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Are the Russians coming?

Fishing brings anglers to Sooke from around the world
26013sookeflyfisher
Fly fisher casts his line on the Sooke River.

Every October, during the Chum  fishing season on the Sooke River, we are used to hosting fishermen from distant parts of the world.  While these are mostly from the UK we may well see some from Russia in the future after the Russian Fly Fishing Magazine published an article about the local fly fishing adventures.

This handsomely illustrated 10-page article showed that our fish are not only very abundant, but also much larger than in Eastern Russia. The article - originally intended as narrative for a YouTube video on ethical fishing practice (http://www.westcoastflyfishers.com/) - was published in Moscow in time for this year’s Hunting and Fishing Fair. The publication includes links to web sites promoting local resources and businesses, and even the complete list of “Dos and Don’ts” when fishing rivers during salmon spawning season with which the Westcoast Flyfishers Association has been promoting ethical angling behaviour on our rivers. Interestingly, this article is complemented by a full-page add promoting catch and release practices, which seem to be quite new in Russia.

So, if after this publication, we may expect hosting more fishers from Russia, they will hopefully arrive already steeped in the local fishing ethics.

Jochen Moehr,

Secretary,

Westcoast

Flyfishers

Association