Pete Broomhall: The Exact Man

January 31, 2025

By: Craig Orr

This story was first featured in the Fall 2024 edition of the Fly Lines Magazine, produced by the B.C. Federation of Fly Fishers

Those fortunate enough to have rubbed elbows with the extraordinarily- accomplished Pete Broomhall quickly learn he is a fisherman, gentleman and scholar.

Pete is a man who has fished more rivers in B.C. than many have even heard of. And for nearly 80 years. It’s not surprising that, growing up in North Vancouver, he spent much time traipsing the Seymour and Capilano rivers. Sure, lots of people in the mecca of the Lower Mainland have fished both. But how many who fished the Cap before it was dammed in 1954?

And fished it lots? With flies? Pete’s prolific Capilano stories paint a picture of a once-amazing river chock full of amazing fish—coho and steelhead, mostly. And so many stories, packed with rich detail of a thriving river with thriving fish on the outskirts of a burgeoning city, and but a handful of oh-so-lucky anglers. As a listener to Pete’s stories, one alternates between awe at his recall of specific fish, conditions and dates, and tears thinking about what we have all lost.

Pete Broomhall fishing for steelhead on the Dean River

 Reading makes a full man; conversation a ready man; and writing an exact man

So much loss. As a keen observer, with a still steel-trap recall, Pete may well be BC’s foremost authority on what fish and rivers and angling opportunities we once enjoyed but can now only barely imagine. As a conservation biologist, I’m also continually intrigued by Pete’s stories on how many salmon and steelhead runs have been “compressed” by a variety of impacts—that is, the loss of early and late parts of many individual runs.

Explorers and icons like Pete have such tales. Tales recounted with sharpness and passion. He was, not surprisingly, in the first group of Totems to fish the Dean in 1976, along with angling legends Ozzie Shaw and Jim Kilburn. He graced the river another 32 times, amassing amazing stories on fish and the river, including one of landing a steelhead estimated at nearly 30 pounds.

He started fishing the once-famous and prolific Thompson River in 1953, the year I was born. And for decades, Pete made a regular fall migration to fish fabled Skeena tributaries, always stopping along the way to chat with a myriad of friends.

Trips to the also once-productive Big and Little Qualicum rivers, the Nanaimo, and many other Island rivers were a regular thing for him of sheer joy—and lots of fish—when he was but 19. If you listen to Pete for any length of time, you’ll be astounded to learn how much fishing and adventure any “mere” mortal could manage to cram into his 19th year on this planet.

And did I mention scholar? Pete joyfully intersperses fishing tales with lessons on English literature—a subject he taught for many years at Langara College. With little difficulty, he can dissect the complexities of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, or the first modern novel, Don Quixote, among other classics. He might just as easily go off on a tangent of his favourite poets, like Emily Dickinson (Tell all the truth but tell it slant—Success in Circuit lies). As you’ll find out here, he can also write some fine poetry of his own.

Pete is one of the most complete men you can be lucky enough to meet. As testament, look no further than the16th/17th lawyer, statesman, philosopher and master of English language, Francis Bacon. Bacon once claimed, “Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested.” Pete, the hungry, voracious and critical reader: check.

Bacon also classified people based on three levels of mental and personal achievement. According to Bacon, “reading makes a full man; conference (conversation) a ready man; and writing an exact man.”

Pete Broomhall with steelhead soon to be released

In other words, reading informs, conversation (conference) further prepares a person to handle various situations and personalities, and writing forces a person to articulate their thoughts precisely, fostering exactitude and clarity.

Pete, the exact man: check. Not only a ravenous reader and story teller, he is an accomplished writer. His 1976 satires, The Genuine Imitation Plastic Steelhead, and The Lawyer and The Angler, remain but two of his classics. But he will also be the first to admit he prefers editing to writing. And his editing prowess has been a boon to oh-so-many aspiring writers he has taken under his wing.

Quite simply, most say he is the best editor they have ever seen put edits to paper.

His editing is not for the faint of heart, though. Or for those stuck at “good-enough-writer-not-in-need-of-competent-experienced-editors-and-improved-writing-skills.”

Pete’s editing makes one carefully examine one’s writing competence and progress, continually. But for those humble enough, willing to admit they don’t know as much as Pete about sentence structure and grammar (including the power of verbs), one can become a much better writer under Pete’s patient but critical eye.

Pete: The modern and improved version of Francis Bacon. Teller of tales. Accomplished angler. Writer, reader and editor. Critical thinker.

