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It was a year in the making for a group of Quebec teens, a trip to B.C. to experience the province’s wilderness and awe-inspiring fly-fishing. For two weeks earlier this month, the group of teens — all attend a Montreal youth centre — fished and camped through Wells Gray Provincial Park and other parts of B.C.’s Nort Thompson country, all the while chasing rainbows.

Mario Viboux, the youth program co-ordinator for the Point de Mire youth centre, runs a fly-fishing clinic each year for the teens who want to take part. He starts with the basics — casting, fly-trying and insect biology — and introduces the students to Quebec fishing waters. But Viboux said every year he also plans a big trip to distant, fly-fishing destinations.

In past years, he’s taken his dozen or so teens to he Italian Alps and its renowned fly-fishing rivers. This year, however, he decided to stay Canadian and headed west. It proved one of the best decisions he’s made. “It was spectacular, “ he said. “The landscape, the fish. For me fishing is about the trip, to discover.” The group spent most of its time in the Bridge and Birch lakes area, making day trips to other places, including a one-day venture to the Canim River.

In all instances, the teens caught fish and experienced a kind of wilderness not found in other parts of Canada, he said. The teens were stunned by the quality of the angling.

Catch-and-release rules impress teens

Some days saw them catching large numbers of smaller fish, while some of the teens found six-to-eight-pound fish in the bigger lakes. All were impressed with B.C.’s fishing regulations, noting catch-and-release restrictions in some places has clearly created special fisheries. Viboux noted there is no such as thing as catch-and-release only lakes or rivers in Quebec.

Many of the teens were at first intimidated by B.C.’s wild places and the vastness of the mountains. But they were soon struck by the beauty of the place and the abundance of wildlife, he added.

“It’s not just about taking fish. It’s a way of life, it’s about fishing your fear,” he said.

Viboux said the trip to B.C. ranks with the best his group has done. “I compare this to the Alps in Italy. It has the same beautiful mountains. I want to come back, “ he said.

Audrey Rose Michaud, 15, said the Canim River and its natural beauty proved a highlight of the trip for her. Jean-Olivier Caron, however, was impressed by the big fish Birch Lake had to offer.

To pay for the trip, the teens spent a year raising money, mostly by selling a special brand of coffee at outdoor and fishing shows.