Rivers without fish

Sunday was B.C. Rivers Day, a day set aside to celebrate our "province's spectacular river heritage."

We were out and about, hiking through several forests in the Fraser Valley, including areas fingered by tributaries of the Chilliwack River.

The weather was fine, the sky was blue, but where were the fish? Usually at this time of year, the waters are thick with red-tinged spawning salmon. They're often so thick in the shallow streams they look like you could walk across their backs to the opposite shore.

But not this year -- the waters run free and clean-looking, but there aren't any fish. Because this is our traditional time for hiking there, I don't think it's a matter of our timing. Still, I can hope that's all it is.