Need more proof? Just ask the many politicians and fisheries managers who have been at the receiving end of Pete’s wit, writing and passion for fish. For years, Pete was the main letter writer for the Steelhead Society in its heyday of wild fish advocacy. He regularly dissected the self-preserving thinking of many muddled folk in blistering yet reasoned missives that did much to reform fisheries management and conservation practice and policy. And he usually wrote a complete and polished letter (or two), ignored at one’s peril, during each directors’ meeting. “Here you go Mr. President, you might want to send this one.”

What Pete has contributed to fish conservation is evident in much of his writing, editing and speaking, and in the vast and selfless amount of time he has given as a volunteer in conservation groups such as the Steelhead Society, and the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, including as co-founder of the latter group.

Pete also saves more than his share of critical thinking for the sport of angling. It’s perhaps not surprising that his long pursuit of fly fishing—including the use of a double-handed rod dating back over 40 years—has honed his thinking not only about fish, but anglers.

He once penned four axioms of all hook-and-line fishing: (1) it hinges on two similar but separate goals—to get the hook to the fish, or to get the fish to the hook, (2) the first is easier, (3) getting the fish to the hook differs from getting the fish to take the hook, and (4) the more challenging the fishing, the more admirable and rewarding it is (as with most human endeavors).

Perhaps point 4 is why he has long preferred dry flies. Dry flies to many represent the epitome of fly-fishing challenge—and reward. The encounters on top are often multiple until the fish commits (or not), and often spectacular as well, adding much to the total angling experience.

To Pete, challenge and reward are crucial aspects of becoming the complete man. But not only challenge.

What we might all seek in our lives, according to Pete, also includes sufficient remuneration, and sufficient autonomy. Many academic studies on the pursuit of happiness back his views on remuneration. At some point, earning more and more money fails to further increase happiness or well-being. Sure, you need to have enough (sufficient) to get by, but having buckets of money does not equate to ever-rising levels of happiness. One needs more than riches to be happy. Some find happiness in philanthropy, for instance. But also in the joy, the sense of purpose, of having satisfying careers and other pursuits, like fishing. Sufficient autonomy to pursue a chosen and challenging profession, and fishing, and pursue both in the way that is most individually rewarding.

Thus: sufficient autonomy, sufficient remuneration, sufficient challenge.

Such are just some of the wise words of the modern exact man, Peter Broomhall, honed by nearly 90 years of passion, experience, critical thinking, and patient teaching.

Francis Bacon would approve.

Share This Story!

Pete Broomhall: The Exact Man

January 31, 2025

By: Craig Orr

This story was first featured in the Fall 2024 edition of the Fly Lines Magazine, produced by the B.C. Federation of Fly Fishers

Those fortunate enough to have rubbed elbows with the extraordinarily- accomplished Pete Broomhall quickly learn he is a fisherman, gentleman and scholar.

Pete is a man who has fished more rivers in B.C. than many have even heard of. And for nearly 80 years. It’s not surprising that, growing up in North Vancouver, he spent much time traipsing the Seymour and Capilano rivers. Sure, lots of people in the mecca of the Lower Mainland have fished both. But how many who fished the Cap before it was dammed in 1954?

And fished it lots? With flies? Pete’s prolific Capilano stories paint a picture of a once-amazing river chock full of amazing fish—coho and steelhead, mostly. And so many stories, packed with rich detail of a thriving river with thriving fish on the outskirts of a burgeoning city, and but a handful of oh-so-lucky anglers. As a listener to Pete’s stories, one alternates between awe at his recall of specific fish, conditions and dates, and tears thinking about what we have all lost.

Pete Broomhall fishing for steelhead on the Dean River

 Reading makes a full man; conversation a ready man; and writing an exact man

So much loss. As a keen observer, with a still steel-trap recall, Pete may well be BC’s foremost authority on what fish and rivers and angling opportunities we once enjoyed but can now only barely imagine. As a conservation biologist, I’m also continually intrigued by Pete’s stories on how many salmon and steelhead runs have been “compressed” by a variety of impacts—that is, the loss of early and late parts of many individual runs.

Explorers and icons like Pete have such tales. Tales recounted with sharpness and passion. He was, not surprisingly, in the first group of Totems to fish the Dean in 1976, along with angling legends Ozzie Shaw and Jim Kilburn. He graced the river another 32 times, amassing amazing stories on fish and the river, including one of landing a steelhead estimated at nearly 30 pounds.

He started fishing the once-famous and prolific Thompson River in 1953, the year I was born. And for decades, Pete made a regular fall migration to fish fabled Skeena tributaries, always stopping along the way to chat with a myriad of friends.

