Truly wild - British Columbia

We are deep into the wilds of British Columbia, about four hours north of Smithers, next stop the Alaskan border. On the drive up here we saw a black bear on the road, and on the way to fishing this morning we saw a few wolves crossing in front of us. The fishing guides all carry high-powered pepper spray to ward of "interested" bears !! This is how I imagined this place would be, and it is a total dream to be here photographing and fishing.....so few people, such a pristine environment and some of the most incredible scenery I have ever seen.

Wading big rivers for the magnificent steelhead and using big, graceful, double-handed fly rods is just awesome - put it with the kind of backdrop you see above and you will see why a place like this is so exciting to a fishing photographer. I am so excited all the time that I can hardly sleep. Moody light, snow-capped peaks, autumn (fall) colours on the trees and Spey casting - does it get any better ? I keep thinking that a great big grizzly bear is going to come and check me out, because they have seen a few recently, and the advice is to make as much noise as possible and under no circumstances should we run away. Easier said than done !! This steelhead fishing is just off the scale and I can't really believe that I am in such a special part of the world for my work. Much as I love the UK, it is quite something to fish and photograph in a a place that is so truly wild and under-populated.