Fishing at Buntzen Lake – Port Moody
by Coleman
Activity:
Last Friday I had a day off school. Dad found out and asked me if I’d like to go fishing with him. The idea wasn’t a showstopper, but it sounded better when he said we’d go out for breakfast along the way.The other thing we had to do along the way was buy dew worms. I never knew this, but you can actually buy worms, live ones, to use as bait for fishing. How gross is that? Sure enough, we stopped at a Mohawk gas station en route. Nobody wanted to get out of the car and buy the worms. We drew straws and Mom lost. Within minutes she came back with a small white styrofoam container. “How many worms are in there?” I asked. “The carton says 18,” Mom answered. Mom put the carton down on the floor in front of her. I had this vision of Dad suddenly stopping the car and all the worms wriggling out, crawling over the front seat, and somehow ending up on my face. “Can we put the carton in the back of the car; no, better yet, make that inside the storage hatch?” I asked Mom. “Here, you do it,” she replied. “I’m not the family servant.” I sat in silence, not sure what to do. Luckily, Dad stepped in and volunteered to put the carton in the back of the car. Problem solved, for the moment anyway.
It was my first time going to Buntzen Lake. Dad explained it was
a man-made lake used to generate electricity. The government set
aside an area for swimming, and I guess somebody came up with the idea
to stock it with fish, trout mostly. That’s why we were there--to
catch a fish—not for eating mind you. I think that would be my
Mom’s worst nightmare: to clean a dead fish. Mom wasn’t
interested in fishing either. She had other plans: to hike
as far as she could around the lake. Apparently it takes
three-and-a-half hours to do the full loop.
It wouldn’t have been so bad, if we’d caught a fish, but that didn’t
happen either. We packed up and went to Mom’s chosen spot, a
clearing with no trees to hook. We had better luck there. I
caught the first fish, a small trout. In case Mom didn’t believe
us, Dad took a picture as proof. He ended up taking seven
pictures of each and every fish we caught. They were mostly
trout, except for a couple of funny looking ones which Dad wasn’t even
sure about.
Before you knew it two hours had gone by, and Mom was back. We
showed her all the pictures and she was quite impressed. “We
better get going back, I just felt a raindrop on my forehead,” Mom
said. I didn’t feel like stopping. I had gotten into the
fishing; even the worms didn’t bother me anymore. Dad took sides
with Mom, only because his rod broke making it impossible for him to
fish any longer. I bought some time by telling Mom all the
homework I planned on doing on our return home. Sure enough,
before you knew it, I felt a tug on my line. I reeled it in, and
there was my fish, a tiny trout. Dad unhooked the fish, while Mom
and I decided where to put the rest of the dew worms. Mom wanted
a spot where’d they be “happy.” Luckily she didn’t see the fate
of the ones who didn’t make it.
We just finished packing everything up and it started to pour. It
literally went from one drop to raining buckets of water. Before
Mom had a chance to say it, I blurted out “I told you so.”
“The laugh’s on you,” she answered; “last one back to the car is a
rotten egg.” “I stood there with my rod in one hand and fishing
tackle box in the other, and knew I’d been beaten. At least I
caught more fish than Dad.
You can purchase bait and rent canoes from the Anmore Grocery Store
(3275 Sunnyside Rd, Anmore, 604-469-9928) located just outside of the
park.
Details:
It
take about 1 hour to get to Buntzen Lake from Vancouver. To get
to Buntzen Lake, go through Port Moody (St. John's St.), and just as
you leave Port Moody turn left on to Ioco Road. Follow Ioco Road,
and then turn right on to 1st Avenue and again at Sunnyside Road.
Sunnyside Road will take you to the park entrance. For more
information call 1-800-BCHYDRO.
Area:
Port Moody
Season:
All seasons