Trips to the also once-productive Big and Little Qualicum rivers, the Nanaimo, and many other Island rivers were a regular thing for him of sheer joy—and lots of fish—when he was but 19. If you listen to Pete for any length of time, you’ll be astounded to learn how much fishing and adventure any “mere” mortal could manage to cram into his 19th year on this planet.

And did I mention scholar? Pete joyfully intersperses fishing tales with lessons on English literature—a subject he taught for many years at Langara College. With little difficulty, he can dissect the complexities of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, or the first modern novel, Don Quixote, among other classics. He might just as easily go off on a tangent of his favourite poets, like Emily Dickinson (Tell all the truth but tell it slant—Success in Circuit lies). As you’ll find out here, he can also write some fine poetry of his own.

Pete is one of the most complete men you can be lucky enough to meet. As testament, look no further than the16th/17th lawyer, statesman, philosopher and master of English language, Francis Bacon. Bacon once claimed, “Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested.” Pete, the hungry, voracious and critical reader: check.

Bacon also classified people based on three levels of mental and personal achievement. According to Bacon, “reading makes a full man; conference (conversation) a ready man; and writing an exact man.”

Pete Broomhall with steelhead soon to be released

In other words, reading informs, conversation (conference) further prepares a person to handle various situations and personalities, and writing forces a person to articulate their thoughts precisely, fostering exactitude and clarity.

Pete, the exact man: check. Not only a ravenous reader and story teller, he is an accomplished writer. His 1976 satires, The Genuine Imitation Plastic Steelhead, and The Lawyer and The Angler, remain but two of his classics. But he will also be the first to admit he prefers editing to writing. And his editing prowess has been a boon to oh-so-many aspiring writers he has taken under his wing.

Quite simply, most say he is the best editor they have ever seen put edits to paper.

His editing is not for the faint of heart, though. Or for those stuck at “good-enough-writer-not-in-need-of-competent-experienced-editors-and-improved-writing-skills.”

Pete’s editing makes one carefully examine one’s writing competence and progress, continually. But for those humble enough, willing to admit they don’t know as much as Pete about sentence structure and grammar (including the power of verbs), one can become a much better writer under Pete’s patient but critical eye.

Pete: The modern and improved version of Francis Bacon. Teller of tales. Accomplished angler. Writer, reader and editor. Critical thinker.

Need more proof? Just ask the many politicians and fisheries managers who have been at the receiving end of Pete’s wit, writing and passion for fish. For years, Pete was the main letter writer for the Steelhead Society in its heyday of wild fish advocacy. He regularly dissected the self-preserving thinking of many muddled folk in blistering yet reasoned missives that did much to reform fisheries management and conservation practice and policy. And he usually wrote a complete and polished letter (or two), ignored at one’s peril, during each directors’ meeting. “Here you go Mr. President, you might want to send this one.”

What Pete has contributed to fish conservation is evident in much of his writing, editing and speaking, and in the vast and selfless amount of time he has given as a volunteer in conservation groups such as the Steelhead Society, and the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, including as co-founder of the latter group.

Pete also saves more than his share of critical thinking for the sport of angling. It’s perhaps not surprising that his long pursuit of fly fishing—including the use of a double-handed rod dating back over 40 years—has honed his thinking not only about fish, but anglers.

He once penned four axioms of all hook-and-line fishing: (1) it hinges on two similar but separate goals—to get the hook to the fish, or to get the fish to the hook, (2) the first is easier, (3) getting the fish to the hook differs from getting the fish to take the hook, and (4) the more challenging the fishing, the more admirable and rewarding it is (as with most human endeavors).

Perhaps point 4 is why he has long preferred dry flies. Dry flies to many represent the epitome of fly-fishing challenge—and reward. The encounters on top are often multiple until the fish commits (or not), and often spectacular as well, adding much to the total angling experience.

To Pete, challenge and reward are crucial aspects of becoming the complete man. But not only challenge.

What we might all seek in our lives, according to Pete, also includes sufficient remuneration, and sufficient autonomy. Many academic studies on the pursuit of happiness back his views on remuneration. At some point, earning more and more money fails to further increase happiness or well-being. Sure, you need to have enough (sufficient) to get by, but having buckets of money does not equate to ever-rising levels of happiness. One needs more than riches to be happy. Some find happiness in philanthropy, for instance. But also in the joy, the sense of purpose, of having satisfying careers and other pursuits, like fishing. Sufficient autonomy to pursue a chosen and challenging profession, and fishing, and pursue both in the way that is most individually rewarding.

Thus: sufficient autonomy, sufficient remuneration, sufficient challenge.

Such are just some of the wise words of the modern exact man, Peter Broomhall, honed by nearly 90 years of passion, experience, critical thinking, and patient teaching.

Francis Bacon would approve.

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