stream of “info” on grizzly attacks until he finally even scared the shit out of himself. This is the kind of thing I’m talking about. http://www.chipmunkbay.com/article_bear.php and http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bears/ and, being Pyko, he found much, much, worse (the web is full of horrific bear attack stories). And, of course, there were two bear attacks in the area the week we arrived (both on trailbikers, not anglers, it should be said).

So, there’s no denying that bears are out there, but I have always taken the view that like a lightning strike, you can only do so much about it. It certainly doesn’t keep me off the river. At any rate, when you’re fishing with three other guys the chance of even seeing a bear, much less being eaten by one, are practically nil. In fifty years of hunting and fishing the back country, I’ve seen two grizzlies. (Admittedly, I once pitched a tent smack in the middle of a bear trail, but my partner Margaret had to deal with the sow Grizzly and two cubs that came knocking that morning, not me – for which she has never fo0rgiven me).

Last trip, Bob, as usual, belted upriver on a lonely stretch of the Skookumchuk as evening came on. Jeff Mironuk, noticing that Bob had gone out of sight, said to me, ”I thought Bob was afraid of bears.” I said, “He is.” “Well,” said Jeff, “He’s sure as hell going to see one now.” In about two seconds, Bob came splashing back downstream, trying to look like he was still fishing. Later he said he suddenly noticed he was alone up there among the thickets of salmonberry bushes, but didn’t really feel alone. He got this ‘bear feeling’, like the bush had eyes, and thought, “What do bears eat? Oh, yeah. Berries.”

And you have to be careful about telling too many bear stories. This year, Pyko was out at dusk on the Oldman. He heard gravel being crunched on the dark far shore and started to discretely remove himself - thinking ”Bear? Cougar?” - when a big river beaver whacked his tail on the water right beside him. Like a rifle shot. Said he took off like the Roadrunner and almost crapped his breathables. You should treat bear stories seriously, but also with a grain of salt. Remember, one of the best ways to keep anglers off a river is to say it’s got bears. It helps if the river actually has got bears http://www.davebrownoutfitters.com/grizzly_central.html