Where Salmon Is King - Bring the Camera

Bring the Camera

Do plan extra days in Vancouver, one of the truly great cities of North America. Here's just a sampling of things to do and see.

Ever been to a salmon hatchery? Visit the Capilano Salmon Hatchery (www.heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/facilities/capilano/capilano_e.htm) and enjoy a self-guided, free tour with information panels describing lifecycles of salmon. July to December you can watch the juvenile Pacific salmon in the ponds and see the returning adults jump a series of steps known as a fish ladder.

Visit glaciers within one hour of downtown. Go airborne for a glacier and alpine lakes tour to see glaciers and BC's Coastal Mountain range (www.westcoastair.com, www.harbour-air.com). Planes often swoop into small alpine valleys or glide above forests, rivers and waterfalls. Flights depart and return to Coal Harbour in downtown Vancouver.

Witness spectacular fireworks displays (www.celebration-of-light.com) from the beaches and parks that surround English Bay. In summer months just after dusk on select nights, pyrotechnics from countries all over the world compete in this annual competition. The fireworks erupt from a barge on English Bay and are choreographed to music.

The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre (www.vanaqua.org) at Stanley Park is an award winning aquarium with beluga whales, seals, otters and fish by the millions. Check out sloths, big snakes and piranhas in the aquarium's steamy Amazon Gallery. Open every day of the year.

The Grouse Mountain Skyride (www.grousemountain.com) offers a great view of the city and harbor. Visit orphaned grizzly bear cubs on their five-acre grizzly bear habitat.

Kayak an ancient fjord (www.lotuslandtours.com) by paddling up Indian Arm, Canada's most southern glacial fjord. Picnic on barbecued salmon on an uninhabited island during the four-hour trip.

Other notes of interest

About BC:

• Population: Just over four million
• Capital: Victoria on Vancouver Island
• Languages: English and French, but the majority of the population speaks English
• Size: Total land mass is larger than France and Germany combined
• Currency: the Canadian dollar, $1 CD = 75¢ USD
• Tourism generates $10 billion dollars a year.
• BC is the third largest film and TV production center in North America after New York and Los Angeles.
• Vancouver International Airport is the first airport in North America to have a walk-in drug store, dental services and medical clinic.

A past IGFA world-record holder, Jan Stephen Maizler hails from Miami, Florida. He's authored numerous articles and seven books, including Flats Fishing II and Fishing Florida's Coast.